Originally Posted by Stripe

Sounds like OP is staying at Hamptons. Diamond status has always been pretty useless at Hamptons and other lower tier brands. There is often nothing to upgrade to, the breakfast is free for everyone, late checkout is almost impossible due to limited housekeeping hours, and practically every HH elite gets the free snack (or did pre-Covid). There is no way to police the Diamond Elite parking spots but for some reason I almost always get one.

Domestic lounges were becoming rarer pre-Covid and those that remained seemed to be getting stingier with their offerings, Diamond has always been more useful overseas, especially in Asia. If those hotels don't eventually reopen and go back to prior service levels then I would agree that the status doesn't matter anymore.