Working in the hectic world of Malmaison can prepare you for most things, special requests and particular guests are all par for the course. It’s a pleasure to be able to make a guests stay as comfortable as possible and nine times out of ten we are shown gratitude for our efforts but of course there is always one...

As expected, the official opening weekend for the Capital of Culture brought a lot of celebs and dignatories to the hotel, all were a joy to look after I hasten to add. When it came to testing our patience it was a member of the general public who had us on our tip toes.

We knew things would be difficult with this guest from the moment he walked through the doors. Greeted with the usual welcome from our smiley reception team he was on the attack immediately. Guest X was so rude to our staff that other hotel guests complained about the way that he was talking in the lobby.

Numerous special requests were dealt with during his stay and one in particular really stands out. When dining in our brasserie Guest X called the manager over and asked for some real butter as he doesn’t like the margarine which had been put on his table. When the brasserie manager explained that it was in fact unsalted butter that we provide with the fresh baked bread Guest X demanded to see an unopened packet to compare. We obliged and brought the unopened roll of butter to the table and Guest X then decided that the two were different.

Reassuring Guest X simply outraged him further and after causing an uncomfortable atmosphere he demanded that some of the fresh butter be left at his table to come up to room temperature to prove that his suspicions were right. Fifteen minutes later the samples were put to the test and to the embarrassment of Guest X both were found to be fine unsalted butter!

There was no apology at the time and as the table was being cleared after the main course it was noted that both butter dishes were empty! Fast forward another day in our care and we seemed to have mellowed our guest a little, even receiving a compliment on our ‘spectacular cocktails.’ Just when we thought we were winning, Guest X disappeared – walked out to be more accurate! This happens more often than you’d think, it seems that any recollection of leaving credit card details upon checking into the hotel completely disappears.

Of course hotels are unique as we only ask people to pay after they have used our services, imagine saying to the checkout lady at Sainsbury’s that you will only pay once you have consumed everything in your trolley to your full and total satisfaction! This said we always make sure we have your payment details so after Mr X did a runner he was charged fully and we may have even added a slight tip for the waiter.....

Well happy new year Liverpool! What an amazing year this wil be for us all. It's a great feeling to be part of the buzz of Liverpool 08 and everyone at Mal is keen to make sure that the hotel does the city proud when looking after its visitors.

New Years Eve was a bit wild with a full hotel and a great party in full swing. We had live music, a DJ and a piper arranged at midnight. The party went on well into the small hours and of course everyone had a late check out to nurse any sore heads the next day - of which there were plenty!

Exciting news to report from our Kitchen, Mark Bennett our opening head chef has moved onto pastures new after 8 years with the company to pursue a private business venture - best of luck! Mark was keen to make sure that the right person was recruited to maintain the high standard set and I'm delighted to welcome Chef Paul Smith to Mal Liverpool.

Chef Paul brings a world of experience with him, the most outstanding for me is his time spent at Michel Roux's multi award winning London restaurant Le Gavroche. A huge welcome to Paul, I've been lucky enough to see and taste his food so far and I'm sure you'll be impressed.

Come and sample his food for yourself, we have a great special offer on at the moment which is three courses, a glass of wine and coffe for two people for just £28. Log onto www.malmaison.com/register to get you voucher.

Christmas season is well and truly upon us and the hotel has been decked out with amazing festive decorations courtesy of our own florist, Donna at Pure Floral Design.

The lobby has a 9ft tree and vases of baubles in our trademark colours are dotted around the public areas with some amazing burlesque black trees completing the look of our very first Christmas here in Liverpool.

The brasserie has proved to be very popular and has been full to the brim with Christmas lunch and dinner parties, there is still some availability if you haven't already been over - the menu is absolutely fantastic.

A few local offices have hired the mezzanine level of the hotel to host private parties with a difference.

The very first Christmas party ever to be held at Malmaison Liverpool was for leading local law firm Gregory Abrams Davidson.

The night started with a champagne reception followed by exclusive use of our brasserie and then the party really started upstairs with a private bar, comedy club room and a nightclub. It was a wonderful night and great to see all of the different areas of the hotel being used to their full potential.

We are now getting ready for our first New Year's Eve Gala Party, if you have already booked you're in for a treat. The evening will start with a champagne reception followed by a buffet fit for a king with free wine up until 9.30pm. We've got a great line up of band, dj and piper as well as midnight munchies to help soak up some of the alcohol! Give us a call for more information as places are limited.

We love special occasions at Mal, it's one of our specialities and last weekend saw the arrival of a guest that we had been looking forward to welcoming for a number of weeks. Our guest 'Mr X' made a reservation on our special celebration package 'Love Suite Love' in The Kop our top
suite.

The package includes champagne on ice, strawberries, massage and bath oils, candles and a champagne breakfast the following morning. The guest explained at the time of booking that he was going to propose to his partner and requested that we put rose petals on the bed and in the
bath and have a big box of chocolates in the suites games room.

Last Thursday we called the guest to make sure that everything was ok with his reservation and to check what his arrival time would be so that we could have the champagne on ice, the bath full of hot water and petals etc. He told us that that they'd be with us at 6pm but he'd call in earlier to give us an engagement ring to put on her breakfast tray as he'd like to propose the next day.

At long last Saturday arrived and everything was in place for the surprise that evening. By 6 in the evening our mine host had set the lights on low with the candles burning and all the other special requests just as planned and sure enough the couple arrived together to check in. The future Mrs X was under the impression that she was coming to Mal for dinner so when they checked into the hotel she could hardly contain her excitement, if only she knew at that point that she would be
staying in the best room in the house and more but our lips of course remain sealed.

Working in this industry you become a very good judge of character and we couldn't help but feel that the couple was a bit of a mis-match and whilst Mr X was clearly in love, Mrs X may have been in love with his generosity!

After check in we hardly heard from the couple, apart from a few room service orders from the bar and brasserie we didn't see them at all - the room was obviously doing the trick. The next morning there champagne breakfast was brought to The Kop at 10.30am and the engagement
ring was placed beside her champagne flute, that's our part complete it's up to Mr X mow to seal the deal.

Disaster, at 10.55am after just 25 minutes Mr X's partner hurried through the hotel lobby alone and with her overnight bag. We were devastated, after all the careful thought and planning Mr X clearly didn't get the reaction that he'd hoped. Oh well, don't think we will get the wedding after all.