As his private plane departed Sydney Airport, the musician called the Shangri-La and arranged for room service to deliver a special meal to his partner. One of the world’s most challenging requests occurred at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, from an internationally famous musician who had stayed there. Distraught, she phoned a Waldorf concierge who purchased the oranges in New York, flew them and a passenger to Mexico, and arranged a special meet-and-greet to facilitate customs and immigration. Once, a celebrity who frequented the Towers of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York was in the process of filming a movie in Mexico when she realized that there were no blood oranges on hand for an important scene. Sometimes concierges really do the impossible. The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui, once arranged not only a special horseback ride for a couple, but also went one step further and surprised them with a romantic picnic in the forest, complete with wine, champagne and cheese.Īnd it doesn’t stop there. At The Wequassett Resort and Golf Club on Cape Cod, another savvy concierge made arrangements not only for a young boy to make desserts with the pastry chef-the young man also received a chef’s coat monogrammed with his name, for the special cooking session. At the Bulgari, London, a concierge once flew to Milan to collect 30 boxes of a favorite Italian cereal for a guest-all done within 24 hours, with no expense spared. No matter the luxury hotel, there’s a concierge with a tale to tell. His driver then hand-delivered the saddle to the client’s home. In just 24 hours, the concierge collected the saddle and made arrangements for another of his clients to bring it with him on his British Airways flight. His most memorable tale has to do with assisting a guest who needed a horse’s saddle for her dressage competition. There, a head concierge did everything from fetching fresh seawater from Brighton for a guest’s evening bath, to arranging the purchase of a battleship for another guest who wanted a souvenir of distinction from the United Kingdom. The same kind of exceptional service holds true at The Ritz, London, a member of Leading Hotels of the World. Can you say Ferrari, Porsche, and Aston Martin? At Dad’s request, the Regina concierge hired a model to appear at the jetway with a personalized sign to welcome “the three little princesses.” She then escorted the young girls to their own personal chauffeurs, and-Voila!-each was driven to the Regina in a vintage automobile. “That was a nail-biting situation.” In thanks, the celebrity told Bigler, “You moved the world for me and I appreciate it.”Īt Hotel Regina in Paris, general manager Valentino Piazzi recalls a special request one time when a father brought his three young daughters to town. “I pulled that together very quickly,” he says. Bigler had only a few hours to arrange for a stylist to come in with several chic choices and of course, a fitting. What if you’re a celebrity and you find out another boldfaced name is wearing the same dress to an event? It happened at The Peninsula, New York, when chef concierge Frederick Bigler had to immediately assist a guest with a new outfit. “We obtained the bag, had it shipped to the Beverly Wilshire, and she had it when she boarded her flight to London,” says Mills. Another time, a socialite asked Mills to get her a not-yet-released Louis Vuitton designer handbag from Paris. Mills explains that the Beverly Wilshire caters not only to Hollywood celebrities, but to Fortune 500 CEOs, foreign dignitaries, and political figures, and “the expectation levels are all extremely high.” The cost for the Bugatti’s plane ticket? “It was in the tens of thousands of dollars,” Mills says. He wanted Mills to check-in his $1.2 million Bugatti as luggage in the passenger plane’s cargo hold, so that he could fly with his luxury car stored right beneath him. In Beverly Hills, at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons hotel, chef concierge Jeanne Mills recalls being on the phone with Emirates Airline, trying to fulfill a request of a wealthy guest from Qatar. He says that the globetrotting rocker/humanitarian and his band “were the nicest, most appreciative people you could ever meet.” “We had no food, no nothing,” says Nolan. Faster than you can say, “The Edge,” Nolan made arrangements for the band to stay overnight and then, with no chef on hand, arranged for his wife to serve the entourage her homemade shepherd’s pies. Band leader Bono, who had stayed at the resort previously, wanted to check in at Dromoland – and only Dromoland - and Nolan had to think quickly. It seems that the rock band U2 was stranded at Shannon Airport – just seven miles away. At Ireland’s Dromoland Castle, Managing Director Mark Nolan got an out-of-the-blue phone call a few years back, on Christmas Eve, when the country manor was closed for refurbishment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |