I went to Iowa City for a pastoral care visit, and ended up staying an extra night because of a blizzard.
I stayed at the Sheraton. What a wonderful hotel. I especially appreciated the extra fluffy pillows, the elegant bathroom vanity, and the artwork on the walls. The artwork was just my style — a close up photograph of several stalks of wheat framed in silver, an old barn in the middle of a field, and a close-up of another type of plant.
But all was not peaches and cream with my stay in Iowa City.
I had forgotten to bring my cell phone charger. I tried to stop by the US Cellular store to exchange my battery and buy a car charger, but both stores that I drive to through the snow were closed because of the weather!
So then, with a dead cell phone, I went to the Sheraton. As I checked in, I asked if they happened to have any cell phone chargers. They had two boxes full! After looking through about 30 chargers, I found one that matched my cell phone. The woman at the desk was so helpful!
After parking my car in the parking garage and relaxing in my room for a bit, I went out to get something to eat. When I went to pay at the Chinese restaurant, I discovered my wallet was missing.
I went back to the hotel and asked at the front desk if anyone had turned in a wallet. The woman at the desk, a different one this time, said no. She told me to come back if I wanted to leave my information in case someone did turn it in.
After a frantic hour of searching my car, my hotel room, and retracing all my steps (including out into the cold to the Chinese restaurant), it suddenly crossed my mind that the last place I know I had it was at the front desk when I was checking in. So I went back and asked if it was in the box with the cell phone chargers. It was, buried beneath the pile.
Both of the women at the Sheraton were very helpful. I wanted to send a thank you note specifically mentioning their names, but when I asked the next morning, the woman on duty didn’t know who had worked the night before.
I wish I would have gotten their names immediately when they were helping me. Granted, I was a bit frazzled at the time. But from now on I want to get into the habit of getting names right away. Companies often get complaints. I want to make sure they start getting compliments, too, especially when the employees have been so helpful.
