Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Good hotels make it a point to take care of you when you're there. Great hotels start that process before you get there.

photo: miniature chocolate statue of liberty with flowers

First time in NYC? A chocolate Lady Liberty awaits you at the Ritz.

Take Twin Farms, a small Barnard, VT, inn, where you'll find meals carefully tailored to your likes and dislikes. Before your arrival, the hotel sends you detailed questionnaires about your likes and dislikes (culinary and otherwise) and then has the staff study it carefully. How do you feel about game? Crayfish? Scallops? The questionnaire covers other ground as well, such as allergies to feathers, just in case you're tempted to eat your pillow.

Larger hotels will also go to great lengths to learn your wants and desires. Boston's Onyx Hotel, a 112-room luxury property, uses an online program that lets you select a preference for an eco-friendly room, local newspaper, special kind of pillow - even your favorite beverage, snack, music, or magazine.

The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park, in New York offers the utmost in personal attention with the "Can't Buy Me Love - But You Can Try!" package, offering everything from a consultation with the hotel's chef on a dinner for two to a personalized fireworks display by the Grucci family (set to the music of your choice). All that will get topped off with a private helicopter ride, netting one of the most luxurious hotel packages, anywhere, ever.

But even people stopping in for a less indulgent night will get treated royally. Travelers get a friendly phone call from the Ritz a week before their intended stay. "For instance, if they tell us it's their first time coming to New York, we might put a chocolate Statue of Liberty in the room," says Venice Lacy, the hotel's director of guest recognition. And they'll always greet guests at the door when it's a special occasion. "We'll alert everyone in the front of the hotel if someone's coming for a birthday or anniversary," says Lacy. "I'll come out to the lobby and say we spoke on the phone. It's my favorite part of the job."

Posted on February 13, 2006