Losing the Chateau Marmont

The Chateau Marmont is a funky art-deco apartment converted to a hotel in the 1930s with nine nearby cottages acquired during the 1940s.  John Belushi died in a cottage in 1982, a few years before I became its doctor. 

I made 157 visits. My last, in 2002, was not at the request of the hotel but of a national house call agency, Concierge Care. Agencies pay me my usual fee, but they charge a good deal more. It rarely causes a problem because the guest has agreed to pay by the time I arrive.

Unfortunately, the dispatcher answering Concierge Care’s 800 number did not like to deliver bad news. As a result, he took down the caller’s information and cheerfully announced that a doctor would arrive but neglected to mention the fee.

The visit went well, but the guest’s jaw dropped when I handed her my invoice for $400. This was 2002 when the dollar was worth something. Hearing that I only earned $150 did not relieve her distress. Worse, she phoned the front desk to ask the hotel to put it on her bill, adding her displeasure at the size of “the hotel doctor’s” fee.

As the desk clerk counted out my money (probably more than his weekly pay), I explained that I was making this visit for a house call agency which was responsible for the fee. He nodded politely, but the Chateau Marmont has not called since.