A good lounge can earn my business. For example, I've spent quite a lot of nights at Conrad Istanbul because of their perfect lounge. The hotel is nice, but with the many options Istanbul offers I would normally probably switch my stays based on rates. The lounge is what sets it apart and what turns that "necessary evil" into part of the whole experience, so I'm willing to pay some extra for the hotel compared to others, or even adjust my dates based on its rates, and it even makes me visit the city more often. The good experience in the lounge also prompted me to try other F&B outlets at the hotel, spending even more money in the end.

Also, lounge shouldn't be perceived only as a place to get freebies, I really dislike this view both from airlines and hotels. I recently stayed at Crowne Plaza Budapest where the food and drink offer in the lounge is nothing to write home about, it's as basic as it can get, but having a nice space to chill outside the relatively compact room suddenly makes the stay much more pleasant and it immediately catapulted the hotel to our first choice in Budapest, despite our previous go-to hotel usually being 20-30 euros per night cheaper.