It's The Little Things

They had me at The Littlest Prince and Gift From The Sea that lay on the nightstand as we entered our room at the Archer Hotel where we stayed for a few nights in NYC recently.  But they completely won me over with what else they did.

Many hotels pride themselves on the turn down service, leaving chocolate on your pillow in hopes you will have sweet dreams and sweet memories of your stay with them. As nice as it is, it is almost expected. At the Archer in NYC, we got a different surprise. Instead of chocolate on our pillow, precious little gifts awaited our arrival back “home” after a fun-filled but busy day in the bustling city.

The first night we got delicious buttery melt in your mouth shortbread cookies with a card titled IRRESISTIBLE. The name was more than appropriate because the card said, “When it comes to cookies, Americans can’t seem to get enough. ( I know I can’t!) In fact, we eat close to 2 billion cookies each year- that’s about 300 cookies for each of us, (seriously, this seems like a low estimate) nearly 35, 000 in a lifetime, So do your part, and enjoy! Sweet dreams.”

The second night, we were greeted with MELT, delicious truffles for our tasting pleasure . A beautiful card explained: Legend has it that the chocolate truffle was the result of a happy accident. A French chef mistakenly poured hot cream into a bowl of chocolate pieces and found he could form the chocolate paste into bumpy balls that resembled the gourmet tuber. And the taste? C’est magnifique! Sweet dreams.

The third night was SIDE-BY-SIDE, a package of beautiful black and white cookies accompanied by the explanation that “Some say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they eat a black and white cookie. Do they eat the chocolate side first or the vanilla? Maybe they nibble both sides and meet in the middle. Not sure which side to eat first? The answer is there in black and white. Sweet dreams.”

I absolutely loved this brilliant twist of turn down service and marveled at how such a simple act could create such pleasure in my hotel stay. it is something to think about. If you are doing what everyone else is doing, you don’t stand out. It’s the little things that get our attention, and our loyalty.

xo, jan