When does travel brand loyalty make sense?

“There was a power outage during my stay, so we all just sat around and chatted. That would never happen at a Hilton.”

Exactly. These hotels are mostly miserable as regards personal interactions, even in the executive lounge at drinks time. It's like people adopt an aloof, brand-hotel manner when they enter them. In many cases, the more I pay, the more I find fault. Personally, I have no loyalty to any airline or hotel chain.

“I want something different when I travel; that’s why I travel,” she says. “I would rather stay at a small guest house. I know money is going back into the community where I am, rather than a giant global corporation.”

Yes and no. A lot of local people rely on those global brand hotels for their paychecks, which support their local community.