Many consumers (like me) like to go shopping where there is a knowledgeable staff; or maybe a good restaurant that has good food and service; or how about a dry cleaner than always does a good job.

Right now I'm at the Sheraton Russell in NYC. As a Platinum, they always recognize my status by upgrading me to a huge suite.
The manager even wrote me a warm 'welcome back' note with a bottle of wine and fruit.

With service like that, why wouldn't I go back.

I'll certainly add my 2 cents and say that it's nice to know William is here...just in case we have a problem. I'm able to book/stay with confidence because I know if anything goes wrong, we have someone here (SL) to fix the problem after we've 'consumed' the room (Starwood speak )

As long as Starwood cares about it's guest, that's shows me that they care (real or imagined). And this my friends is what gives them the edge.

Dan