Off by a minute?

Crowne Plazas get it. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever stayed in one that missed the mark. The Crowne Plaza Hotel Dallas-Market Center in Dallas, Texas was no exception. They treated me like I was the most important person to walk in their door. Now, there were no platinum perks other than a bottle of cold water at check in, but I can live with that if the other aspects of the hotel are quality - and this was a class act hotel.

I was on the 20th floor, which I was told was the “priority” floor. It was quite spacious and had a nice view of the sunset each evening. I was a little concerned when I first went into the room because the room faced the freeway, but the room was surprisingly quiet.

I learned that this hotel is regularly used as a place where new military recruits arrive for an introduction prior to shipping them off. I guess they like to send them off in style. I think it’s kind of a nice touch. Anyway, I was told that because of the crowds in the restaurant the service might be quicker at the bar, so I took that to heart. I had a wonderful dinner at the bar both nights and the bartenders were great.

They always leave a room service breakfast menu on the bed. You know - the one you are supposed to leave on the door at night. I laughed when I looked at it. It said that in order to receive breakfast you had to leave the request out by 3:01 AM. What happens if you leave it out at 3:02?

Probably the most interesting thing that happened was the express checkout ticket they slipped under my door the first night. I was staying two nights, so I knew it was a mistake. Oh what a mistake. The ticket was for Mr. So-and-so, and it had a rather large bar tab signed on the room. In the address section in very large print it noted “Please don’t send any mail.”

I bet there’s a story there…