Originally Posted by
aster
JUST A THOUGHT. Putting the status thing aside for a moment - just off the top of your head, which hotel programs have a relatively easy path to the next tier that offers complimentary lounge/club access for all room rates (and not just in specific rooms)? As in lounge/club access for 2-3 hrs every evening with all drinks included. Any hotel program stand out? I used to be with Swissotel for that reason but they've been gobbled up by Accor it seems...
A problem you may not be aware of is that many hotels that have lounges have either closed them for now or reduced hours, due to staffing issues they're having post-Covid (people retired early and/or were laid off during Covid, and now they're having trouble finding replacement people). Some hotel lounges which used to open for both breakfast and evenings are only open for breakfast now, for example.
So do you really want to spend the effort of getting status if the lounge is not going to be open when you want it?
And it's not clear how many more years it might take for hotels to return to previous staffing levels, if they ever will.