favorite black sweater. left in cab. buenos aires.

Janet, if it makes you feel any better, I left and lost my engagement ring in a hotel in Canada. Why did I take it off? Who knows. This is not in any way meant to diminish the loss of your beret because I know how the loss of a favorite piece of clothing can feel. Really just commiserating. Personally I love staying in hotels but I think they throw off my routine enough that I have to take special care not to lose things.

Jill, I very nearly lost my engagement ring in a hotel in Canada too! Although fortunately, it was a bed & breakfast, and the owner came running after us in the parking lot with my ring in hand because I had left it behind! Big hotels are a whole other story though.

Don't give up hope. I once left my carry-on bag on a cart in the downtown Los Angeles train station late at night after an overnight trip from Seattle. I made it all the way out to Long Beach before I realized I'd left it behind. I had noticed a number of shady-looking people hanging around the station, and had no hope of ever seeing it again. BUT -- I prayed to St. Anthony and when I called the station's lost and found the next morning, they said it had been turned in, with everything intact. I think your hat will turn up (or you'll find something even better).

It could be worse--my former housemate went to Alaska with her BF and lost her camera, a large geode she'd bought, a jacket I'd loaned her, her wallet, some gifts she'd bought, and a pair of shoes. These were all separate incidents. I thought that was pretty epic for one trip!
She liked Alaska, but was really bummed out she didn't get pictures or souvenirs.

Separate incidents!!!!! Wow.

Oh crap Janet. I hope the eBay one is perfect! I left the best bikini ever while on vacation in Arizona. I called when I realized and it was never found. It was beautiful, comfortable, flattering and perfect coverage. 25 years ago and I still mourn for it!

Oh no! So sorry about your hat, Janet. Keeping my fingers crossed that the hat you ordered will be the perfect replacement. I read a charming little book last fall about the power of a hat - a fictional story about what happens when French President Mitterrand leaves his favorite black felt hat behind in a restaurant. The hat ends up touching many lives.
https://www.amazon.com/Preside.....1908313471
Here's hoping lost your hat will make someone's life a little brighter, too.
xo

Try calling the hotel during different shifts. Perhaps one person will look more thoroughly than another?

Oh, and a couple of winters ago I left my beloved purple winter coat somewhere and never saw it again. I miss it so much!!

I am so sorry to hear that. I know exactly HOW you feel. Hope you find what you are looking for soon.

Janet, if there is any way that having a person on the ground in New York might be helpful, PM me and I will do whatever I can to recover your beret. Wardrobe staples like that are so important!

Seriously, if this is a job that requires a human to show up at the hotel and ask to search the lost and found (not as easily dismissed as someone on the phone), just let me know. I'm there every week and would consider it a YLF adventure.

Jill58, I thought I was the only one. Engagement and wedding rings.
I feel a little better now.

April!! How incredibly thoughtful.

It doesn't sound silly or stupid or trivial. It sounds like a terrible thing. I always feel terrible when I lose a favorite accessory or garment. They're not just clothes. They're expressions of ourselves.

Sorry about your hat. I hope you get it back or get a perfect replacement

Thanks again for all the support! Xtabay, your poor friend! That's just too much!

My husband is usually the one who loses stuff. I beat myself up terribly when I do something like this.

April, you are too kind! I'm going to try calling the Lexington again over the next couple of days. I did once have a motel in Bishop, CA send me a cheap necklace that I had somehow misplaced in my room when I checked out. I had written it off, but it was a pleasant surprise when it came in the mail. I think it was a Best Western or something, so not an expected level of service!

My personal story is a fountain pen. I used to use them all the time, and I like a super fine tip, very hard to find. And as a result not cheap. I left it in a restaurant on night, after dinner with a friend where I was writing some things down relating to an upcoming trip. It never showed up, and I don't get it, because NOBODY uses a fountain pen!!

Never been able to find a replacement.

Every time I see anything written with that pen - old notes, diaries, etc, I feel the loss. And am annoyed with myself all over again.

Good luck!

Oh I hate when that happens! It's happened to me more than once, which is why when I travel I make a list of what I've brought - I check the list before I leave to make sure I have everything

Once I left a beautiful, artisan handwoven scarf in a restaurant. I didn't realize it for a few days, and when I did I called the restaurant. Fortunately they had it and I went and got it back. That one ended well. Call the hotel back in a few days, maybe one of the employees will have turned it in by then.

This has mercifully never happened to me, but my DH left his laptop on the plane once, and an honest person found it and turned it in. Thank God, because Delta Airlines was no help whatsoever. My DH realized what he had done right after getting off the plane and told them exactly where he'd left it, but it took a while for Delta to get on the plane. When they did, they said it wasn't there, but that was about an hour after everyone had gotten off. I was ready to write that off as a loss.

These things are so frustrating, I have done it more than once!! Hope it all works out with the beret turning up again or the new one working out.

Ugh, I hate that. I recently lost a pair of earmuffs and have been kicking myself over it. All the earmuffs were sold out around here, and my head is kind of hard to fit for earmuffs for some reason--so I was afraid to just order any old pair online. After lots of looking online, I found an identical pair for a reasonable price (I had no idea the ones I had were so expensive...I had gotten them at the end of the season last year at half price, apparently). It makes me feel vain to lament the loss of earmuffs, but darn it, if I want to look good, smashed hat hair isn't my cup of tea.

I hope that you find your hat!

BC, my husband left an iPad on a plane once -- never to be found again.

I'm usually way too careful to lose stuff like that. I tend to be a little OCD, checking and double checking that I have everything. I have been known to turn around a mile from my house to go back and make sure I closed the garage door. Which makes me wonder if i didn't drop my hat in the hotel lobby when I was carrying it along with my scarf. That's the last I remember having it.

Update!

I went to throw in a load of laundry this morning, and lo and behold, in the midst of the basket was my hat!

I must have mindlessly crammed it into my overnight bag and then overlooked it when I unpacked, because I unpacked directly into the laundry hamper. It was easy to miss the black hat among the black top, black socks, and every other black thing in my bag that got put in the laundry.

YAY! I am so happy my hat is not gone! Xtabay, looks like St Anthony came through. Thanks for the nudge.

Yay for finding your hat. I lost my cheap grey slouchy hat on my last trip in NYC and loved that thing. I don't think I can find another one exactly with that slouch. You may have seen me with it in my previous photos. I still think about it often.

Hurrah, Janet! Best outcome possible. I understand about warm hats that work. I'm like Goldilocks trying them on: too big, too small, flattens hair, broadens face. I'm lucky to find a keeper every three years.

Yay! So glad it turned up!

Happy dance!

Even though you know I was fully prepared to march to your hotel and stand firm in the lobby (oh, let's not call it a hissy fit) until someone took me to the lost and found, this is the far better outcome.

Hooray! Can I say that I'm relieved to know that this sort of things do not happen only to me? By the way, I am a fan of St. Anthony. Guess why?

LOL Great outcome!!

Yay Janet! I'm so glad you found it!

I left my leather jacket in a restaurant the other night, and a waitress chased after me to give it back. I can only imagine how sad I would have been!

Awesome!