I should have more than 250 nights next year at hotels mostly in Washington DC and I am currently a platinum Marriott member. I want to mix things up next year and am looking for another chain to split my time. What chain offers the best/most frequent upgrades for my regular stays? Any tips for DC hotels?

I plan on using the miles for high end vacations and prefer Europe or Hawaii. Which has the best hotels for the rewards I am looking for?

Looking for advice on which chain I should attempt a status match.
Thanks

Upgrades to suites is a part of the Starwood program for their Platinums. Of course it depends on the type of hotels you are staying at. I do believe Hyatt also provides for some suite upgrades as well.

If you are staying 250 nights a year, you can try both out and see which gives you what you prefer.

I believe Starwood's suite upgrades are space available, but most people seem to think they do a pretty good job of upgrading their platinum members.

Hyatt gives diamond members four upgrade certificates per year - these certs allow you to confirm a suite upgrade at the time of booking. I believe their top tier members are also pretty happy with the upgrades they receive when not using the certs.

Both Hyatt and Starwood have significantly fewer hotels in Europe than Marriott (especially Hyatt), so you might want to check their locations. If they're not where you want to be, maybe that would influence your decision.

Also, I'm not sure what Hyatt and Starwood offer in the way of status matches or challenges. You might want to check that out. If you'll be starting from scratch at one chain, but starting with top tier status (or a short path to it) on the other, that might help you decide.

Not sure about Hyatt, but SPG will match Marriott Plat with no problems.

I highly recommend going with Hyatt, which should match you to Diamond status. In 25 stays you'll requalify for the following year. I've been diamond for many years, it's a great program.

In DC you have 3 Hyatt choices, plus many more in VA and MD.

I typically get upgrades in the DC-area properties. Then again I don't typically care about my room when traveling on business, but they offer 4 annual confirmed suite upgrades which I use when traveling with family.

I highly recommend Hyatt too. I think you'll get most points that you can renew for free nights this way since most hotels have a 2k bonus point per stay promo all through the year so you can rack up the points pretty quickly.

They're also very nice to us diamond members especially if you frequent the same hotel often. Also, internet is free!

vivskivs, due to the current Hyatt FFN promo, if you stay 13 separate nights (stays) by January 31, 2010, you will be GP Diamond in addition to the points and the earned free nights that you will get. See this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...1-10-redm.html

And then you can do status match to all other programs.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions.Anyone else have any specific Washington DC experiences with upgrades?