Jailer

Great road-trip trip report. You have a super eye for detail.

BoSoxFan45

I believe Quiet Lion is the resident expert on tipping restaraunt staff. Frankly, a thread on this topic with instructions from the King of the Jungle himself would be greatly appreciated by many, I'm sure.

Although, I must admit, you seem to be a most generous tipper, based on your report thus far.

An incredibly thorough trip report. Wow. Thanks.

blairvanhorn

Starwood Lurker,

I'm really enjoying this trip report. Thanks. It was nice to hear from Mrs. Starwood, too.

Your comments about your colleagues efforts to respond to you inquiries and to provide outstanding customer service were interesting.

When you check into a Starwood property, how much anonymity do you actually have? I mean, the front desk obviously must know you are an employee due to your rate, but do they know anything about your actual position? Just curious.

Thanks again for the report(s).

markos8

Dear William,

Kudos to you and your wife for the star report thus far...'being a Louisiana resident it is a pleasure hearing commentary of my fair state without petrochemical, school graduation rates and potholes as the focus...

I have stayed at both W's in NOLA and have seen their improvement in the last year+...Upgrades have been somewhat attainable with Gold Status and rates are reasonable on occasion...very happy to hear Ramon has it so "on the ball" I did host a group of ten at the restaurant upstairs and found it pricey and subpar compared to what New Orleans is so famous for with regard to culinary experiences...
looking forward to more reports..

MJW

Starwood Lurker

Thanks. I agree that QuietLion needs to write a primer for this sort of thing, but hey, if you're only charged $39 a night, you can afford to be a little more generous.

blairvanhorn, to my knowledge no one knew that "the Starwood Lurker" was arriving other than Nicole and the two general managers. On other stays, as you will see soon, I am never treated with any special partiality. Although, some hotels are on to me and have offered some nice upgrades such as the river view room we had at The Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio. I'm really not that special...just one of the 100,000+ folks that work for Starwood. Usually I am received like any other guest that would check-in to our hotels and while the special treatment is nice, it is not expected and I would never ask for it.

By the way dhammer53, this is all from memory. I wrote nothing down, but I did save the Degustations menu so I would have those details to provide.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]



[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 11-01-2001).]

BoSoxFan45

(Chuckling... )

QuietLion

The only time I've tipped Maitre d's before a meal is to get into a crowded restaurant with no reservation. Ten to 20 dollars should do it depending on the circumstances.

Getting a good table I accomplish through a combination of niceness, persistence, and begging. The ultimate coup in that arena was successfully begging for a window table at Picasso with a spectacular view of the Bellagio fountain show and hearing the manager say to the hostess as they walked away, "You'll just have to tell that 25th-anniversary couple we're sorry..."

Rudi

quote: 'As my wife will tell you, men do not ask for directions. They like to drive around like they know where they're going instead.'

Your wife's name isn't by an chance 'Gisela' and yours might be 'Rudi'?

(great report - thank you).

Starwood Lurker

Day Three
Friday, October 19, 2001

The wife rose late and was running late to make her conference at Tulane Medical Center, so I was on my own for coffee this morning. I woke up enough to kiss her goodbye, wish her a good day, and fall back asleep. There was absolutely nothing pressing on me this day except a 2 pm ride over to the W New Orleans - French Quarter. Mr. Sulzman had agreed to show me around the property and I was particularly interested in seeing what a Carriage House room looked like as opposed to the suites. Also, I was looking forward to meeting his resident black belt whom I had heard a lot of good things about. Nicole was driving over to the W French Quarter for a sales meeting and had offered to give me a ride over and back. Dinner this evening would be at NOLA, another of Chef Emeril's restaurants in the Quarter. It was scheduled for 7:30 pm, so there would be plenty of time to rest up and get dressed after returning from the W French Quarter.

So I lounged around the suite. Specifically, in the W Signature bed. I was beginning to feel bad about being so lethargic when it suddenly occurred to me maybe I was getting ill. Only one way to tell really and that was to get up and start moving around. By the time I got dressed and was able to get the cobwebs out of my head, it was almost noon. I guess the fact that I was hungry was a good sign, so I made a move to leave the suite and head downstairs, bringing in the 'Leave Me Alone" to signal Housekeeping it was fine to clean the room.

On the first floor, I went to the west entrance and headed toward the Mother's Ham Sandwich building, but as I got across the street and looked down to the entrance, there was a line of people about 50 deep snaking out from the front door. "Wow," I thought. "I should have started out sooner." So I spun around and crossed the street taking a long look at the Subway sandwich shop. Suddenly, I remembered…the cheeseburger from Zoe's Bistrot back at the hotel…I had wanted to try that! Up on the second floor where the restaurant was, there were probably fifteen people if you counted the staff. Great for me, I thought. I'll be seated and served in no time.

And I was. The waiter had recognized me from the day before and we talked briefly. While I looked at the menu, he brought iced tea, water, French bread, and butter. I had already made up my mind on the cheeseburger - medium well with Swiss cheese - with pomme frittes, of course. While I waited and snacked at the French bread, the condiments arrived. Soon the cheeseburger and fries did as well. I have to say that the wife was right. It was a terrific cheeseburger with only one problem: the bottom part of the bun was wet - almost soggy. I applied mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onion and turned it over to eat it upside down. Soggy bun aside, it was very tasty and the fries were great, as usual. I signed for the meal and headed back upstairs.

When we drove down a couple of days earlier, the weather was drop dead gorgeous. Sparse clouds, brilliant sunshine, and about 74 degrees Fahrenheit for the high. Now it was beginning to warm up some to about 82 degrees Fahrenheit, but the weather was still holding despite an increase in the humidity. I opened all the blinds in the suite to let the sun in, and turned on the tube. I had about forgotten how dismal weekday daytime television was. If it wasn't for CNN, there wouldn't be anything worthwhile. I soon got bored with that as well and the feeling of lethargy was returning. I decided to finally just give into it and take a nap until 2pm. Maybe I would wake up refreshed.

At 3:30pm Nicole called to apologize: her meeting had been cancelled and she'd forgotten to notify me. She wouldn't be going to the W French Quarter after all. She also said Mr. Sulzman would be in meetings until 4pm, but that he could meet with me after that. She had also reconfirmed our reservations at NOLA. Nicole asked if there was anything else she could do for us. I couldn't think of a thing. She and the rest of the W folks had already treated us like royalty. What more could I have asked for since they seemed to anticipate our every need? I thanked her for her hospitality and told her if I was up to it, I'd make my own way over to the W French Quarter.

For some reason, even with a nap, I couldn't shake myself out of it. I began to think, "maybe it's the bed; maybe I've become addicted to it." I dozed a while longer, hoping to finally come out on top. At 5:30pm the phone rang again. It was NOLA re-confirming our reservation for 7:45pm.

About that time the wife came in. She was also feeling a bit ragged. I could tell she was not doing well so I tried to make myself helpful. She was chilled to the bone and shivering so I got her all covered up and tried to rub some warmth back into her. I was beginning to think I had better call NOLA and beg off, but she said she didn't want to disappoint me and that this would pass after a few hours more or less. I made her some hot tea and finally, at about 7pm, she felt she could make it to NOLA, so we got into a cab, and on our way, with the wife wrapped in my big flannel shirt jacket.

We passed by the Sheraton New Orleans at Canal Street. Crossing over into the Quarter was like entering an entirely different city. Where Poydras and Canal are wide avenues, the streets in the Quarter are suicidally narrow. Not too far into this drive we passed by the W French Quarter. I remember thinking the façade out front looked more modern than I had anticipated. We will definitely try to make it by the next time around. Into the Quarter a few more blocks and our taxi suddenly stopped short with the back of the car in the middle of the intersection as the driver pointed to our right, looking as though he was directing traffic. "There's NOLA but the street is one way and I cannot turn. It's only a couple of doors down." "No problem, we can walk from here," I told him. Cab fare was about $7 US including tip. As I got out of the cab the smell suddenly hit me. The Quarter has its own unique odors. This one was kind of like a combination of beignets and old vomit. Fortunately it lingered only briefly in specific locations. I took short breaths as we made our way down to NOLA past a couple of bars packed with patrons.

NOLA was packed as well. It is much smaller and more casual than Emeril's. When you first enter the maitre d' is stationed immediately across from the front door with his back to the elevator shaft that dominates the floor plan. To the left, the bar swings from near the door to the back near the kitchen. On the right there are groupings of tables, some tall ones with barstools, some shorter ones with regular chairs. After checking in we attempted to sit at a tall table that was empty. We were immediately chased out of them by the maitre d'. Then we tried looking around for a place to lean. Nothing of the sort could be found. We stood in front of the maitre d' for a few minutes, waiting, but no seating was forthcoming. The wife finally explained to him that she has limited ability to stand and requested a chair. To his credit he immediately found a chair for her and tucked it into a small nook between the elevator shaft and the bar. I leaned against the shaft while the waiters worked their way around us. One very large waiter hoisted a tray the size of a tabletop over his head and balanced it with one up-stretched arm. Then he made his way gingerly through the crowd. If balancing trays were an Olympic event he would have scored a 9.6 from me. We were able to see the chefs at work at their craft, heedless to the crowd of soon-to-be-diners nearby, attentive only to the ebb and flow of their own work.

About the time I was getting uncomfortable standing, a young lady came by and asked us to follow her. We got into the elevator and experienced the only quiet moments since we'd entered the restaurant. We commented on this to the young lady and she told us occasionally she'll take refuge in the elevator for a moment just to save her sanity. We arrived on the second floor and were seated next to the waiters' station. Not prime seating, I know, but my hip was telling me at least it was a chair and I should be grateful I didn't have to stand on it any longer. So there we were, a couple of walking wounded. The wife looked positively green, though she had finally warmed up. I could tell she had endured up to this point so we could experience the restaurant. She was being quite a trooper, so I decided we needed to make as quick a night of it as possible.

I guess it is the sign of a four star restaurant to have three people wait on a single table. While every table was taken that I could see, it still seemed like the help outnumbered the patrons. It was pretty much the same routine as at Emeril's. One waiter announced that he and two others would be attending to our needs. He discussed the specials of the day and pointed out the "Taste of NOLA" menu which was similar to the Degustation menu at Emeril's except the NOLA version was only four courses and $50 per person, excluding the wine selections. While he was filling us in, the wife's non-iced water and my iced tea appeared. The wife readily agreed we'd had enough of the multiple course meals the night before. She ordered the New York Strip steak medium-well with new potatoes, and I ordered a salad with field greens and andouille accompanied by a double-cut pork chop.

We settled in and waited for dinner to be served. Between portions of the salad, I tried to comfort the wife and assure her we would not tarry. Finally the main course was served. It's really too bad the wife was feeling so poorly. Her steak came out on the rare side of medium, but it was terrific. I know - I ate at least 1/3 of it! I think she contemplated sending it back, but resisted the urge so as not to delay the meal. Meanwhile I dug into the double-cut pork chop served with sweet potatoes and walnuts. It surprised me they were able to fully cook a hunk of meat that large so well without incinerating the outside. My suspicion is it was seared closed on the grill, then put into the oven to finish off. It was a bit tough and a tad dry, but very tasty nonetheless. The sweet potatoes with walnuts were a perfect side dish, lending just enough sweetness to enhance the pork.

We finished eating quickly and along the way I think we lost one of our waiters. At least all I remember finishing up with were the two. One was busy keeping the water and tea glasses filled and I think it finally got to Mrs. SL when he kept refilling her specifically-asked-for non-iced tea with water from the iced water pitcher. She placed her hand over the top of her water glass to prevent it from being filled again. At first he seemed irritated but then shrugged it off. Later he returned and nervously said that if he didn't keep our glasses filled his boss would think he wasn't doing his job. If she had been feeling better, Mrs. SL would have told him "You are doing your job. Tell you're boss you're putting the desires of your customer first", something I'm sure Emeril demands of his waitstaff. But tonight she just wasn't up to it. She finally gave up and let him keep her glass full. To his credit he did his best to at least keep the ice out.

We did decide that we would split dessert and this was a good decision. At first we asked if we could take it with us. Apparently they are not set up to do this, but the response tipped me off that I was not the first patron to ask. "We're not allowed to package food to go, but we might could find a way around that." I decided to let them off the hook. We ordered a banana pudding pie that was to die for. It was huge with ladyfingers as the outside crust and as we forked up the last morsel, I began to think that perhaps my request for dessert to go was a bit gauche after all.

The tab came to just over $100 including the tip. Not as expensive as Emeril's, but more in line with what I might spend at a four star restaurant in Austin for a special occasion. As we were leaving we inquired how best to get a cab for the return trip. The waiter said to take a left as we exited the building and walk to the next block where there was a cab-stand in front of the hotel. We did so, and as we came to the corner where we'd gotten out of the cab originally (affectionately known as the corner of Beignet and Old Vomit), we looked one direction and the other. You couldn't miss the hotel, but the cab-stand was not to be seen. As we stood pondering which direction to head, an empty cab screeched to a halt next to us with his nose halfway into the intersection. I asked him if he wanted a fare and at first there was no response. Then he made motions for us to get in. As we did, I realized he was on a cell phone via a hands-free headset. I tried not to listen, but the language was definitely Arabic, of which we both have a small familiarity. This made Mrs. SL a little nervous since he carried on the conversation nearly the whole time we were in the cab, like we were not even there. I could only make out a phrase or a word or two here and there. Although it was clear he was talking to someone about Beirut, Lebanon, it didn't sound like he was plotting anything evil. Probably just concerned about folks back home, I thought. In these uncertain times, who wouldn't be.

He dropped us off at the W on Poydras and we hurried upstairs, past the dramatic curtains, the nightclub-but-not-nightclub music and the burning candles. I tucked the wife in and we watched a movie. Funny, I can't remember what it was. The wife doesn't either but then she was semi-asleep during most of it. At 12:30am it was time to shut it down. For some reason the pillows weren't that much of a problem and I fell asleep rather quickly. The last thing I remember thinking about was how I hoped we'd both feel better in the morning. This was our last night in New Orleans and it was an eight hour drive to Houston the next day.

[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 11-06-2001).]

DallaStarwooDelta

William, Excellent report. It sounds as if you've hit many of my favorites. I only hope that you had the opportunity to enjoy "Mothers" as well as the white chocolate bread pudding at the Palace Cafe. A trip to New Orleans isn't quite complete without doing both of these.

IsleTraveller

Starwood Lurker takes Trip reports to new heights

Splendid reports. One of the best I have read. Definitely not one of those..."caught the 7am flight...".