Wanderlust World Wanderlust World If you've never visited a city before, your hotel concierge can be your lifeline. Do you need to find a good Italian restaurant, or a local jazz club? Do you need to find a forest preserve to take a hike? Your concierge will generally be a good source of information on these local questions. They can be particularly helpful with directions and information about public transportation, if you're in a large city.
A concierge will help you obtain reservations at a local restaurant, even at the area's trendiest spots. According to "USA Today," hotel concierges and restaurants usually have a beneficial professional relationship; if a concierge likes a restaurant, she will refer hotel guests to that restaurant often. Because she helps out the restaurant, the restaurant will then call that concierge when it has a cancellation. Hotel guests benefit from this by scoring reservations to some of the hottest places in town.
Do you need tickets to a sold-out concert or play, or a special outing for your kids in an unfamiliar city? Ask your concierge. He will often have creative solutions to your needs. Just like with local restaurants, hotel concierges have relationships with venues, shops, spas and theaters in the area, so they can arrange plans that the typical traveler or hotel guest cannot.
Hotel concierges love to help their guests, but it helps when they know a little something about you. Introduce yourself to the concierge when you check in to the hotel, if she doesn't introduce himself first. Concierge desks are typically located in the hotel lobby, where they are available to guests. Large luxury hotels will have a head concierge who manages a number of other concierges, and many of them work long hours to meet guests' needs at all times.