jhpark

Yes, the reward redemption is a big one.

Diamonds seem to get better treatment from some hotels, esp. those that don't give golds the perks they're supposed to get. But some benefits seem to come from staying at the same hotel for a long time, independent of status, so I'm not sure what matters more to the individual hotel.

I have noticed that the front desk staff makes more of an effort to perk up and be attentive with me than with people I presume are non-Diamonds. It's actually kind of annoying at the same time as it's something I appreciate... But I guess they're more sensitive about that kind of thing.

And hey, I haven't been walked once...

MisterNice

As noted it is MUCH easier to book awards for Diamonds. Also Diamonds are (almost) always permitted executive lounge access (not necessarily rooms on the Exec Level floors though). Also some hotels exec lounges are way too small to accomodate the many Golds plus the Diamonds but they do permit the smaller group of Diamonds access.

If award and lounge access is not important, then dont worry about it.

MisterNice

PremEx

There is a huge difference in the appearance of the membership cards themselves.

I personally think the Gold one looks better!

Eugene

The previous generation of HH Gold cards was even better looking!

That said, grass was greener back then too...

JDiver

It has more THC now, though...

On a related subject (to the topic!), I wonder if anyone has a collection of these cards? Might be interesting, in retrospect, to see the variety and design.

It'll be interesting to see how this thread develops - it could get to be a nice resource! <bump>

Eugene

I have a few, in various designs and colors...

jetsetter

It is true that other than a somewhat better reward redemtion inventory, and more bonus points, there are few if any documented benefits of Diamond vs. Gold. There is the 48 hour room guarantee, but that is often useless because it is usually at wrack rate and because you need 48 hours advance notice.

That being said, if a traveler is creative, he or she can taylor a set of personalized unofficial Diamond enhanced benefits particularly if you frequent certain hotels repeatedly. Some examples of undocumented benefits you might be able to negotiate on your behalf might be:
*Breakfast coupons to use in the restaurant or room service, not just breakfast in the lounge;
*Waiver of local phone charges, or waiver of the internet service fee;
*Upgrades to executive accommodations for your friends or family whether they are staying the same nights as you or not;
*Advance pre-blocked upgrades to suites or executive levels;
*Accommodation at your regular or corporate rate even if the computer shows the hotel sold out;
*Extension of time or other waiver of no show or late cancel charges;
*Miscellaneous favors like being able to borrow or store clothing at the hotel;
*Other, your imagaination is the only limit of what you could negotiate. I am only probably scratching the iceberg.

If you think you need too, in your negotiations, you might even tell the hotel that there are few documented benefits between Gold and Diamond, and that you are faced with a decision of getting Dold and then trying for like Starwood status, or if the hotel is willing, going for Diamond status with the understanding that certain things that are important to your particular individual travel situation are done for you.

The mistake most travelers (even seasoned ones) make is very simple, and it is that they believe only a sort of cookie cutter mold of benefits is available, and they don't think the travel companies can step out of the box for them.

In the airline world, I met a guy on a plane once and he said he flew this airline a lot, and when he would walk in the door of the airport, a particular agent would come out from behind the ticket counter and give him his boarding pass so that he would not have to go to trouble of going through the line, etc.

bamboola

As a Gold member, I vowed never to return to The Drake in Chicago. I relented and revisited The Drake twice as a Diamond. What a difference!

The Drake is now one of my favorite hotels. However, I would still hesitate to return to The Drake as a non-Diamond.

365RoadWarrior

Clearly, I need to negotiate better/make a bigger stink. I'm Diamond, with about 100 nights a year. They (reluctantly) let me in the lounge and I usually get a decent room on a high floor, as is my preference. But beyond that... Oh yeah, and the heap of points in my account.

I've never seen a breakfast coupon (unless included in my rate), they usually turn down my late check-out requests, and my phone bill is never discounted.

On the other hand, some Starwood properties (I'm Platinum, again, with about 100 nights) slobber all over me when I show up - "come, meet the manager", "have a bunch of free gifts". At the W Westwood, they brought what must have been the entire crew on duty at the time to shake my hand. I was utterly embarassed. And I get into the Starwood-owned gyms free.

fromYXU

365,
I'd say you pay closer attention to what is due to you!

Breakfast, fitness room, lounge are always offered to me as a Diamond member (as per the listed benefits).

Cheers

Athena53

Actually, I think that's a pretty shabby way to run a hotel. Of course you save the room upgrades, champagne, Executive Lounge, etc. for your most loyal customers. But treating everyone else (including Golds) with less-than-first-class service is inexcusable in a hotel that tries to position itself as high-end. This is loyalty marketing gone awry.

pdhenry

If I get to my room and the Embassy/Hampton/whatever "touch" isn't there I'm apt to shrug and decide that they don't love me that week.

But I've learned that if they don't hand me breakfast coupons of some sort, I'll ask about it. It's never been an issue at a compliant hotel - but the non-compliant hotels generally are upfrontabout not being compliant (DT Monterey, CA comes to mind).

EDIT: OK, my response doesn't quite make sense since Embassy and Hampton have free-for-all Breakfasts. But you get my point...

saimike

i couldnt agree more. frequent stayer programs r just a institutionalised process to maintain a bottomline -- at worse u will get the documented benefits.

the corollary is that u'll prob not be able to pull anything if u're only going to be staying for a night.

Leftover Meatloaf

I only have 6 nights / 11 stays this year so far, but have Gold status through 04/2006 thanks to the NAVG promo. I'm starting a new project and will be travelling quite a bit the rest of the year. However, it will be M-F every week. With 4 nights per week, It would be REAL tough to get 49 nights in the rest of the year to get to Diamond that way. But, if I do a bit of hotel hopping (getting 4 nights per week by switching hotels), I could get another 22 stays in about 6 weeks to get Diamond status. Big hassle to move hotels every night for 6 weeks.

So, 2 questions really:

1. Is Diamond vs. Gold status really worth that much of an effort? The 50% (vs 30%) bonus would be nice and the no blackout dates on rewards would be cool. But, how often does the "no blackout dates" come into effect? If there is good availability anyway, it doesn't really have much value. I don't really need the "guaranteed reservation availability" since I'm already Platinum with Marriott and have the same deal there. If a town is sold out, I know I can get a room at Marriott.
2. Would it be worth a call to Hilton to explain the "hotel hopping" option I'm looking at and see if they throw a Diamond challenge at me for the last 10 weeks of the year? If its that, vs. spending all those nights at Marriotts, it'd be a good move for them.

nwr1txg

Not worth the hassle in my opinion. I would go for it only if I wanted to book awards at popular locations during peak periods during my stint as a Diamond. I availed myself of this perk to book award stays in HI and Orlando during peak periods. It is nice not to have to schedule your vacations around award availability. !!!