a romantic ralph lauren home weekend

Down east place for aluehome quirky charm Portland, maine it's snowing outside, and you're at the lovely percy inn for a romantic ralph lauren home weekend.You light a candle, thoughtfully provided by the innkeeper.You snuggle.Things heat up. Things really heat up.The smoke alarm goes off, you see a small flame, and the next thing you know, you're throwing a pillow onto the nearby tile floor and stomping it out, hoping you don't wake everybody or, worse yet, catch anything else on fire. You don't.The pillow is extinguished, the smoke alarm stops, and nobody comes knocking on the door.The only fallout is a ruined pillow sham.Phew.You chalk it up to a learning experience be careful with candles and thank heaven that nothing worse happened.You try to get a good night's sleep. The next morning, after a delicious continental breakfast of hardcooked eggs, scones, toast and jam, coffeecake, and a delicious blueberry rhubarb crisp, the nice night manager, mark, comes to give you fresh towels.When he asks how everything was, you 'fess up:There was an accident, completely your fault, when the edges of the pillow sham dangled too close to a flickering flame.You hold up the scorched evidence, apologize, and offer to cover the cost.Just let us know, you say.He's nice about it:Good thing the smoke alarm went off, he says.Glad you're ok. The innkeeper is in florida for the winter, but mark says he'll check with him and let you know.You go about your day, poking around portland in the frigid cold, meeting friends for lunch, shopping, then coming back to warm up and prepare for dinner. A note from the innkeeper, faxed from florida, is waiting under your door.He uses words like ''incident"And ''dilemma"And ''frankly,"Plus phrases like ''could have yielded tragic results. "The upshot is a $70 charge, which would have seemed fine, except that he calls it ''a gesture of goodwill"Since he must replace the entire bedding set ''at a cost considerably more than $70. " There is further talk of his $500 insurance deductible, and of the need to rephotograph the room once the new bed set is in place.There is no mention of concern for your safety, no appreciation for your having been honest about what happened, certainly no sign of regret at having provided a candle in the first place. You feel scolded and disappointed, because the place is otherwise so comfortable, with a charmingly quirky decor and affordable rates.In this 1830 federalstyle row house, you're in the longfellow suite, named for the poet, as are all the rooms(Whitman, shelley, parker, keats).It has a beautiful fourposter bed, wide pine floors, a http://www.herbalonlinestore.com/ cute little sitting area nestled between two windows, and a second small room with a writing desk, sink, and little dormsize refrigerator.The place is in a great location, right near longfellow square in portland's west end, easy walking distance from the portland museum of art. Perhaps most important, the onsite staff has been nothing short of gracious:Mark is smiling and polite, and at 5:30 the night before, Phyllis had called to ask if you needed any help with dinner ideas or reservations. Still, you have noticed other evidence that the official communication is different, that it borders on the snippy.In the bathroom, for instance, is an admonishment to ''please enjoy our ralph lauren towels for bathing, but spare them from makeup removal and shoe shines.Use the cotton pads with our compliments, or, if you prefer, our face cloths. "On the little fridge in the adjoining room, another note warns that the complimentary soft drinks inside must be consumed only while in the room, and the cans must be left for recycling and, apparently, counting:''Sorry, we must charge you $1.50 for each can taken with you from the inn upon departure for consumption elsewhere. " If those permanent notes had been the only words from the innkeeper, perhaps you wouldn't hesitate to return.But they weren't, so you check out thinking that as nice as the place is, and as easy on the wallet at $109 for the room, you wish you had been treated a little more like a guest, and a little less like a child. 8 Ways to Give Your Child a Safer DietMedway doctor allegedly wrote bogus prescriptions, shared the drugs with woman Obscure University of New Hampshire math professor takes major step toward elusive proofPublic invited on comment to eliminate cash tolling on Tobin Bridge;Officials say electronic tolling will reduce congestion, save funds free things to do around bostonsister of marathon bombing victim is released from hospital target launches new bridal collection