Originally Posted by
ainternational
Generally I fully agree with you here. But one item I have noticed, at least at the PH, GH and RC is that when posing a question such as this, "Can you please recommend a good romantic Italian restaurant within 20 minutes from the property?", I often find the lack of creativity in the suggestions of the concierge to be daunting.
To be specific, I posed this question some time back to the GH staff, then during another stay to the PH staff. They came up with one option. Granted not a bad option, but just one option. Then when posing the question months later, they suggested the same option. Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for sticking to a known good quantity, but I'd like to see them do some research and come up with something unique and creative; work with me to find a good solution and brainstorm a bit. Certainly this will vary to the individual concierge as well, not to mention how busy they are that day, etc.
On the other hand, when I ask for something specific - please book this restaurant at this time, or please find me a Christmas tree available for delivery that is less than 1 meter in height with a cost of less than US $100, they have done flawlessly. In fact, the GH staff in particular has really pulled a rabbit out of a hat a few times, sending their own staff as couriers to pick things up across the city that I needed immediately.
I think part of this is a cultural issue, as Japanese tend to be reluctant to go out on a limb by suggesting something such as a restaurant that they have not yet been to, or perhaps that has not been "pre-approved" by their superiors as a restaurant to recommend to guests. Part of the reason may be to avoid being blamed for a bad recommendation, or simple lack of personal experience in the relevant restaurants. The best people to ask at the hotel for restaurant recommendations are probably F&B management.
As excellent as service can be in Japan, it does often suffer from inflexibility. As you have pointed out, they are capable of performing flawlessly when given specific instructions, or when working within the parameters of their prescribed rules. When a guest's needs necessitate a flexible, customized solution that requires a creative approach their performance is often less impressive.
Originally Posted by
jordyn
Since it seems like the concierge team is regarded as being as good as anyone's, given the lack of success by the Four Seasons in taking on some of the tougher restaurant reservations in Tokyo, I'm wondering if this implies that the role of relationships/connections is less of a big deal in the Tokyo reservations scene (as compared to other cities where good concierges will often be able to get access to some tables ahead of the general public or when a restaurant is otherwise "sold out"), or if some reservations are just so tough that it just doesn't matter which concierge you use, it's essentially random when you'll be able to get into those places?
Exactly. In particular the most popular/famous restaurants already have many locals lining up with cash who want reservations, and tend to have a lot of regular customers who may receive priority for reservations. In most of these cases it will not make any difference which hotel's concierge you use.