From my point of view, it makes a difference, if you stay frequently in the same hotel over a long time or have
only a high / the highest status, like
IAN-UK mentioned in his post. And loyaltylobby and all the other bloggers tend to review a hotel or program quite often only after one stays or one year of membership. The reports of their stays are in a certain way helpful, as you see the real life pictures. But rating a hotel after just one stay is simply not the way a balanced review could and should be done.
It is also not the way, loyalty is built. You learn that, if you have your go-to hotel in certain cities or places over a long time. It takes time to built a kind of relationship with the hotels. And having a high status in the frequent guest program is only one element. In so far, I am by no way surprised about the upgrades some members of Flyertalk receive and others do not. And to me, it is far more important what I get in the hotel I use frequently. Because this keeps me returning.
In the blogs - and loyaltylobby is only one of them - you read how to maximize and somehow beat the system. And yes a breakfast or hors d'oeuvres in the club lounge could be nice. But could this be really compared to a light dinner in a proper (hotel) restaurant as alex suggested in a comment on loyaltylobby? There are more moments, when I am happy to pay to have a nice relaxed dinner or breakfast rather the overcrowded buffet fighting in lounges. Or simply could not get in the lounge because I have to work (and you do not work on tender documents in a public space). Sometimes, I even prefer the hotels where not everybody gets lounge access.
In so far,
nicolas75 , you have a valid point.