A Momentary Fling

Confession:  I am cheating.  Cheating on my longtime hotel brand, Marriott. Despite being an ubber premier level that is not even advertised and entitles me to all sorts of goodies;  Despite having one of those special black membership cards (just like in Up in the Air); despite the fact that I receive personalized Christmas cards from multiple Marriott hotels that know me well enough to say when I approach the counter "hello Ms Kerr...oh, I forgot, Ms. Sasser"....despite all of this, I have not been feeling the love from the St. Louis Marriott West the past few weeks.   I took the time to provide my gentle thoughts in a survey they so kindly sent before breaking down to wrote them a nastygram with all my complaints.  After nothing, I canceled my reservation 1 hour before check-in to switch to another hotel.

Here was my mistake.  I left a bad situation and moved over to nothing less than the Four Seasons. Now, this is the Four Seasons in St. Louis, but it's still the Four Seasons.  It's still over-the-top luxury and uncompromised service.  (It's also an all-night smokey casino filled with thousands of Midwesterners hitting the slots, but you overlook certain things.)   They are everything the Marriott has NOT been these last few weeks.  I've been comparing it to going out on a date with a hot, handsome hunk while on a break from your deadbeat boyfriend.  How can you ever go back? 

Let's start with my room:  beautiful view of the arch, huge flat screen, and lovely bed.  The products?  L'Occitane.  But the best part is the bathroom.  The waterfall shower and the deep tub and the fluffy bathrobes - those are nice.  But what takes the cake is the TV in the mirror.  Yes, that's right, a TV in the mirror!  This way you don't have to miss a minute of the morning news programs while doing your make-up.  You can catch up on a Matt Laurer interview while waiting three minutes to rinse out your conditioner.  It is genius, and most definitely going on the checklist for the future Sasser dream home. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to leave this place tomorrow only to return to the Marriott next week.  I haven't received the apology I've been hoping for or the extra Marriott points that I've been expecting.  But, I guess I did get a momentary fling.  That's gotta be worth something.