A couple months ago I went to a conference in Henderson, NV. Discovered that the Vegas cab drivers are prima donas who dislike the 20 minute drive out to Henderson. When we arrived at the hotel, I was so fried that I didn't notice I'd lost my prescription reading glasses in the cab, until he'd left. The resort valet called the cab company for me and they confirmed that they had my glasses but I'd need to pick them up from their Vegas office, they would NOT deliver them to me at the resort. I bought some cheapies to use for the conference and decided to just pick them up on the way back to the airport on my last day. Since I didn't know the area, I thought it would be easier to call the same cab company for my return to the airport, and I could tell them to just swing by their office on the way. Did that, and then waited.

And waited. It finally got to the time when we almost didn't have time to go get my glasses and still make my flight when the resort valet offered to drive me back himself. The crappy cab company would not drive out to Henderson even for a paying fare. (The real annoyance was that if they'd just TOLD us that instead of pretending to dispatch, we could have called one of the Henderson cabs.) The resort valet got me there - just- in time to both get my glasses and make my flight.

Another one that's amazing is Savage River Lodge in Maryland. This is actually part of their normal service, so it's not technically "above and beyond" but it made me feel so pampered that it's worth mention. Their facility is all cabins in the woods, with a central lodge house that contains only the kitchen, dining room, library, gift shop, etc. They are very dog-friendly, so since Maryland food safety laws prohibit dogs in the dining room, they deliver food to the cabins. Very good food, better than you'd expect in the middle of nowhere in the Maryland mountains. But they don't just hand you your tray at the door. They bring it in a large basket, set the table for you, pour the wine and make the whole thing feel like you're dining in a restaurant. Then they slip out, leaving you the basket so you can put your dirty dishes in it and set it out on your porch when you're done.

Oh, and they deliver a continental breakfast to every cabin each morning: juice and muffin per person, newspaper, and home made cheesy dog biscuit per pooch. I tasted the dog biscuit on the last day of our stay, which was a good thing for our dogs because if I'd tasted them sooner, I'd have not given them to the dogs. I'd have eaten them myself, they were DELICIOUS!