When you go to a hotel that has a concierge desk, you can wind up with a crappy concierge or an amazing one (we’ve experienced both and OMG, were the crappy ones CRAPPY! But the amazing ones were AMAZING!).
When you get to a concierge desk, you can hope you get an amazing concierge – and there’s an easy way to see if you have “the best of the best,” with just one quick glance…
Continue reading “If You See This, You Know Your Concierge Will Be The Best of The Best”
Concierge services. I just don’t get the appeal. Maybe it’s because I’m someone who enjoys obsessively planning my trips and doesn’t need someone to tell me where to go or what to see. I also think it’s because there have been times I’ve asked them for help and the advice I received was mediocre at best. I’m not saying they’re not useful, just that the service is so inconsistent that having a “concierge desk” at your hotel really doesn’t mean anything anymore. Oftentimes what’s called a concierge is just a customer service agent standing at a different desk. I stayed at a hotel in London where the concierge just sold overpriced theater tickets to the tour groups who were staying there (Note from Sharon: Joe won’t give the hotel’s name but I have no shame. It’s the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum. DO NOT STAY THERE. It’s awful. How it gets 3.5 and 4 stars is BEYOND ME unless they’re paying people to give them good reviews. The WiFi was slow as molasses, the rooms were last updated in 1972, the TV was about 12″ big, and the staff was no help for anything. It is an AWFUL hotel!). And don’t get me started about Las Vegas, where the “concierge” desk was the place you signed up for a tour of a timeshare to get free show tickets, and that was not the service I was looking for.
However, over the years, I’ve found that if a hotel has a Concierge, and I mean a true Concierge, that can add value to a stay more than any suite upgrade or free breakfast ever will. Continue reading “Having A Great Hotel Concierge Spoiled Me Forever”
in the close to thirty years Sharon and I have known each other (Note from Sharon: holy crap, it HAS been that long!), we’ve traveled together a lot. We’ve learned several tips and tricks along the way, many of which we’ve shared here, that have made out travels easier and much more enjoyable. However, while having a conversation a few weeks ago I realized that I never have shared the single most brilliant travel question I’ve ever heard. I’ve been using this trick for longer than I’ve known Sharon and it’s helped me find some of the most amazing places we’ve ever gone to eat. To give proper credit, I have my father to thank for coming up with the question.
The more I’ve thought about the question over the years, the more brilliant it becomes. When I was younger, it was just something my dad said to hotel concierges but now that I’ve been using it for decades I can see the subtle elegance it conveys.
Continue reading “The Most Brilliant Travel Question I’ve Ever Heard”
Hi there – I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday! Here are some travel-related stories I found particularly interesting this week:
Continue reading “A Dream Hotel, A Rental Car Nightmare, The Disney Cruise & More”
Happy Sunday! It was a busy week for those of us who follow miles and points. I’m going to go past the most popular topics to show you some of the other articles that I found interesting this week.
