"This is your lucky day" I told the hotel manager as he passed through the bar of the Hotel Pantages. It was 8AM. The bar doubles as a breakfast buffet and I was perched on a stool enjoying fresh fruit, smoked salmon, granola and blueberry strudel.
"Why is this my lucky day?"
"You're lucky I'm not in the hotel business. If I was I would already have hired her - pointing at Gabriella, the young woman managing the breakfast buffet - away."
He smiled "I guess we should give her a raise then"
The above actual conversation is my way of illustrating the pleasure I found in interacting with the hotel staff. That's a big deal for me.
It had been a late night. Ron Hynes had returned to a sold out crowd at Hugh's Room and in the process we'd raised over $1,000 for MusiCounts, the charity that funds music programs in schools. A thoroughly uplifting event but when I finally checked into my hotel at 1AM I was beat. No surprises please!
My room was clean and the bed was comfortable. More I didn't need but more I got anyway. Hardwood floors! (Are the pseudo-religions among us aware that Satan lives in hotel room carpets?) Full kitchen (Do people check into down town hotels with their own eggs?) Spacious bathroom and a closet large enough for a meeting of all the independent thinkers in the Conservative Party of Canada (next time I stay here might sub-rent the closet. If there's less than 12 in your party and you have sleeping bags ask for the room of the cost-cutting guy at the front desk. Don't be deterred by their confusion. I travel to Toronto often and will definitely be staying here again so I'm likely checked in. If my closet is already booked you may have to go ahead and get a room of your own. It's well worth the money. Don't skip breakfast - something i never thought I'd say about a hotel! - and don't start sub-letting your closet. That's my gig.)
The one down site was the coffee maker. Don't get me wrong - I'm doing what I do best ,which is quibbling. The Keurig machine was a whole lot better than the typical hotel room coffee maker but as long as the hotel doesn't mind supplying $120 per kilo coffee for their guests wouldn't it be nice to really go over the top and replace it with a Nespresso machine?