I recently had a frustrating experience during a two-night award stay in Sydney. When the hotel's assistant manager didn't resolve the situation to my satisfaction (in fact, she made it worse), I wrote a letter to Hyatt International HQ. I spoke this morning with John Wallace, VP, who not only credited back 15,000 points to my account (which is what I had requested in my letter), he asked when my next international stay was and promised "VIP treatment." Starwood clearly does not have a monopoly on excellent customer service.

And a word of caution to travelers to Sydney: if you get a fourth floor room, make sure it is far down the hall from the spa, where noise from the evening parties on the rooftop pool can make getting a good night's sleep pretty impossible.