Usually my lost-in-a-hotel items remain lost forever, but last summer I had a positive experience at the Courtyard Marriott in Pasadena. When we got to San Diego the evening after we checked out, we discovered that I had left a totebag containing a couple of other purses behind in a drawer in our room. These items were pretty expensive and I could have kicked myself all the way to Mexico.

I phoned the hotel and the only person interested in helping me was the male phone operator, housekeeping blew me off. The phone guy took it upon himself to call the room I had stayed in and sure enough, the items were in the drawer. This phone guy went to the room on his break and retrieved my property, then turned it in to lost and found. I picked the items up, had to make a special trip back to Pasadena but it was worth it. I wrote an effusive orchid letter and left an envelope with a monetary award for the operator.