I guess the only real request I have made of a concierge was to check me in for a flight on Southwest Airlines. I had a business meeting and couldnt really sit there on my Blackberry checking in for my flight.
Since my flight was at 9:05 the next day, I needed someone with a computer to check in right at 9:05 that morning so that I could get a low boarding pass number. I told him that I really REALLY appreciate a BP number inside of A30.
I guess he figured that I would be a really chintzy tipper since he got me something in the 50s.
Other than that, I have used concierges for directions and restaurant recommendations but nothing involving real work.
Neptunian Slug: sometimes even if you check in immediately 24h before the flight time, you will get a number that high, just because business class and pre-boarding take up all the lower numbers.
Business select is A1-15. Pre-boards don’t get low check in numbers unless they check in early. They get a special boarding folder at the gate that allows them to board first.
The concierge on our trip to Bermuda returned our wet suits to the resort dive shop. We had used them on Christmas day and we leaving the next day. The dive shop was closed, the concierge jade sure they got back.
Roy Blount, Jr. wrote a really fun essay in 1989 about taking a weekend at the Plaza Athenée in NYC (a very uppa-uppa hostelry indeed) and asking the concierge for all kinds of extravagances. He was on assignment: that was the assignment.
That piece would be a lot more interesting if they included information about how much the hotel charged for the various services. I assume if I ordered a live peacock or tarantulas I’d get charged the price of the livestock (plus a markup?), but are the party-planning and drive-to-pick-up-the-stuffed-animal services all part of the room cost, or is there an additional charge? If so, what is it, and can I negotiate?
This may or may not have been strange depending on how it was interpreted.
One time I locked my keys in my car when I was seeing a movie late at night. The theater had closed when the movie ended, so I walked into a nice nearby hotel to ask if they had a slim-jim on hand, or to call for a taxi so I could go home and get my spare key. The receptionist was very nice to me and offered me some fresh fruit even though I made it clear that I wasn’t a guest at the hotel. She called the building maintenance people and they couldn’t help, so she called a taxi. Afterwards, I realized I had misspoke and asked for a blackjack instead of a slim jim. I wondered if she had been nice to me because she thought I was going to thump her on the head. I was either a person asking for help with my car, or a strange man coming in at 1 am and asking for weaponry.
We were on vacation in Mazatlan, and I spotted an interesting-looking butterfly perched out of arm’s reach on the resort wall. At my (somewhat embarrassed) question, the concierge got one of the maintenance folks to fetch me a ladder so I could collect it. Having done so, I thanked the concierge and apologized for the strange request, but she just smiled brightly and said, “If it makes our guests happy, we’re happy to do it.”
