I’ve been reading mystery stories where the Parisian apartment block concierge is all knowing and all snooping. They don’t seem to perform the functions provided by the concierge in a business hotel.
Does this job still exist in apartment houses? Do they really stay in all the time, peering at those who enter and exit? What do they do in addition–the landlord seems to show up to collect the rents.
They are a dying breed. The little old lady who lives (or lived) under the stairs is the one who signs for your packages, keeps the stoop clear of snow and has all the latest gossip. Nowadays, apartment buildings are letting them die off in order to sell their tiny apartments or convert them into storage rooms.
A shame.
The moving van bandits never strike a building that is guarded by a little old lady.
There is something of a parallel in the urban doorman in places like New York. They definitely see who comes and goes, and handle packages and other services for tenants. My friend worked in one building where he actually had to get on the elevator and run it for tenants so he certainly know who lived there and where.
Indeed, in many New York residential buildings they don’t have doormen as such (guys who open the doors), but rather people who sit behind a desk or counter in the lobby and are known as . . . . concerges.
Judging from personal experience, most high-rise apartments in downtown Toronto have concierges. I’ve been in only one high-rise in London, but it has a concierge.
Most of the new condos in Tokyo have them. He says hello to everyone as they pass by, helps out with making reservations for the cinema room or party room, and is the go-to guy whenever something breaks down.
My mother’s house (Spain) had a portero until five years ago. The building where my local Chemists’ Professional Association keeps its offices still does, and it’s the kind who subjects you to a 3rd degree before letting you go up.
They got the use of one of the apartments (top floor, in those houses with no “under the stairs” apartments) and did maintenance as well as being watchmen. The contract would establish times at which “someone” (husband or wife or child old enough to work) had to be at the door and times when they had to be findable.
I still see them sometimes, but seeing an empty concierge’s desk is more common. One of the indicators of a High Status building is having a human doorman.
There are still plenty of concierges in Paris - I don’t know about other French cities. Their job is closer to a building super or manager than to that of an American hotel concierge.
Basically they clean the shared areas of the building, take care of the mail and the garbage, change the lightbulbs etc. Sometimes they also clean people’s apartments and do ironing etc for extra cash. While it’s true that some of them do a lot of snooping and gossiping, most of them are pretty discreet.
The archetypical concierge is Portuguese (man or woman) and they often have the whole family pitching in.
Many of the Maigret stories feature a concierge . She is the person who the Inspector will visit when a crime has been committed in her apartment block. This is because she is the eyes and ears of the place, knows who comes and goes, and all the little secrets of the residents.
The word always reminds me of the concierge in The Producers. Max and Bloom are looking for the crazy playwright, and they’re accosted by a pushy lady leaning out a window by the stoop. She tells them where to find the guy, and Max says, “Thank you, Madam.” She snaps, “I ain’t a madam. I’m a con-see-URGE!” 
They are? Aren’t those buildings advertised and referred to as doorman buildings?
We’re in one of the less chic parts of town. Even if the live-in concierge has largely gone there is at least someone who cleans the stairwells, courtyard if there is one and distributes the mail. They probably have an “office”, may have a set working day. Ours turns up gives the place a lick and a polish then disappears. We do however have our neighbour, ground floor, of a certain age who will accept packages, let in plumbers and give you the gossip on a need to know basis.
Most people refer to them as doorman buildings, and will always say things like “leave the package with the doorman.” However, in real estate listings and the like (in other words where they could be sued for misdescribing them), they are referred to as concierge buildings.
Correct. The place I lived in for several years, on Rue Chateau-Landon, had just such a family arrangement. She kept the courtyard and entry in good order, he was effectively the building super; in fact he helped repair the electrical supply to my apartment one day when the wires overheated and almost caught fire.
The one thing during that time that could have made a note in a mystery story was when the concierge’s husband got into some sort of altercation with another concierge from next door, that ended with him standing on the pavement outside, screaming, waving a carpet knife and trying to force his way into the other building while several tenants attempted to hold him back. After about ten mintues he finally calmed down a bit and went back home. No one ever called the cops; apparently just a little disgreement between friends.
Thanks!