I hope the letter I wrote to the hotel, which is reprinted here, speaks for itself:
"I am writing to personally let you know just how wonderfully your staff at the Brick Hotel treated us during our stay from December 22-27. Their Herculean efforts to save our Christmas Eve greatly went above and beyond what anyone could or would reasonably expect of a hotel, especially when they themselves needed to go home to their own families. I don't know how you have been able to hire such wonderful people, but they are to be treasured. Below is an explanation of what occurred.
In early November 2021, my wife and I decided to take our first Covid-era vacation. We were going to have a little time to ourselves over Christmas, and had heard wonderful things about the culinary scene in Mexico City. We booked a room at the Brick Hotel (perhaps, in retrospect, one of the better decisions I have made in my 61 years on this planet). I spent a significant amount of time on the app Open Table to find a couple of great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dining experiences. After several hours of reading reviews, I selected Rosa Negra-Polanco ("Rosa Negra") for our Christmas Eve dinner. On November 15, I made a reservation for Rosa Negra at 5:15 p.m. on December 24 through that website. On November 16, at 3:22 p.m. Open Table confirmed my reservation. This was great news as we were very much looking forward to a wonderful Christmas Eve dining experience in Mexico City.
We arrived in Mexico City on December 22. On December 23 at 8:17 a.m. we again confirmed the reservation through the Open Table website for 5:15 on Christmas Eve. In an abundance of caution, on December 24, we asked your hotel to telephonically confirm our Rosa Negra reservation for 5:15 with the Restauruant itself. The hotel did this at about 1 p.m., at which time Rosa Negra again confirmed our reservation for 5:15 on Christmas Eve.
At 4:16 p.m, less than an hour from the start time of the reservation, and as we were getting dressed for what we thought would be our wonderful Mexico City Christmas Eve dining experience, we received the following email: "Reservation Canceled. Your reservation has been canceled by the restaurant. Rosa Negra-Polanco."
We told Alexandro Cadena and Lucero Terron at your Hotel's front desk what had occurred. In an effort to rescue our Christmas Eve Dinner, Alexandro and Lucero offered to provide us a nice dinner at the Hotel. Having eaten at the Hotel the night before, I said that we really wanted another dining experience for Christmas Eve. At that point, Alexandro and Lucero began feverishly calling other restaurants in an effort to find us a table somewhere. They even resorted to running across the street to Blanco Colima. As luck would have it, the Blanco Colima restaurant said they could serve us if we ran across the street in the next 5 minutes. We did, but Blanco Colima nevertheless changed its mind and said that they could only serve us cocktails, but not food. Experiencing yet another cancelation, we returned to the Brick.
We again explained what happened to your wonderful hotel staff, and they immediately hatched a plan. They made us a wonderful cocktail, and opened the patio adjacent to the bar as our own private plein air dining room. They lit candles, set a beautiful table, and provided us with a menu of sumptuous options, and treated us as if we were two of the Three Kings. The subsequent service was so kind and considerate, the food so wonderful, that it literally brought us to tears.
This level of hospitality is so rare. I do not know what you did to instill this level of care and self-sacrifice in your employees, but whatever it is, keep doing it!!! Their over the top care of your guests needs to be acknowledged, and it is my hope that this letter is a small gesture in that direction. From the bottom of our hearts, please thank the staff at the Front Desk, the Bar staff, the waitstaff, and the kitchen staff for rescuing our Christmas Eve. We are forever appreciative. I cannot imagine staying at any other hotel in Mexico City. Again, a million thanks!!!" read more