Sheraton New Orleans [Master Thread]
May 2, 2005, 4:35 pm
#16
Join Date: Jul 2003
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Starwood Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Diamond, Delta Platinum
Posts: 2,188
Originally Posted by CaseyN2
Platinum treatment has always been great for me, corner suite and lounge access.
Casey.
Watch those ceilings in the bathroom though - they are a little low and the chair in the living room will make some awful noises if you sit down too fast.
May 8, 2005, 4:23 pm
#17
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: West Coast USA
Programs: UA GS/4 MM, AA Exec Plat, Lifetime Hilton D, Hyatt G, Marriott Titanium earned Ambassador
Posts: 7,553
Sheraton New Orleans report 5/7/2005
Preface: First visit for my wife and friends. UA status miles for us all.
Rate: Reasonable rate.
Transportation: We took a cab from MSY. The rate for two people is $28 plus a $1 fuel service charge. I understand local bus is a option and we did see a large bus with a airport sign stopped in front of the Sheraton this morning.
Check-in: We checked in very late or should I say early this morning. I knew from looking online our room was upgraded to a corner suite in advance. Our friends arrived the day before us and as Ps they were upgraded. When I checked in asked about a room on a high floor. Told no room change possible as our "suite" already stocked. So I accepted a room on a low floor. The Hotel has nearly 50 floors and we were on the bottom half. Offered Club access on 42 and a amenity for being a P. Took points. FYI. Please make sure your key is coded for the Club. I have had to visit the front desk twice to get properly coded keys. We did do a room move to a much higher floor which commands a better view of the river and is much more quiet.
Perks: As mentioned above. The Club is located on 42. You need a key to get to this level. The Club is a good size and has a excellent view. The breakfast is continental and was served this morning until 10:00 AM. The food is pulled promptly so be advised. Also. You will be asked to sign for your food. This is also a opportunity to pay a tip. I do not feel most customers were comfortable with this as many people were asking for explanations when the "bill" was presented.
Room: We have a 30 ending room number. The room is called a suite but no door or walls separate the two portions. Just a wall which contains a tv and cabinets on each side. You walk in and there is a half closet, bar area with frig (marble floor) which has a sink, large comfy sofa, chair, ottoman and small work desk with HSIA. Floor to ceiling windows with shutters. Nice. The bedroom areas has a ok size bathroom, bed and comfy chair. Nothing over the top but certainly comfortable. I believe each floor has one of these suite type rooms. As stated above we had a room on a low floor. You must get a room on a high floor. Noise is always a issue in MSY. Very near the 30 rooms are a bank atop a building of three large fans. They always run and remind me of the fans at the Mori complex in Tokyo where the Grand Hyatt Tokyo is located.
The Hotels contains two elevator banks. One will take you to the 29th floor and the other serves floors above that. If you are on one of the lower floors you can take the lift to 29 and switch over to the over elevator which will take you to 42 for the Club. A slight pain.
Also. The walls are pretty thin here so expect noise.
Communications: HSIA $9.95 plus taxes.
Location: Excellent. If you are looking for a chain the Hilton and Marriott look like contenders. The Hyatt is in a funny location.
Closing: We have had a couple small issues. On my next visit if there is a next time I would opt for possibly the W. The Hilton looked nice until I noted the train passing by a couple minutes ago. We are now on a higher floor and there must be a trunk line of water pipes in our wall as you can hear water running pretty consistently. The Sheraton is typical big city ok.
Rate: Reasonable rate.
Transportation: We took a cab from MSY. The rate for two people is $28 plus a $1 fuel service charge. I understand local bus is a option and we did see a large bus with a airport sign stopped in front of the Sheraton this morning.
Check-in: We checked in very late or should I say early this morning. I knew from looking online our room was upgraded to a corner suite in advance. Our friends arrived the day before us and as Ps they were upgraded. When I checked in asked about a room on a high floor. Told no room change possible as our "suite" already stocked. So I accepted a room on a low floor. The Hotel has nearly 50 floors and we were on the bottom half. Offered Club access on 42 and a amenity for being a P. Took points. FYI. Please make sure your key is coded for the Club. I have had to visit the front desk twice to get properly coded keys. We did do a room move to a much higher floor which commands a better view of the river and is much more quiet.
Perks: As mentioned above. The Club is located on 42. You need a key to get to this level. The Club is a good size and has a excellent view. The breakfast is continental and was served this morning until 10:00 AM. The food is pulled promptly so be advised. Also. You will be asked to sign for your food. This is also a opportunity to pay a tip. I do not feel most customers were comfortable with this as many people were asking for explanations when the "bill" was presented.
Room: We have a 30 ending room number. The room is called a suite but no door or walls separate the two portions. Just a wall which contains a tv and cabinets on each side. You walk in and there is a half closet, bar area with frig (marble floor) which has a sink, large comfy sofa, chair, ottoman and small work desk with HSIA. Floor to ceiling windows with shutters. Nice. The bedroom areas has a ok size bathroom, bed and comfy chair. Nothing over the top but certainly comfortable. I believe each floor has one of these suite type rooms. As stated above we had a room on a low floor. You must get a room on a high floor. Noise is always a issue in MSY. Very near the 30 rooms are a bank atop a building of three large fans. They always run and remind me of the fans at the Mori complex in Tokyo where the Grand Hyatt Tokyo is located.
The Hotels contains two elevator banks. One will take you to the 29th floor and the other serves floors above that. If you are on one of the lower floors you can take the lift to 29 and switch over to the over elevator which will take you to 42 for the Club. A slight pain.
Also. The walls are pretty thin here so expect noise.
Communications: HSIA $9.95 plus taxes.
Location: Excellent. If you are looking for a chain the Hilton and Marriott look like contenders. The Hyatt is in a funny location.
Closing: We have had a couple small issues. On my next visit if there is a next time I would opt for possibly the W. The Hilton looked nice until I noted the train passing by a couple minutes ago. We are now on a higher floor and there must be a trunk line of water pipes in our wall as you can hear water running pretty consistently. The Sheraton is typical big city ok.
Last edited by RTWSTARALLIANCE; May 8, 2005 at 4:27 pm
May 8, 2005, 5:00 pm
#18
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: From: PWM
Programs: United GS, Fairmont Platinum,SPG LTPlat, Hilton Diamond, MarriottGold..like the rest of the world
Posts: 4,401
Thanks for a thorough, detailed report. I wish we could establish as thorough a report for all properties in the system.
May 9, 2005, 7:37 pm
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,518
Some gripes:
I stayed there for 2nd weekend Jazzfest, 4/27-5/02. Had a club level room reserved. Tried for an early checkin, was offered a room on a low floor right away, or come back later for my reserved room. I chose to wait. A few hours later, still a bit before checkin time, went back. It took them a good 10 minutes just to check whether my room was ready, and when it wasn't, she went ahead without asking and checked me into a room on 28. Not a big deal, except as OP has noted, there are two banks of elevators, so getting up to the club floor meant two rides, or climbing stairs.
As OP warned, our keys were not coded correctly. So two rides trying to get up to the lounge, then down to the lobby to get them rekeyed, only to find that now we could get into the lounge but not into our room. Back to the front desk for the 4th time that day. Ugh...
The lounge was nice, but Friday night, after Fest, it was absolutely swamped. At least 50 guests there, and only one poor attendant to both keep the food stocked and to get everyone's drinks. As the "official" hotel of Jazzfest, they ought to be prepared for the event and staff accordingly.
At my 4th check-in, the agent mentioned that the bottled water in my room was free. Of course, it was billed. Turns out only the little bottle sof water were complimentary, which would have been fine, except that there were no little bottles in my room, I suppose because I was in a regular lower-floor room? They eventually reversed that charge, but only after an argument.
There are conference rooms that occupy all the floors below 8, which share the same elevators as the guest rooms. This made for some slow rides midweek as floks were riding from 2-4, 3-6, etc. The out-of-service escalator from the lobby to 2 didn;t help that.
A bathroom fuse blown using the hotel's own hairdryer took two calls to get fixed.
Some positives:
The view from the lounge on 42 is fantastic. Room was clean, the beds were comfortable.
As noted, location is perfect.
I was able to pick up the "ZCoNo" wireless network from my room, unsecured and free, so that saved me the $10/day. I think it's from the Windsor Court.
I stayed there for 2nd weekend Jazzfest, 4/27-5/02. Had a club level room reserved. Tried for an early checkin, was offered a room on a low floor right away, or come back later for my reserved room. I chose to wait. A few hours later, still a bit before checkin time, went back. It took them a good 10 minutes just to check whether my room was ready, and when it wasn't, she went ahead without asking and checked me into a room on 28. Not a big deal, except as OP has noted, there are two banks of elevators, so getting up to the club floor meant two rides, or climbing stairs.
As OP warned, our keys were not coded correctly. So two rides trying to get up to the lounge, then down to the lobby to get them rekeyed, only to find that now we could get into the lounge but not into our room. Back to the front desk for the 4th time that day. Ugh...
The lounge was nice, but Friday night, after Fest, it was absolutely swamped. At least 50 guests there, and only one poor attendant to both keep the food stocked and to get everyone's drinks. As the "official" hotel of Jazzfest, they ought to be prepared for the event and staff accordingly.
At my 4th check-in, the agent mentioned that the bottled water in my room was free. Of course, it was billed. Turns out only the little bottle sof water were complimentary, which would have been fine, except that there were no little bottles in my room, I suppose because I was in a regular lower-floor room? They eventually reversed that charge, but only after an argument.
There are conference rooms that occupy all the floors below 8, which share the same elevators as the guest rooms. This made for some slow rides midweek as floks were riding from 2-4, 3-6, etc. The out-of-service escalator from the lobby to 2 didn;t help that.
A bathroom fuse blown using the hotel's own hairdryer took two calls to get fixed.
Some positives:
The view from the lounge on 42 is fantastic. Room was clean, the beds were comfortable.
As noted, location is perfect.
I was able to pick up the "ZCoNo" wireless network from my room, unsecured and free, so that saved me the $10/day. I think it's from the Windsor Court.
May 9, 2005, 10:55 pm
#21
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: AA Plat, *Wood Plat, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1
I stayed at the hotel four weeks ago. I agree generally with RTWSTARALLIANCE's comments, but thought I would use two experiences to illustrate the customer service response at the hotel.
Upon arrival, we were taken to our "non-smoking" room that *reeked* of cigarettes. Nicholas, the bellman that had carried up our luggage, spoke with the front desk by telephone to get a room reassignment (despite the hotel being overbooked), escorted us with our luggage to the new room (where another bellman from the front desk met us with the new keycards), and apologized sincerely for housekeeping having not noted the presence of smoke in the computer system. The new room was somewhat smaller than the original, but was on a much higher floor and had an excellent view. The problem should have been avoided, but it was a courteous and efficient response.
While preparing for a supper reservation we used the iron and ironing board from the room closet. To our dismay, hot wax sputtered out onto a shirt as the iron heated, the apparent result of a prior occupant having thought it a funny prank to sabotage the iron. When I reported the trouble, Paola, the services manager, immediately took three steps: (1) she sent the shirt out for overnight dry-cleaning, gratis; (2) she had a bellman bring a new iron to the room (and by “new” I mean he removed it from the box and removed the liner paper and stickers in front of me so I’d know it was in proper order); and (3) she offered me my choice of compensatory *wood points or a fruit and cheese platter as an apology for the trouble. The problem was beyond the hotel’s control, but was quickly corrected.
Enjoy your stay in New Orleans. Good travel.
May 10, 2005, 7:13 am
#22
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: West Coast USA
Programs: UA GS/4 MM, AA Exec Plat, Lifetime Hilton D, Hyatt G, Marriott Titanium earned Ambassador
Posts: 7,553
One of the small issues with our non-smoke room was smoke smell. This is a convention Hotel. So you can believe everything in the world is happening in these rooms. Including of course smoking.
Our lower floor room and upper floor room had two bottles of Ozark I believe bottled water. We were never charged. The Hotel is a perfect example of RHIP (rank has its privileges). The upper floors are nicer IMHO and in fact my wife laughed when I commented the toilet paper was better. Boths rooms had a extra roll except the roll in the upper floor had a warper.
It was necessary again for us to go down and get our "new" room keys properly coded. Even after that for some reason only one would work. Go figure. As stated in my original post we had a couple of issues. They were correctly promptly and a person always followed up on the issue.
Our lower floor room and upper floor room had two bottles of Ozark I believe bottled water. We were never charged. The Hotel is a perfect example of RHIP (rank has its privileges). The upper floors are nicer IMHO and in fact my wife laughed when I commented the toilet paper was better. Boths rooms had a extra roll except the roll in the upper floor had a warper.
It was necessary again for us to go down and get our "new" room keys properly coded. Even after that for some reason only one would work. Go figure. As stated in my original post we had a couple of issues. They were correctly promptly and a person always followed up on the issue.
May 10, 2005, 10:40 am
#23
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 4,329
Why must people start a new thread when there is a perfectly good thread to post there comments on a specific hotel? 
Please see this thread titled Sheraton New Orleans
Please see this thread titled Sheraton New Orleans
May 10, 2005, 5:28 pm
#24
Join Date: Jul 2003
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Starwood Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Diamond, Delta Platinum
Posts: 2,188
Originally Posted by RTWSTARALLIANCE
Our lower floor room and upper floor room had two bottles of Ozark I believe bottled water. We were never charged. The Hotel is a perfect example of RHIP (rank has its privileges). The upper floors are nicer IMHO and in fact my wife laughed when I commented the toilet paper was better. Boths rooms had a extra roll except the roll in the upper floor had a warper.
May 10, 2005, 9:53 pm
#25
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: West Coast USA
Programs: UA GS/4 MM, AA Exec Plat, Lifetime Hilton D, Hyatt G, Marriott Titanium earned Ambassador
Posts: 7,553
Sorry about that. Wrap around the toilet paper roll. You just had to know. Regards
Originally Posted by bigjim
What's a warper? Or, on second thought, I might not want to know.
May 11, 2005, 12:26 am
#26
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Houston
Programs: CO Gold Elite; UA Premier Executive; HH Gold VIP
Posts: 65
Originally Posted by swag
Some gripes:
I stayed there for 2nd weekend Jazzfest, 4/27-5/02. Had a club level room reserved. Tried for an early checkin, was offered a room on a low floor right away, or come back later for my reserved room. I chose to wait. A few hours later, still a bit before checkin time, went back. It took them a good 10 minutes just to check whether my room was ready, and when it wasn't, she went ahead without asking and checked me into a room on 28. Not a big deal, except as OP has noted, there are two banks of elevators, so getting up to the club floor meant two rides, or climbing stairs.
As OP warned, our keys were not coded correctly. So two rides trying to get up to the lounge, then down to the lobby to get them rekeyed, only to find that now we could get into the lounge but not into our room. Back to the front desk for the 4th time that day. Ugh...
The lounge was nice, but Friday night, after Fest, it was absolutely swamped. At least 50 guests there, and only one poor attendant to both keep the food stocked and to get everyone's drinks. As the "official" hotel of Jazzfest, they ought to be prepared for the event and staff accordingly.
At my 4th check-in, the agent mentioned that the bottled water in my room was free. Of course, it was billed. Turns out only the little bottle sof water were complimentary, which would have been fine, except that there were no little bottles in my room, I suppose because I was in a regular lower-floor room? They eventually reversed that charge, but only after an argument.
There are conference rooms that occupy all the floors below 8, which share the same elevators as the guest rooms. This made for some slow rides midweek as floks were riding from 2-4, 3-6, etc. The out-of-service escalator from the lobby to 2 didn;t help that.
A bathroom fuse blown using the hotel's own hairdryer took two calls to get fixed.
Some positives:
The view from the lounge on 42 is fantastic. Room was clean, the beds were comfortable.
As noted, location is perfect.
I was able to pick up the "ZCoNo" wireless network from my room, unsecured and free, so that saved me the $10/day. I think it's from the Windsor Court.
I stayed there for 2nd weekend Jazzfest, 4/27-5/02. Had a club level room reserved. Tried for an early checkin, was offered a room on a low floor right away, or come back later for my reserved room. I chose to wait. A few hours later, still a bit before checkin time, went back. It took them a good 10 minutes just to check whether my room was ready, and when it wasn't, she went ahead without asking and checked me into a room on 28. Not a big deal, except as OP has noted, there are two banks of elevators, so getting up to the club floor meant two rides, or climbing stairs.
As OP warned, our keys were not coded correctly. So two rides trying to get up to the lounge, then down to the lobby to get them rekeyed, only to find that now we could get into the lounge but not into our room. Back to the front desk for the 4th time that day. Ugh...
The lounge was nice, but Friday night, after Fest, it was absolutely swamped. At least 50 guests there, and only one poor attendant to both keep the food stocked and to get everyone's drinks. As the "official" hotel of Jazzfest, they ought to be prepared for the event and staff accordingly.
At my 4th check-in, the agent mentioned that the bottled water in my room was free. Of course, it was billed. Turns out only the little bottle sof water were complimentary, which would have been fine, except that there were no little bottles in my room, I suppose because I was in a regular lower-floor room? They eventually reversed that charge, but only after an argument.
There are conference rooms that occupy all the floors below 8, which share the same elevators as the guest rooms. This made for some slow rides midweek as floks were riding from 2-4, 3-6, etc. The out-of-service escalator from the lobby to 2 didn;t help that.
A bathroom fuse blown using the hotel's own hairdryer took two calls to get fixed.
Some positives:
The view from the lounge on 42 is fantastic. Room was clean, the beds were comfortable.
As noted, location is perfect.
I was able to pick up the "ZCoNo" wireless network from my room, unsecured and free, so that saved me the $10/day. I think it's from the Windsor Court.
I'm totally with you on wanting to have a pleasant stay; at the same time, what you were expecting in New Orleans during Jazz Fest?
Aug 28, 2005, 8:50 pm
#27
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: SPG Plat, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 6
Stayed in the Sheraton New Orleans this past week.
Did not get a platinum upgrade on checking in. Had to beg for an eventual upgrade to a club floor room.
Found a half-empty bottle of shampoo in the bathtub when taking a shower late at night. Was too tired to bring this up immediately.
The next night, hot water took a long time to come on. When I called the front desk, was informed that facilities would take 10 minutes to come up. Took them 40 minutes to even follow up with me. This is at 1am in the morning, with an early meeting next morning and me desperately wanting to sleep.
Turns out that the hot water comes on faster if you use the sink (which I discovered while brushing my teeth while waiting for facilities to get back to me). Facilities told me as much when they called.
Called the front desk to complain. The night clerk was extremely unenthusiastic, and I had to extract a Sheraton Promise out of him.
Bad bad experience overall. Will be staying at either of the W's the next time around.
Did not get a platinum upgrade on checking in. Had to beg for an eventual upgrade to a club floor room.
Found a half-empty bottle of shampoo in the bathtub when taking a shower late at night. Was too tired to bring this up immediately.
The next night, hot water took a long time to come on. When I called the front desk, was informed that facilities would take 10 minutes to come up. Took them 40 minutes to even follow up with me. This is at 1am in the morning, with an early meeting next morning and me desperately wanting to sleep.
Turns out that the hot water comes on faster if you use the sink (which I discovered while brushing my teeth while waiting for facilities to get back to me). Facilities told me as much when they called.
Called the front desk to complain. The night clerk was extremely unenthusiastic, and I had to extract a Sheraton Promise out of him.
Bad bad experience overall. Will be staying at either of the W's the next time around.
Aug 30, 2005, 1:38 pm
#28
Join Date: Sep 2004
Programs: MR, AA, Onepass, HH Honors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 12
Stayed there this weekend, but had to rushout because of the hurricane.
I am SPG Gold and was upgraded to a club floor room without a problem. Mostly everything was great and I would stay at this hotel again. Here are the problems i confronted:
-I was charged for drinks when I never took anything out of the minibar. Since I was literally running out because of evacuations due to Katrina, didnt have much time to go over the bill entirely.
-One of the clerks told me i would have to leave the hotel on my checkout day (monday 8/29) he didnt really care about there being a hurricane. He stressed they would NOT extend my reservation, even in this critical time. He said I would basically be in the streets. This was the regular reservations desk, the spg desk had a long line. I couldnt believe what I was told, so i went to the spg desk. The spg clerk told me it would be ok, they had a plan ready for us and to get the name of the clerk that was saying i would be left on the street.
I ran into a gentleman who's sister-in-law was a VP at Westin. He called her up to inform her of the chaos this clerk was causing. We didnt get a chance to follow up because many of us left.
Here are some good points:
-The hotel had an emergency plan ready. They planned on everybody on the 5th floor ( a room with no windows) if an evacuation was to occur and people werent able to leave. They sent everybody letters and voicemails with instructions on what to do.
On the other hand, the Hilton, a couple of blocks away, where i considered staying, let people stay in their rooms. I heard of people running to the hallways and staying low on the ground because of window shattering problems. To me it seems the Hilton didn't have a good plan in place.
I hope everybody I met in New Orleans this past weekend is safe.
I am SPG Gold and was upgraded to a club floor room without a problem. Mostly everything was great and I would stay at this hotel again. Here are the problems i confronted:
-I was charged for drinks when I never took anything out of the minibar. Since I was literally running out because of evacuations due to Katrina, didnt have much time to go over the bill entirely.
-One of the clerks told me i would have to leave the hotel on my checkout day (monday 8/29) he didnt really care about there being a hurricane. He stressed they would NOT extend my reservation, even in this critical time. He said I would basically be in the streets. This was the regular reservations desk, the spg desk had a long line. I couldnt believe what I was told, so i went to the spg desk. The spg clerk told me it would be ok, they had a plan ready for us and to get the name of the clerk that was saying i would be left on the street.
I ran into a gentleman who's sister-in-law was a VP at Westin. He called her up to inform her of the chaos this clerk was causing. We didnt get a chance to follow up because many of us left.
Here are some good points:
-The hotel had an emergency plan ready. They planned on everybody on the 5th floor ( a room with no windows) if an evacuation was to occur and people werent able to leave. They sent everybody letters and voicemails with instructions on what to do.
On the other hand, the Hilton, a couple of blocks away, where i considered staying, let people stay in their rooms. I heard of people running to the hallways and staying low on the ground because of window shattering problems. To me it seems the Hilton didn't have a good plan in place.
I hope everybody I met in New Orleans this past weekend is safe.
Last edited by csrx; Sep 1, 2005 at 3:47 pm
Sep 16, 2005, 11:40 pm
#29
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: San Diego,CA
Posts: 10,090
Progess in the Big Easy
The Hilton did a fantastic job with the guests they had in house just as Starwood did from what I hear.
Fred Sawyers the manager there at the Hilton on duty was absolutely brilliant taking care of guests,the sick and ederly.
The Sheraton is back up and running according to another SPG guest there this week.He claims they are trucking in fresh water,have running water and flushing toilets,working elevators and air being pushed through plastic tubing in the lobby.
Not sure what he meant by plastic tubing.But I'll take his word.
Sounds like recovery is on the way ^
Fred Sawyers the manager there at the Hilton on duty was absolutely brilliant taking care of guests,the sick and ederly.
The Sheraton is back up and running according to another SPG guest there this week.He claims they are trucking in fresh water,have running water and flushing toilets,working elevators and air being pushed through plastic tubing in the lobby.
Not sure what he meant by plastic tubing.But I'll take his word.
Sounds like recovery is on the way ^
May 6, 2006, 8:07 pm
#30
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 596
Did I just get very lucky? Club level at Sheraton NOLA
I joined the SPG program a few months ago (thanks FT!) and have been racking up points quickly via my Amex card. I've only stayed a few times at Starwood properties, I think just two nights since. I'm AA platinum and Hilton Silver. I've never asked for a status match or anything. I just bought a last minute stay at the Sheraton in New Orleans and was given the royal treatment on check in, club level, free breakfast, etc. My internet rate wasn't very pricey (under 200 bucks/nt) and didn't list any of these benefits. I also just checked SPG.com and I'm not shown as being elite.
Wierd, and very nice. Is there a reason for this, a welcome to new members or something, or is this the kind of thing that happens often?
Wierd, and very nice. Is there a reason for this, a welcome to new members or something, or is this the kind of thing that happens often?