To incite check-in and one-up the competition, top hotels around
the world are offering some pretty creative amenities.
Our favorites:

1. Supplying iPods
Guests can “borrow” an Apple iPod at hotels such as the Crescent Hotel Beverly Hills, Miami’s Mayfair Hotel & Spa, and Mexico’s One&Only Palmilla.
2. Loaner goods The Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole lends guests winter ski and summer hiking gear. Boston Harbor Hotel doles out workout clothes. The Loews Anna­polis loans Labrador retriever Luke if you’re in need of a furry companion.
3. Designer soap New York’s Carlyle, a Rosewood hotel, carries Kiehl’s, San Jose’s Hotel Valencia Santana Row stocks Lather, W Hotels tout Bliss, and Georgia’s Cloister backs Bulgari.
4. Valuable freebies Canouan Island’s Raffles Resort comps 30 minutes of beach babysitting. Microtel Inns & Suites offer free phone calls — local and long distance.
— Elaine Glusac