I'm curious what my fellow luxury travel FTer's request of properties both prior to and during your stays. Beyond the standard things like ordering in room/villa dining, I'm thinking of things that are more specific to your personal needs / desires or otherwise not always regular of guests to request.

Depending on the type of property, location and other factors, I generally request the following types of services:

Prior to arrival:
- Tempurpedic or foam pillows (versus standard 'down')
- Higher floor, special views, more private villa as appropriate for property type and room / villa type selected
- Greetings by first name versus Mr. X, which I find to be the more common way of being addressed in luxury properties where staff make an effort to learn your name.
- Bike rental / valet service
- Assistance with activity planning
- Car transfers

During the stay:
- Forgotten toiletries (or those that run out and aren't always provided, such as sunscreen)
- Scheduled housekeeping service (I typically schedule it during an hour slot when I'll be exercising, at an activity, working off site, etc)
- Last minute reservation changes and other concierge related requests
- Once in awhile, a forgotten promised amenity or other room service related requests
- In tropical locations, often anti-mosquito candles or spray

Definitely a) foam pillows, and b) a quiet room away from elevators, the pool or other noisy areas. Sometimes I will ask them to empty out the minibar prior to my arrival. It is nice to be able to have somewhere to chill a bottle of wine or cheese that I have picked up during the day without being confronted with the draconian "our sensors are watching you and if you move one thing, you will be charged" sign.

Also, if it is a hotel overseas, I always email the concierge in advance and ask them to make dinner and spa reservations for us.

interesting, thanks for posting. will be an interesting thread im sure.

there is some discussion along similar lines. probably one of the most related threads is the 'what makes the best room' thread (something like that, i linked it in the "what do i get from luxury hotel" thread which is linked in the sticky)

1. Requesting a specific room location prior to my stay. Independent of upgrades, I will often have a preference for a particular room based on the view, position, or other relevant characteristics. I expect a real luxury property to be able to block out my request or something very similar with advance notice, with the obvious exception of a sold-out situation.

2. Special room service requests. Particularly when traveling internationally, it's really nice to be able to get some pancakes and bacon at 2am local time. Even the graveyard chef is capable of using Bisquick, and good properties will honor these irregular orders.

3. Food upon arrival, or placed in advance. When arriving late at a property to check-in, I will sometimes call about 30 minutes prior and ask for an order to be placed and delivered to my room in concert with me getting in. As an aside, the Park Hyatt in Chicago was particularly nice about this, going out and picking me up a steak from Mortons and having it arrive at my door at the exact moment I walked out of the elevator.

4. If it's not standard, I have asked for an iPod speaker for my desk. Most mid-range Marriotts have these, so there's no reason for a five-star hotel to not.

while 2 has been discussed, i dont recall 3 being discussed. genius! ^

added this thread to aforementioned >

I cannot remember at this point which property/properties offered "food in advance" but I know I have seen menu's in the car's when using the hotel car for an airport to hotel transfer. Basically, you can peruse the menu, give your order to the driver who will place the order for you. Your order should be delivered at your convenience upon arrival at the hotel.

I will see if I can remember where I saw this.....

Love to know as well.

I'm surprised that more people don't think of/take advantage of this. It's a lovely feeling to spend a day out and make a call on your way back to a good hotel, only to have a cold beer and hot steak waiting for you.

it was specifically mentioned that MO BKK does that

dont recall if a few other properties were mentioned as doing it as well

This is standard for Mandarin Orientals.

This, my friends, is utterly brilliant. Morton's, perfectly prepared, upon checkin. I love it. I'll need to try this next time I'm at the Park Chicago, or perhaps more likely, in Tokyo where I'll ask them to reach out to Il Mulino New York or one of my other favorite establishments in the area.

Great idea.....

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Quite a few high-end hotels put room service menus in the limousine that transfers you to the hotel, so you can order your food from the menu, via your driver and it will be ready upon arrival in your room. This is nothing new.

i remembered that being mentioned for MO BKK

regardless of whether property offers that option or not, this is something different >

i wonder if some properties can arrange carry out from restaurants that do not do carry out (have only specifically seen this mentioned as an amenity for upper tier accommodations, where they are the only accommodations that can get room service from a particular hotel restaurant, although some properties with kitchens in rooms also offer in room chef)

Depending upon who you are and what level of suite you are staying in, most requests in a top notch hotel, however bizarre, are invariably honoured, just as long as you do not mind the bill that ensues!

My best memory of "not possible, but still got it"-take away is my favourite spaghetti with truffels that my husband brought to me when I was in a hospital. No lux hotel story, but still..