If you grew up on the north side of Chicago or in the north suburbs sometime in the last 40 years, you probably remember “The Purple Hyatt” in Lincolnwood, Illinois, a shrine to Sixties Kitsch Style. I actually remember going there to visit family friends when I was about 6, circa 1965. Even then I could tell it was tacky!
By the time I worked at the Hyatt corporate office in the early ’90’s, The Purple Hyatt had become “The Purple Radisson,” and no one at Hyatt could mention the hotel without a sigh of relief that it was no longer associated with our brand. After all, this hotel was sort of a local joke.
But I drove by there yesterday, and saw a twist on the branding of this property that is, at the least, amusing. The hotel is no longer The Purple Hyatt or The Purple Radisson—it’s The Purple Hotel. Why apologize for an architectural anachronism? Embrace it!