Hotel Marlowe (Cambridge, MA) Ends the Shift with a Flourish
March 25, 2014
It’s like coming home—with a telescope.
Telescope in 621
GM Joe Capalbo is known for reaching across the country to make a guest feel special. It’s much easier when you’re in his domain! Boston is Joe’s domain. We were greeted with the special makings of a Shift Ender (as recently featured on Glassaholic). See, at least somebody reads this blog!
Cocktail-related amenities? We approve. Heartily. Lets make this a trend.
The Shift Ender before construction.
The Shift Ender post construction
So we start with a Shift Ender and lots of delicious snacks. That should tide us over before we hit Sportello and drink and a late evening of fun and games. Hopefully, no phones will be sacrificed.
Snacks include this gorgeous charcuterie plate.
Anyway, thanks Joe. You rock.
Amongst all of the goodies was a note from GM Bill McKinney who runs not only the Bambara downstairs but also the shiny new Highball Lounge where barman Shaher Misif presides. A visit is on the docket for Wednesday (after dinner at Journeyman, no wait, strike that, dinner is slated for EVOO).
621 is a very nice executive class room at the Hotel Marlowe. The key to this room category is the glass shower cube. That’s what we do all this for!
621 has a glass shower.
Once again, I am utterly unlikely to get into the gigantic tub thing. What is it with these huge tubs and underuse?
Bedroom portion of 621.
Living room portion of 621.
And the best news? I get to spend two nights in Boston this time.
This just in from our excursion to drink, here is the inestimable Ezra Star wearing google glass. Sportello was great and so was drink. John Gertsen runs a tight and highly entertaining ship.
Ezra wears glass.
Ezra does her thing.
Somehow we managed to rally for a second evening out. Started with an OK dinner at EVOO, the highlight of which was some Slovakian stew made by a talented student chef. The bar at EVOO tried to make a good drink they call the Bleeding Heart:
3 oz grapefruit juice
2.5 oz Tequila
1 oz orange liqueur (use something not too sweet)
splash of lemon
dash of salt
Shake, serve over crushed ice, float a teaspoon of grenadine, throw in a luxardo cherry
The only problem with EVOO’s version was fake grenadine and a red dye number 5 fake cherry (plus middle quality booze). This drink has enough promise to do it properly at home.
After dinner it was off to the Highball Lounge where barman Shaher Misif presides. Shaher is a dangerous man. I repeat, Shaher is a dangerous man.
Shaher Misif is a dangerous man.
We were joined by a flamboyantly gay mexican architect who really would not keep himself to himself as well as the good man Robert Gonzales, brand Ambassador from Zacapa rum. Robert was super fun. He caused this flaming cocktail to appear.
Things became fuzzy. Liberals were served (with house amaro consisting of 26 ingredients). Alcohol rained from the sky? I believe we even got into the Pappy 23, which escalated the bill nicely into the stratosphere. Oh well, you pay what you get for (or something like that).
Eventually even the bar ceased to act as a barrier. This is Roberto on the wrong side of the bar.
Shaher is a dangerous man. But we think he’s fun anyway.
The Highball Lounge is a great place to drink. Shaher Misif is a dangerous man. Bring your bag of bitcoins. But watch out, Shaher Misif is a dangerous man.
Five showerheads and a tip of the shaker to the Hotel Marlowe.
Joe to the Rescue: The Hotel Marlowe Does a Head Fake
April 5, 2013
Two years ago when I was being treated as a random walk-in guest at Hotel Marlowe on visit 15 or so no less, Joe Capalbo, who was the GM at the time, took it upon himself to fix the problem. He even sent me a toy glass shower for my birthday which to this day lives in my office in Virginia. Thank goodness Joe is around, because he rescued a Marlowe visit again even though he runs the Onxy across town! Thanks Joe.
So what happened? Good question.
I was greeted by name on my arrival this time, and then promptly told by a very green and very chipper manager why they did not have the kind of room that I like available for me this stay. It’s not like I just thought this trip up last week. I have had a reservation for months. Time warp to bad! Guess what Connie and Michal, as a long time overly loyal guest I really don’t care how full the hotel is, why nobody was able to plan around this, or how you might go about getting me the kind of room I would like etc. I am not the hotel manager. You are.
My least favorite part of this “you can’t always get what you want” dance was being given a choice between a low inside cave room with a glass shower or a shower curtain room of the sort I used to whine about in 2010. That’s the very same trick we used on our toddlers to get them to feel they had some power in the “what’s for dinner” department. (They’re teenagers now, FWIW.) “Would you like yummy peas or delicious spinach?” we would ask. Of course, grownups get to say, “neither, thanks.” Toddlers can be bamboozled. I’m pretty sure I may be a grownup?! Maybe.
So I dutifully checked in to room 3-something (?!), ditched my stuff and caught the T to the new offices in Boston (very cool, BTW and situated in a hot area just by South Station). Underwhelmed by my Marlowe welcome, I tweeted, “The big ‘whatever’ from hotel marlowe. They know my name but whiff on preferences. @kimpton has me spoiled, but not this week. Minus 10.”
 Cave room nice (but dark). |
 Glass shower trumps light when forced. |
 Window overlooks parking courtyard. |
During dinner and when getting a nightcap afterwards, my Boston peeps had great fun tweeting to the Ritz about getting me to jump ship from Kimpton. Much fun was had by all. And lo and behold, when I returned around midnight there was a new executive class room set up for me with all my stuff in it and a stinky cheese welcome package from Joe.
Things were definitely looking up, because I have a telescope.
Exec class rooms with telescopes are what I like.
Now a little aside about management spin. After the midnight upgrade which remedied the situation, Connie saw me in the morning and insisted on letting me know that I was given this room “due to a cancellation.” Really? Not only do I not need to know this, all it does is underline how the Hotel Marlowe apparently really feels about my business. “Good thing someone more important to us than you didn’t show up so we could backfill.” Uh, thanks. Try this instead, “We noted your disappointment and fixed the problem. It will never happen again.” Green.
At least 621 is nice.
More room to spread out in 621.
Morning light in the sitting room (which was properly used).
I brought my own bathrobe and slippers for the weekend in NH. (Music time!)
Looks like home.
My kind of shower.
Functional yet glass.
For room preference shenanigans we will award the Hotel Marlowe two showerheads and then at the last minute (only because a more important hotel did not show up) change it to four showerheads.
Just before heading out to NH, I had a very nice chat with Michal Penek (the new GM). It’s always good to put a human face on things. I’m looking forward to my next visit.
In other Boston news: Mortons is the same as it is in every other city (yawn). The Tufts kids are super psyched about software security. The Blue Room is as excellent as ever with yet another new chef who is taking the direction Florentine. And the coup de grace this trip, drink was in rare form, serving delicious Liberals (real Amer Picon in stock), milk punch, and an Ezra-made concoction.
RSS - Posts