Namely Peninsula, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental - executives/PR from all three groups say that the guests would not value a point-based rewards program, and I agree. I think the reason is that people who can shell out $500+/night on a standard hotel room are affluent enough to not care about the free night, once every dozen nights. However, these hotel executives/PR justify their lack of rewards programs by saying that they "reward" patrons with a "guest recognition" system or some derivative of that.

What, then, exactly is a "guest recognition" system? The executives/PR say that the hotels will cater to guests' preferences, but what preferences can one specify before the stay (higher floor, nonsmoking, 1 king bed, far from elevator) that other hotels like a Hilton or Marriott cannot satisfy?

Having stayed at some Four Seasons and Park Hyatts (I know Hyatt has a points program) in non-vacation locations (i.e. not the Maldives), I always find their "recognition" system the same as staying at the Intercontinental or Hilton + simply asking "can I ask for/have ___ ?" Although, to be fair, FS did give me two sets of wooden hangers to take home for my suits. Maybe that's their new points system?

Fun fact: some boutique hotel I stayed at in Beijing wanted to charge me 600CNY for a damn electronic table clock, which I really loved. The clock itself felt really cheap, but the hotel claims that it was custom-made. Do you think if it were the FS, they would have recognized my guest preference of wanting to own that clock without having to pay for it, and just have given it to me?

How have you noticeably benefited or been wooed by luxury groups' "guest recognition" programs? Inputs and discussion welcome.