Hogan

My favorite hotel amenity of all time has to be the pillowcases on my bed monogrammed with my initials. This happened at The Ritz-Carlton, KL on my 10th stay. Other memorable amenities include fruit baskets and mini bar stocked with only my favorite fruit and drinks respectively.... love it when hotels do that. It's not like I filled out a survey of my preferences before my stay...I think the housekeeping or room service staff just noticed what I ate and drank during my first couple of stays, and took action accordingly. Simple, yet most effective.

Any other favorites to share?

omh

For me it's great when the housekeeping esteem if you leaving the room and
then they will do it.

This often happen at Asian hotels.

Fresh flowers are also great, enjoy it when I have fresh flowers at the room.

And do not forget complimentary water.

climbermom

I think the most special things were done by the staff at the Regent Beverly Wilshire when I stayed there with my two children. When we checked in, my son asked if they had nintendo in the room, and they asked him for a list of the best games and sent someone out to the store to buy the ones he liked; they had placed sponges in the shape of letters spelling out their names by the tub; they delivered big, warm chocolate chip cookies with their names written in icing and glasses of milk at bedtime. My kids were very impressed and still compare every other hotel to that visit.

vancb

i always enjoy the turndown service. the marriott park lane, leave you a chocolate with a "thought of the day " note. nice touch. simple things like this, makes me remember the experience.

bsdstone

WOW! That is impressive...are you a frequent visitor there, or do they do this often? Next time I'm in L.A. with the family, I will definitely stay there...

Cholula

Hogan...great idea for a thread! And welcome to FlyerTalk!

I think my favorite amenity was at the Shangri-La in Bangkok where a huge fresh fruit basket with unique fruit from Thailand was kept full all week long. As soon as I'd eat a few pieces, other types of fruit would "magically" appear to replace them. I don't think they ever repeated the same fruit twice.
I'm not sure what 90% of the fruit was but I consumed most of it and lived long enough to post this report......

obscure2k

Some great service comes to mind:
--Exiting our room at the Ritz in Paris and immediately the maid comes in to change our linens, cleans the bathroom and replaces the fruit,

--Arriving hungry at the Oriental BKK and having lobster delivered to our room within minutes (this, after travelling halfway around the world)

--The lovely little cruise-ship, Sea Goddess (now called Sea Dream) where we were greeted with champagne, as much caviar as we could eat, and the stewards unpacked our clothes.,

--entering our room at (the now defunct) Pertamina Cottages in Bali in 1979 with hand-engraved stationary, fresh flowers, and a gratis fully-stocked bar.
Just a few of my favorite things

stimpy

After years of luxury hotels it is hard for me to remember all the little things that make them special. I guess it is also true that the intention is that you not notice them as special. You are just supposed to take them for granted as normal for that given hotel. Otherwise they would be in your face telling you about the great job they did putting your initials on your pillow. It is given to you in an understated way and you are to receive it in an understated way. Even if you only notice these things subconciously, you will have a great impression of the hotel that provides such service.

I guess the only one that pops up in my memory is the Lancaster in Paris. We were traveling with a small dog and the hotel staff seemed to jump at the opportunity of babysitting the dog each night when we went out to dinner. Maybe that was because they didn't want the dog barking in the room alone or peeing on the fabulous carpeting, but it was nice anyway.

brendamc

For afternoon and evening arrivals, I love having a really good bottle of wine or champagne chilled and waiting - many hotels do this and I really appreciate it. (Not nearly as much when it's sub-par brands... won't mention any hotel names here)

luxury

Two instances come to mind:

1. Four Seasons Philadelphia: Several years ago my sister and I were taking a trip on the US East Coast (NYC, Philly, DC) and my sister caught a cold due to defective a/c in our hotel in DC (The Willard). In Philly, she was feverish and somewhat ill when we checked into the FS. Room was not yet ready, but took a smoking room since it was immediately ready, as she needed to rest. Stupid me never thought that the smoke smell in the room would make things worse -- more worried about her fever. Twenty minutes later, room service delivers a tureen of steaming chicken noodle soup (the chef made it specially for her since it is not on the menu) with a note from the Room Service manager to get well soon. The soup was on the house. 40 minutes after the soup arrived the Duty Manager phoned to apologise for the smoking room and upgraded us to a corner suite overlooking the Swann Fountain. Every day all staff took time to ask my sister how she was doing.

2. Inter-Continental Bangkok: This past June I went to BKK and got sick with bronchitis immediately after I arrived. I guess my body could not handle 18 hour days in London, then flight to Vancouver, and less than a week later, the journey to Bangkok. Checked into the IC BKK and illness got worse so the doctor in BKK ordered me to go to hospital for treatment. The IC BKK sent me flowers at the hospital and a complimentary car to pick me up after discharge to bring me back to the IC. Very thoughtful.

Another nice touch was at the Four Seasons George V. Our last night of a 6 night stay we were upgraded to a lovely suite. Since we were out all day the hotel moved all of our belongings into the new room; when we returned there in the room was a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Rose and strawberries compliments of the hotel.

francophile

Four Seasons Miami

My father was feeling very nauseous after a fishing trip on a boat that had been tossed around by rough waves. I asked the concierge to send up some hot tea for my father.

What was delivered 15 minutes later went well above and beyond my expecations. Room service delivered a large tray with an oriental tea pot, a pot of hot water, a bowl of green tea leaves, a large plate of exquisite chocolates, all on the house.

By the way, every staff member at this hotel was extremely friendly and resourceful. The service here is outstanding.

stimpy

Wow, I'm looking forward to being sick at my next FS stay!

timo469

When I stayed at the Hilton Cavalari in Rome, I was given a bottle of Champagne and a cake when I arrived (I was hilton honors gold). The cake was for our anniversary (I let them know about the anniversary and said that I wanted to order a cake or flowers for it, they just said don't worry about it). I also got another bottle of champagne after I was woken up by maintenance breaking down the wall in the room next door, I complained because I wouldn't expect that at a nice hotel while I am in the room. They apoligized and when I got back I had another bottle of Champagne in my room. I ask them if they could give it to another room, because I didn't like Champagne, and they did and replaced it with great tasting fruit. House keeping and consierge were not that great, but the Front Desk was excellent and extremely helpful.

Timo

Blumie

When I checked into the Trump International Hotel in NYC with my then two-year-old daughter, the front desk clerk asked if we'd like some milk and cookies sent to our room. We said yes, and moments after we arrived in our room, a large and wonderful tray of milk, coffee and cookies were delivered to our room without charge.

Dianne47

I also liked the Shangri-La in Bangkok where the fresh fruit basket with unique fruit from Thailand was kept full each day. A multi-paged leaflet pictured and explained the unique Thai fruits, this helped me choose from the buffet breakfast each morning.

I was met at my arriving taxi and greeted by name (bellman and "greeter" noted my name on my luggage tags?). The greeter, a young woman attired in elegant silk, accompanied me from the taxi to the check-in desk, then to the room. A nice touch---and this was on a Priceline stay.