Originally Posted by
miogpsrocksProton
What other unpleasant surprised should I be made aware of for the diamond status, or am I better off abandoning Hilton diamond status dream and focus on Marriott platinum instead?
Marriott lounges are as dreadful as Hilton, in North American hotels at least. The only hotels that have the type of lounge you mention (sans caviar) for sure are Intercontinental (you can choose Club access after staying 40 nights) and Fairmont Gold for which you need to get a room on a Gold floor.
Outside of NA the quality narrows greatly and you have some very nice lounges across all chains.
I am sure the Ritz-Carltons, Waldorfs et al have very nice lounges as well but they are outside my price point.