Hotels • April 2017
Concierges rebooted: six quirky hotel services
Have you heard? There’s a hotel concierge for everything now – seasoned experts are on hand to help with anything from planning the perfect proposal to guiding you to a good night’s sleep. The Sunday Times Travel Magazine’s Lucy Thackray picks six of the most inspired hires
The golf concierge
Where? A stay at Mallorca’s Park Hyatt can be summed up in three words: golf, golf and golf. Having three top-of-the-range, 18-hole courses within 15 minutes’ drive, this hilltop resort had to offer more than a caddy to help you perfect that handicap. Enter resident golf concierge Sandra del Reino, who will assess your level of experience, map out your perfect route around the courses, or even join you for lunch among the greens.
The romance gurus
Where? London’s palatial Rosewood Hotel has dynamic duo Amanda Goodman (pictured left) and Robyn Murley (pictured right) as ‘directors of romance’, conjuring up movie-perfect experiences for couples staying or getting married there. With backgrounds in wedding and events planning, their job is to bring rom-com levels of magic to guests’ getaways – and London’s top florists, chocolatiers and jewellers are on speed-dial to make that blush-inducing surprise a reality.
The coffee curator
Where? A perfect latte is a way of life in coffee-producing Costa Rica, and the Costa Rica Marriott has the ‘coffee curator’ to prove it. Not only can he spill the beans on how the hotel’s own plantations are grown, tended and harvested, he’ll also teach you a little latte art, whipping coffee foam into delicate images.
The Lego butler
Where? Any old hotel can call itself ‘family-friendly’, but only a handful make your kids feel like tiny royalty. Ireland’s Ashford Castle in County Mayo is one of them, thanks to its adorable ‘Lego butler’: a white-gloved gent or gal bearing a silver tray of the classic toy bricks. There’s even an in-room Lego menu for kids to order from, with instructions on how to build a miniature copy of the hotel.
The sleep sommelier
Where? New York, the city that never sleeps, is nonetheless home to the world’s first sleep concierge. At boutique hotel The Benjamin, Dr Rebecca Robbins talks guests on the ‘Rest & Renew’ package through their insomnia, suggesting winding-down solutions to help them get a full night’s rest. The hotel even throws in anti-snore or lullaby-playing pillows, meditation tapes and in-room spa treatments to rock you to sleep.
The running concierge
Where? You might associate it more with a serene waltz than a heart-pumping sprint, but Vienna has the edge on the world’s healthiest cities with its own running concierge – found at The Ritz-Carlton. If your trainers are never far from your carry-on, you’ll make full use of fitness fiend Philipp Voigt and his urban circuits – give him a desired time and key sights you want to see en route, and he’ll tailor one to suit you.
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