Using concierge at a hotel...
 

i've never understood how to do it. i mean, i've asked them for restaurant recommendations and to secure tickets for stuff for me... but do you pay them?? do you tip them?? how (i.e. just walk up and hand them a $20? ask that it be added to your bill??) or is it just a servie the hotel provides?

for example, i'm staying at the hyatt berlin and called ahead to have the concierge secure some symphony tickets for us.

I usually tip when I ask a concierge to do something -- make a reservation, purchase tickets, etc.

If I'm just asking for information, I usually don't unless they've been unusally helpful.

I have no idea if this is standard or not...

Yes, you tip. Most definitely.

Cash, the harder the request, the bigger the tip, for your request a 20 Euro note should be about right, certainly not less.

This topic has come up before, a search should yield further info.

Enjoy your trip to Berlin, a great city. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

20 Euros seems like quite a bit to me for a rather simple service, but I guess it really depends on the hotel and the circumstances.

Oh, and Bayern München will most definitely win the title again http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif.

so u just walk up and hand them a 20? heh... seems kinda out of place in a 5-star hotel, but okay.

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Actually, whatever amount you feel like is going to be gratefully accepted. I've never had a concierge get mad at me because I tipped too little, or even nothing at all.

I won't buy tickets for sold out games through a concierge (anymore)- but I might still use them for a last minute reservation at a (otherwise sold-out) top Restaurant (they have often been successfull, knwoing each-other locally).

Sometimes, I might even not be a hotel-guest, but just go to the concierge, tell him my reservation request, tip him SFr 20 (in Switzerland), $20 (US) beforehand, and tell him that I am (with my friends) sipping a side-car at the hotel's bar waiting for his confirmation.

Concierges were the original travel agents (in Britain they were called head doormen). And they work on the same commission basis from places they book you into, or an equivalent if you pay your own bill, which is why they always go back to the same suppliers every time. So do not worry that they are not already being paid for their services.

While tipping for assistance over the norm is reasonable, the habit of tipping (or overtipping) them universally is something that has come across the Atlantic in recent times. Fortunately the habit of following this up with ramming the amount you tipped down everybody's throats when you return from your travels with your stories has not made it into European society. Yet!

Tipping a concierge is one of the most difficult task. There are concierges and concierges. If one greets you by name, then you really got one. During your stay you might need his advice for a load of different tasks, cabs, directions etc. For all this don't tip until you leave and you are O.K. with 10 or 20 Euros, depending on the number of small infos you got from him.

Don't give anything for restaurant reservations until you come back. If it was exactly what you wanted and come back very satisfied, then give him a good tip.

For complicated things like an almost impossible plane reservation or hard to get tickets or the hiring of a jet in the middle of the night, tip accordingly high because in order to satisfy your needs he might have to use all the connections he has painfully acquired over years of work.

This is valid for Europe. In the USA the concierge is just a title but they rarely are up to notch except at places like the Pierre in NYC. Don't tip for theater tickets in NYC. The so called hard to get tickets are usually bought by professionals just for the purpose of resell at a big premium. Concierges make a thriving business out of it.

Rudi writes: I seem to remember just such an advantageous utilization of a good hotel Concierge, a few years ago with this particular FlyerTalker! I recorded the general events as follows:

I made no mention of the advance tip that Rudi gave to the hotel's Concierge in that report, but that's indeed what got us the table. And a very desirable table at that! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif From:

My Month In Switzerland Trip Report.

some perfect (meeting highest european concierge standards) concierge experiences in the USA (covers trips of my last 10 years, service/concierge qualities may have changed since then): same-day Beach Blanket Babylon tickets
* San Francisco: Stanford Court (Renaissance, on Nob Hill)
* San Francisco: Mandarin (at the entrance to China town): he even arranged pick-up of my towed-away rental-car, when I was not a hotel guest, just sipping a side-car there
* Colorado Springs: the Broadmoor: he arranged instantly a one-hour tennis-session with Dennis Ralston himself (the tennis-staff would not risk a try before).
* the Pierre, New York: I had breakfast with some FlyerTalk friends (Catman, NJDavid) there, was not a hotel guest, he arranged reasonable priced tickets for the same-day, sold-out, Yankee game, and also arranged umbrellas (it was heavily raining when we left)
* Brown Palace, Denver: once he got me 2 tickets for a same night, sold-out, Avalanche.game (I had to see 'our' swiss goal-keeper Aebischer that night) and also, some years ago, he arranged reasonably priced (+20% above imprinted price) tickets for the Broncos at MileHigh stadium (the year they went to the SuperBowl in San Diego). He also gave the great tip for a Jazz night at the El Chapultepec (have been there again and again)
* the Lodge at Pebble Beach: he arranged a men's tennis-double that included the 'father of Charlie Brown' (Schultz) playing as my partner for the next day (after having noticed my tennis-standard the day before from their prof (I have some fun at resorts, taking a tennis-lesson, starting to play with the pro with my left-hand, later asking him if he would mind to play of a drink, then changing my racket-hand (right) ...
* the Lodge at Vail (he arranged a whole day deep powder ski-trip and guide at the back-bowles, when the ski-school people wouldn't serve us in high season)
* Biltmore, Los Angels (arranged 2 same-day football tickets for UCLA-USC game)
* Auberge du Soleil, Napa Valley (arranged for Wolfram and I, a table for, otherwise sold-out for months), Keller's Franch Laundry for the next evening.
* Château Whistler, Canada: taking care of my 'lost' luggage (UA flights)
* Sutton Place, Vancouver, Canada: arranging dinner at the Le Gavroche and making sure, that they had 2 pieces of Lilli's cake left as a desert for us ... (Lilli is a now 80 year old lady, living on top of the tiny Le Gavroche building)
* Halekulani, Honolulu, HI: for our PiP party they arranged 'everything' to perfection.

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited Dec 23, 2003).]

Conceirge Services are free at hotels.
Speaking of that, 20 Euros..That's a little too much for just some restaraunt advice, not?
And you seem fairly new, Welcome to FT!
-JBLU.

Often 5 star hotels have some of the best concierges in the industry. If a concierge did a service for me (secured hard-to-get tickets, made a day's travel itinerary) on the day I check out, I go to their desk to thank him/her for making my stay a wonderful one. As we shake hands, I give him/her the tip. These professionals deserve every bit of it.

Yes, but for full effect this has to be said while affecting a bad spanish accent :-)

I've found that the easiest way to tip a concierge for service beyond a simple phone call is to write a short thank you note, either on a greeting card (don't ask the concierge for one. eek! the circularity!!!!) or on the hotel stationery in your room. Kind words with a neatly folded bill go a long way.

I think that the examples posted by Rudi are the type that warrant an extra appreciation of thanks (in the form of $$ or €€ ). It is indeed their job to provide the basic services - when we as guests ask for something beyong the norm, I think it's only polite to express thanks.

My favorite example: I wanted to attend a world premier in Copenhagen, but I procrastinated and the performance was sold out and the D'Angleterre concierge had exhausted his usual supply. But the concierge then learned that a few returned tickets were going to be sold at the box office (no mail or phone orders). So the concierge actually went to the box offie on the appointed day and waited in line in order to secure my ticket. In this case, rather than cash, I purchased a small Hartmann belting leather card case before I left the U.S., and presented it with my thank-you card when I arrived at the hotel (especially for business gifts, I always like to give American-made products - for example, if I were giving chocolates to a European I'd take or send truffles from Joseph Schmidt in San Francisco) http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

As for the Berlin tickets, I think it depands on the quality of the performance (and therefore the difficulty of the tickets). If it's for a very desirable program with the Music Director, Sir Simon Rattle, conducting, I would be more inclined to tip than if it were a more pedestrian selection witl a less stellar conductor (but then that's just me) http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Non-NonRev (edited Dec 25, 2003).]

I understood the 20 euros suggestion to be for the securing of symphony tickets not "just some restaurant advice." I agree with a previous poster that the amount of the tip would depend upon the particulars of the performance - 20 euros may not be out of line.

There is only one place where I have regularly used and tipped a concierge - at the Sheraton Santiago. He has arranged for show tickets (prior to arrival in Chile), other occasional special arrangements, and on this last trip, even purchased a cellphone for me out of his own pocket - all ready to go and activated with plenty of prepaid minutes, in time for my arrival (which I of course reimbursed him for immediately upon arrival). The tactful way to tip is generally to leave a note in an envelope with the appropriate sum.

Concierges are good people when they do a good job. I just turned 20 and do not get the best concierge service unless i am staying somewhere like the Ritz or the Peninsula. The business hotel conciereges are horrible. I remember being in the Palace Hotel in Madrid and was treated very very well. I believe concierges at many top hotels have gone to hotel school. I know of a friend that went to Cornell hotel school and worked as the head of the Concierge department at the Boston Ritz. Point being, they should be educated and know whats going on.

IN terms of concierges making money, they do make a few bucks sending all their guests to the most expensive restaurants in teh city. I believe they get commission off of their reservations. They make lots of money off of tickets, but hey it sucks working at a hotel unless you own it. I was considering hotel school myself because I love the idea of travelling, but its best to be served than serve.

You tip concierges at the time of checkout. Tip them if you've had them do something, like make reservations or get tickets for you. You don't tip if you just asked for information.

I prefer to tip the individual who helped me, so I tip at the time of service. I often ask the concierge for directions to or recommendations for specific restaurants (vegetarian), and I usually tip between $1 and $5 depending on his or her level of enthusiasm.

I've very, very rarely used a concierge. In this day and age, it is too easy to do one's own research, buy show tickets online in advance, etc.