New Orleans Hotel vs. New Orleans B&B (Part IV)

2216 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans

Today we reach the conclusion of the series of blog posts that many people have been waiting for us to conclude.  I can't blame them.  We like to save the best for last.  Then, we follow up with something else.  Life is good in New Orleans.

Our Iowa correspondent ended her list with one final comparison of what it is like to stay at the Hyatt in the Central Business District and La Belle Esplanade, what many people call: The most unique B&B in New Orleans (TM).  Who says that?  People.  The same people who are waiting for me to finish this series.

So, what is this last comparison?  Okay, I'll tell you:

Hotel:  Staff doing their job.

B&B:  New friends making you feel welcome!!

Sort of a damp squib of a denouement, don't you think?  I didn't add those two exclamation points.  She did it and she's right.  You have two friends in New Orleans.

Tammie the Housekeeper

We had a consultant visit us recently, a real expert in the hospitality field.  This guy knows his stuff.  He was passing through town and stayed with us for a night.  He was a nice enough chap and he didn't want to bother us, even when the smoke alarm battery was low in his room.  Every minute for a couple of hours:  Beep.....Beep.... Beep.  

I asked him, "Why didn't you call us?  Didn't I say that you aren't bothering us if you need to call?  Frau Schmitt and I are only fifty feet away, even if we can't hear the alarm going off."  He said he didn't want to bother us.  That bothers us. A guest's comfort is our primary concern.  We're professional innkeepers, after all.  The worst part is that I changed that battery last month.  Duracell isn't all it's cracked up to be.  

Anyhow, he pulled me aside on his way out to tell me, "Don't tell Frau Schmitt I told you this, but you two should teach classes on how to be professional innkeepers.  You two are what every innkeeper aspires to be.  You're good.  You're two of the best."  I promised not to tell Frau Schmitt but why he didn't want me to, I have no idea.

I have a pretty good idea why he told me the next thing.

He pulled me further aside and whispered, "Don't tell Tammie the Housekeeper this, but she's a housekeeper's housekeeper.  She's discreet and attentive to details.  She deserves a raise."

Believe me, I'm not telling Tammie the Housekeeper that, especially that last part.  

Tammie the Housekeeper is certainly discreet, though.  Even when she's supposed to be around, I don't know where she is half the time.  She's like a ghost.  I found her this afternoon reading a comic book in the dining room.  "Did you clean Le Pelican Suite yet?" I asked.

She looked up.  "I did it about a half hour ago," she answered before she went back to reading.  "Where do you get this old copy of The Brave & The Bold?" she asked.  It was the issue starring Batman and Wildcat---I know you don't care.

Sticker from Crescent City Comics on Freret Street, New Orleans

There's no point in lying.  I get them at Crescent City Comics on Freret Street.  They have boxes of old comics books, 20 for $10.00.  Most of them aren't worth reading, but the new ones are even less so and those cost three bucks or more for one.  Very, very few of our guests are interested in comic book shops, but when they are, I send them to Freret Street.  Nice guys.  Professionals.  I visit every two months or so just to check in.

No matter what you're looking for in New Orleans, remember, you have two friends here...and then there's Tammie the Housekeeper who you will probably never see.  There's something to be said for that.

Want to know what else that professional innkeeper told me when he pulled me aside?  He said, "This was the most unique breakfast I've eaten in months.  It's tops."  Then, he asked me for the address of the Buttermilk Drop Bakery where I got the donuts that morning.  It's a few blocks away from our house, on North Dorgenois Street.  They have a new website.

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.