There are only 66 rooms in the hotel, but the staff numbers in the hundreds. There is always someone to greet you at the front door, and security is discrete, rather than the heavy-handed treatment you will find at some other big-name hotels in Turkey.
Upon arrival, our luggage was quickly whisked away from the street, and arrived in our room before we did.
Baggage and other service activities are never seen in the hallways -- I think the staff uses some sort of lymphatic alternative circulatory system. They pop out of discrete unmarked doors just a few steps from each room and must be coordinated by a video control center somewhere.
"Agent 9! Agent 9! Guest approaching on hall 2, floor 3. Scram! Scram!".
Each time we returned to our room, someone had been by to tidy up, drop something off, pick something up, or perform the turn-down service.
We started calling this unseen mystery force our "Room Fairy."
The sheets were remarkable. Egyptian cotton. We've never found anything close to them back in the states.
Linen handcloths. Linen!
An incomplete list of daytime Room Fairy activities:
- Bottled water appears mid-day.
- Ice bucket always filled after about 3pm.
- Figs disappear, replaced with dates.
- Turkish Delight (a candy) appears.
- Newspapers re-folded and smoothed into original condition.
- Used glassware always replaced.
- A little mat placed under toiletries.
- Toiletries rearranged and lined up.
- Clothes left scattered are folded and put away.
- Bookmark placed in book.
- Q-Tips added to our own supply.
- Turn-down service (more on that later) walked back: TV hutch closed, alarm clock rotated towards room, slippers and foot pad put away, etc.
Also: More towels than you'd ever know what to do with.
An incomplete list of Turn-Down service activities performed by the Room Fairy:
- TV hutch opened, TV pulled out and angled towards the bed. Remote and schedule placed on the nightstand.
- Alarm clock rotated towards pillow.
- Radio tuned to softly playing classical music.
- Curtains drawn.
- Slippers placed on large linen pads on both sides of the bed. (Your bare feet need never touch the carpet!)
- Informational tray, including next day's breakfast specials, placed on bed.
- Night light turned on in bathroom.
- Comforter removed from duvet.
- Late-edition newspapers aligned on desk.
- More ice! Of course, more and more ice!
