Without my asking, housekeeping independently left me a small tube of toothpaste when they apparently deduced correctly that my skimpy toothpaste sample envelope wouldn’t last. Now that’s attention to detail! I loved walking into the lobby and smelling the exquisite fresh flowers. Staff were uniformly pleasant and on top of it. Although I had to ask the front desk if the boxes I’d sent ahead had arrived, they located them all and delivered them to my room promptly. Immaculate rooms, pretty quiet, too.

The hotel’s central location puts Downtown at your fingertips. There is a wonderful group of shops just off the 2nd floor, including an amazingly well-stocked convenience store with good, fresh sandwiches (I enjoyed the turkey/pesto/cranberry wrap in a garlic tortilla), a Starbuck’s (there is also a mini Starbucks in the hotel on the 3rd floor), and some good restaurants, notably Mixt Greens, which features wonderful, huge salads and sandwiches. These restaurants mostly close in the late afternoon, however, but I enjoyed a lovely late bite and glass of wine at the Omni’s Noe bar where the piano man was very good and the vibe was relaxed and welcoming, even to a lone female traveler.

My coworker, a conservative diner, was delighted when we located a Subway just a block or so away and I was delighted that it was right in the bottom of the architectural gem that is the Bradbury Building.

I didn’t bring my laptop and was bummed that the business center computers in the lobby cost $7 for 15 minutes. However, they let you print your boarding pass for free, which was nice.

They have a free car service that will drive you within a 2 mile radius. You call the friendly driver to pick you up. You have to have time to do this, however, because he serves the whole hotel. Still, a really wonderful service.

Walking around Downtown I stumbled across an amazing macaron display at Bottega Louie, a really pretty restaurant at 700 South Grand Avenue – very New York! I didn’t have time to stop for a meal, although the food looked fantastic. I will definitely make time for lunch at Louie’s next trip.