Concierges go extra mile in Internet age

Gary Stoller, USA TODAY, 10/3/2007 (excerpted)

Adjusting to a new wave of Internet-age travelers in search of unique and authentic travel experiences, hotels are revolutionizing their information desks.

High-end brands are upgrading concierge operations and training staffs to improve their neighborhood knowledge. Other brands are looking for better ways to share information with guests electronically about local restaurants, events and attractions.

Marriott's TownePlace Suites, for example, has put large maps on lobby walls marked with recommended restaurants and attractions. Management makes recommendations with input from guests who have been to the places. Courtyard by Marriott later this year will roll out at Fairfax, Va., its first "Go Board," a flat-panel HDTV with local information, including restaurant recommendations, for guests.

At Loews, the 18-hotel luxury chain, the new "In The Know" program calls on concierges each week to come up with a list of local tips. They share them with front-desk staff and porters, who then pass along the tips to guests. Porters are supposed to provide the tips when delivering bags for guests after check-in.

"Every brand is working on ways to deliver local knowledge," says Marriott's John Wolf. "Hotels must not only figure out how to get local knowledge in the hands of employees and train them to deliver it, but also how to provide local knowledge that is relevant to guests' needs."

Some hotels — particularly luxury ones — are adding concierge staff or supplying them with better computer hardware, software or Internet databases. Some are increasing the training of concierges and front-desk personnel, contracting companies to provide local information or requiring staff to regularly come up with new, local recommendations.

Many non-luxury hotels now realize their guests are not getting top-quality local information and are trying to raise their standards, says Maurice Dancer, president of Les Clefs d'Or USA, the only national organization of hotel lobby concierges. "They're fighting to be the best information provider. It's a delight for the guest."

Trying to steer guests to such local finds, a growing number of hotels are setting up virtual concierge systems — online services that give guests 24-hour access to information normally provided by a concierge. Many have been installed in hotels that haven't had a human concierge or an information desk, says Bjorn Hanson, an industry analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Internet vs. job security

Whether sophisticated information technology could ultimately lead to the demise of the traditional concierge position is a matter of some disagreement in the hospitality industry. Neither the government nor the industry tracks employment numbers.

Except at upscale hotels, the concierge "is going the way of the elevator operator," says Chekitan Dev, a Cornell University hotel school professor. "Owners and operators of midmarket and down-market hotels can no longer justify offering the service of a concierge," he says, because plenty of information is available on the Internet, and "good concierges are hard to find, hard to keep and expensive."

David Cranage, a professor at Penn State's hospitality management school, suggests that hotels' new moves to deliver information without a concierge staff may be akin to banks, a quarter-century ago, adding ATMs and, in some cases, discouraging the use of tellers by charging fees.

Customers initially were unhappy with less personal communication, and banks reversed their policies, he says. But people became more accustomed to using ATMs, and they have become the preferred way of banking. Similarly, hotel guests may use a concierge less as they become more accustomed to using the Internet and other online services for their information.

But [others] say hotels' moves to provide better local information are increasing the number of concierges. Guests at four- and five-star hotels feel that concierges are an integral part of what they are paying for, says Dancer, a concierge at The Pierre in New York. Many guests do Internet research, then ask him whether they made the right restaurant or entertainment decision.

Dancer predicts that, within the next five years, many big-city luxury hotels will have concierges on duty 24 hours per day.

Hotel executive Elizabeth Pizzinato, whose Four Seasons chain has had around-the-clock concierges for years, says the Internet age has done nothing to diminish the importance of concierges.

Hotel guests "are looking for the new, the unusual and the unexpected," she says. "Everybody is short of time, and the concierge is more important than ever."

 

RECENT INITIATIVES BY SOME HOTELS

InterContinental
The luxury brand has launched an "In The Know" program that provides incoming guests with online destination videos and Internet communication with a concierge at their hotel. The company is providing additional training for concierges and encouraging them to share their local knowledge with guests.

InterContinental Vice President David Anderson says today's guests are "more global, extremely savvy and streetwise. They're very astute and picky about what they want."

Holiday Inn
This year, it implemented a virtual concierge service, eHost, that guests can use in their rooms at all North American hotels. Guests use the hotels' free high-speed Internet connections to access the virtual concierge, which provides around-the-clock information about restaurants, attractions, events, movies, shopping and transportation.

Loews
The luxury chain has its own "In The Know" program. Concierges each week come up with a list of local tips and share them with front-desk staff and porters, who then pass along the tips to guests. Porters are supposed to provide the tip when delivering bags to a guest after check-in.

Marriott
Its extended-stay brand, TownePlace Suites, plans to put an 8-feet-high, 8-feet-wide map marked with restaurants and local places of interest on the lobby walls of all 128 hotels by next June, spokesman John Wolf says. Starting next year, all Marriott brands will give guests pocket guides and two-sided cards with local information. The pocket guides list items such as the nearest Starbucks, gas station, post office, "great restaurant with local flavor" and provide directions to tourist attractions. Marriott's two-sided cards include a map of local streets and guide people on walking tours.

Hyatt
With the goal of upgrading local information, Hyatt this month will launch a website that lets members of its frequent-stay program chat with concierges and other travelers. Last year, Hyatt established E-Concierge, an e-mail service that links guests to concierges and lets them book local activities or restaurants before they arrive.

By Gary Stoller