if Diamonds get preference over Golds when booking a reward stay
Unless they start having wait lists ,it won't work.
I've got to admit that gold is about as good as diamond. The exception may be the hotels that individually (Cavalieri,etc.) treat diamnonds better.
I used to maintain gold level with 3 or 4 chains, but have concentrated on HH the last few years. Maybe it's time to rethink my "strategy".