Concierge

While the receptionist deals with check-in, check-out and other hotel-related matters in the narrower sense, the concierge is available to guests as a contact person for other inquiries, such as advice and bookings for excursions, transfers and restaurants.

Candidates for membership must have reached a minimum age, speak two foreign languages or more, have at least five years of “hall service” in a luxury hotel and provide a recommendation from at least two people.

Services include informational requests, setting dinner reservations, making telephone calls, researching travel arrangements and more.

Typically, concierge companies will bill on an hourly rate, and depending upon the type of task, fees can vary drastically.

In the United Kingdom, since the year 2000 and as of 2010, concierge has become a key marketing and loyalty tool in the banking sector and offered as a benefit on luxury credit cards.

[8] Airport concierge services help travellers make it through security, customs, and immigration faster, and provide lounge access.

[12] Another possibility, suggested by French authors as early as the 19th century, is that "concierge" is a contraction of comte des cierges ("count of candles"), a servant responsible for maintaining the lighting and cleanliness of medieval palaces.