I've been hearing so many bad hotel customer service stories lately that I started to lose hope. Then I read a post on MeCo (and later on HotelChatter) about a guest at a Kimpton property—Hotel Monaco in Portland—who, in response to the hotel sending him a note asking if there's anything he needed for his upcoming stay, joked that he couldn't think of anything that wasn't outrageous (like a bed full of puppies, or a tub full of Reese's Pieces) and he wasn't celebrating anything special but if they'd like, they can pretend he's celebrating a quintuple homicide acquittal.
Then they send him back a note saying they couldn't accommodate the puppies or candy thing, but would do their best to make his stay special. He found this when he walked into his room:
Along with a funny handwritten note and a gift certificate for $10 off the minibar. Kudos, Kimpton, for hiring folks with senses of humor and great service attitudes!