SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AT NYC'S MORGAN HOTEL

A few months ago I wrote about my experience at the Mondrian Hotel. The moral of the story was the hotel was fantastic but the service from the staff of complete-juvenile delinquents treated us miserably and I think I contemplated writing to the hotel to complain, but just had enough energy to publicly rip them apart on my blog.

John was sent a survey via email the week we returned. He said he quickly filled it out with horrible reviews and a note at the end that said he has stayed at almost all of the other properties the Morgan Hotel Group owns and had never received such lackluster service. John writes really great letters, so I am sure he professionally let them know we weren't happy with those bitches who work there.

Flash forward to my February birthday celebration 2009 in NYC. John booked the Morgan Hotel on Madison Ave. It's such a great hotel...AND... the services was as remarkable as we both had experienced with their other hotels - like the Delano in Miami and the Clift in San Francisco. But this time, the service was absolutely extraordinary.

When we arrived they said they upgraded our room to a suite. The guy behind the counter said this was the only room of its kind in the hotel and we will definitely enjoy it. He was right! It was so cute, see pictures in previous post. We had two rooms and it was furnished like it was a room featured in a modern art museum exhibit.

After a quick photo shoot in the room we headed to get something to eat...and on our way out the door I made sure I thanked the woman who upgraded us. In passing I waved and said we were VERY happy with our suite. John said I was being a little Polly-Anna...but oh well!

When we got back to the room and sat down from doing some shopping, we received a knock at the door. It was room service. I said there must be some kind of mix up, we didn't order anything. He replied he had a special gift from the staff."

We received this beautiful plate of fruit and a bottle of white wine with a card that thanked us for being such a great loyal customers, and let them know if they can make our stay any better - or something along those lines - signed by the hotel manager.

The next day the same woman who checked us in was doubling as the concierge. She told us to go to Norfolk and Rivington for brunch at Schiller's Liquor Bar. It was such an AMAZING brunch spot...I could go on for a long time and talk about how the food provided multiple orgasms in my mouth during my Sunday brunch, but I will spare you of foodie talk. Just note, another great way the hotel helped us on our NYC weekend adventure.

AND...When we go to our car in Philadelphia John remembered he left his IPod in the player on the desk in the room. He was positive it was gone forever. I told him I would try to get it back. During the Super Bowl I remembered to call over to the hotel to see if it was found. The cleaning lady placed it in lost and found and the front desk staff arranged for it to be sent via Fed Ex to me. I received it two days later.

Customer service can be so easy, just being socially graceful is all I ask for. When customer service is bad, and when I notice it's bad several times at a hotel, you should speak up and let someone know. I am glad John did! He did such a nice job we were able to enjoy a superior stay at an awesome suite in NYC! I always thought I would fit in with the people of NYC, now I know who I would pick in a war between NYC and LA - The Big Apple all the way!

THE MONDRIAN HOTEL: FULL OF PLASTIC HIGH SCHOOL BEHAVIOR

Remember those certain people who were "too cool" for high school and wouldn't talk to certain kids because they thought they were a "geek" or a "loser." You would walk by these classmates and if they liked you they would treat you like a human...if they didn't like you, you were dog shit under their Doc Martins.

I'm sure this happens in most high schools across America. It just completely makes me ill to think this had any kind of affect on me and others I love from growing up, but since I remember it so vividly, maybe it did.

On Wednesday John and I took a flight out to LA for a trip that started off as an opportunity to hang with my friend Barb who was suppose to be there for her job at myspace, but since her meeting was canceled and I had this plane ticket, John and I decided to head out there for some fun.

John loves Ian Schraiger hotels. He stayed at his first Schraiger hotel years ago called the Paramount in NYC. He has also stayed at the Morgan in NYC before we met. We have stayed at the Delano in Miami, the Clift in San Francisco and we just got back from the Mondrian in LA.

I have been excited about this trip since we planned it...knowing the customer service at the previous hotels made our trips even more spectacular. Unfortunately we felt we were faced with high school BS when we arrived and throughout our stay at the hotel.

This "plastic" behavior came from LA white boys who worked at this West Hollywood property. We pulled up in a Chevy rental car and the doormen looked at us like we were beneath them to open the door for us and just talked to each other. Didn't say hello and barely looked at us. It brought me right back to high school when I would make eye contact with someone who though their shit didn't stink and would give you the "stink eye." Basically throughout our stay - Wed. - Sat. - the doorman, bell hop, front desk staff, concierge were all total douche bag white boys. We begrudgingly tipped them throughout! The room service staff and housekeepers were totally nice and received large tips at the end of our stay because they were so good at their job.

The hotel was very beautiful. They have taken a minimalist approach to design and added some bold color to warm it up. It is like walking around an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. From the balcony looking over the city and above the cool pool/restaurant/bar area to the room's main wall art piece having the TV cleverly hidden behind it, this place pulled out the stops. It's also located on Sunset so it is right in the middle of everything we came for - restaurants and shopping :)

But, I have a huge issue with this rude type of behavior from the staff. Believe me, I am over the classmate BS from high school. It just annoyed John more than anything and since he was annoyed I act like a vicious dog protecting his family. So hopefully the letter I am going to write they hotel will get the mainly hispanic wait staff new jobs at the front of the hotel (wishful thinking, but it would be nice!)

I am sure glad I wasn't one of those "mean girls" in high school because they end up working at the Mondrian Hotel as the valet and bell hops and carry their bad attitudes around instead of our bags. What a hard way to live life!