Whenever there are discussions about what makes a true luxury hotel, one of the common refrains is that "things can go wrong anywhere, but at a luxury hotel, you can be confident that they'll make it right."

I'm curious: what are the best recovery gestures you've experienced?

On the smaller side, one day at Amankila, we returned to our room after breakfast to find that housekeeping hadn't been through yet. I called down and asked to have the room cleaned, and the GM profusely apologized (I hadn't complained, simply asked for housekeeping) and walked up to our suite with some candy and a pair of handmade wooden serving spoons by way of apology. Small gesture, but way over the top for such a minor lapse.

And then there was the time at the R-C Arlington (very debatably a luxury hotel these days, though I had great stays there years ago) when I noticed that the tiny ketchup bottle that came with my room service meal had already been opened/used. I called down to complain and ask for another one, and the GM called back a few minutes later to let me know that my stay would be comped. This was a more serious issue (could be serious food safety problems if I hadn't noticed before eating it), but again, I felt that the recovery gesture was excellent.

I'm sure you all have much better stories, and I'd love to hear them.