Lately, I've suddenly started to understand brand loyalty.
In the past, choosing a hotel was simple: points, nights, Globalist, suite upgrades, breakfast—whichever benefit was worth more won.
But recently, looking back, I realized that many of my best memories from the past two years happened at Hyatt.
Many hotels that were originally just "a place to stay for a night" ended up being remembered not for their hardware specs, but for what happened during that time.
Sometimes when I see a familiar photo of a hotel, my first reaction isn't even "how was the room?" but rather suddenly remembering who I was with, where we went, and how I felt during those days.
Recently, my Globalist status is about to expire.
I used to think it was just a status—if I lost it, I could just re-qualify later. But now that it's almost gone, I actually feel a bit reluctant to let it go.
Later I realized that what I'm reluctant to part with might not just be the breakfast, upgrades, or 4pm checkout.
It's just that many happy things from the past two years happened to coincide with this identity.
It seems that in the end, a hotel is no longer just a hotel.
Points will devalue, status will drop, and hotels will renovate and rebrand.
But once some memories are left there, it's hard to see this brand as just a loyalty program anymore.
I used to not understand why some people have feelings for hotel brands.
Now I get it.
