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Strange hotel concierge requests
  • Head concierge at London Hilton on Park Lane, Paul Still, says he once had a guest who wanted to go horse riding in open fields while staying at the hotel. The guest, who was an experienced horse rider, didn't just want a gentle stroll around Hyde Park. He wanted to experience the green English countryside and ride over fields and hedges, which meant going outside of London. The hotel eventually found a local landowner in Suffolk who was quite happy to supply a horse and land. The guest took a train there and spent all day riding.

  • One overprotective father was arranging an airport pick-up for his (grown-up) daughter at a Park Plaza Hotel and insisted the driver use a password and answer for security’s sake! We hope the security question was a funny one!

  • At the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, Erica Goldblatt who was working on the concierge desk alone one Sunday evening received a frantic phone call from a man who said he was planning to propose to his girlfriend that night but the park where he had made all the arrangements was closed. There was one other thing... he wasn't even staying at the hotel. Erica ended up making the arrangements in the hotel's Spanish Suite and placing votive candles by the fireplace which read 'Marry Me?’ The couple arrived at the hotel under the pretence of meeting a friend and were escorted to the suite where the man's girlfriend was surprised and said yes!

  • Hugo de Castro, concierge at the Grand Jersey in St Helier has heard more than a few unusual requests in his 30 years at the hotel. 'There is one lady who lives in South Africa and comes to stay with us every year,' he said. She loves fish and aquariums and each year she goes into town to buy a fish then brings it back to the hotel and asks me to look after it. She specifies that it must live in Evian water so she leaves me some money to buy bottles of water and I look after little Freddie until she returns again.' Ahhh, how sweet!

  • At one Park Plaza Hotel there was a guest who asked for a bedroom to be filled with 100 red roses as a romantic gesture for his girlfriend. So far so romantic... until he was told the cost. He instantly changed his mind and decided to go with 100 petals instead!

  • Imagine the shocked faces of the concierge team at The Cadogan in Knightsbridge when they were asked to find two falcons - one male and one female - for a Sheik visiting from Dubai. They ended up having to arrange for the falcons to be shipped over to Dubai, where falconry is very popular. Joe Condron, concierge at The Cadogan said: 'It was nearly a week before we tracked them down. They didn't come to the hotel as they were shipped straight to Dubai. The Sheik was very pleased though and the next time he came to London he thanked me in person.'

  • Dean Culpan, the operations manager at Guoman’s The Grosvenor Hotel in London, says he's received some strange requests during his time at the hotel but he was shocked when he was asked to carry out an unexpected beauty treatment... 'One of the most unusual requests I have ever had was when I was asked to wax a client’s back – not my favourite experience I must say.'

  • At Plaza on the River in London, a hen group who had just finished an in-suite sushi masterclass asked if the hotel could find a naked man to act as their sushi platter! Sex and the City has a lot to answer for!

  • The Sarojin in Thailand once had a guest request a 'full moon massage' at the top of The Sarojin’s Pakarang Cape. The guest not only wanted the massage when the moon was at its fullest in the night sky, but also wanted it surrounded by 1,000 candles with oysters and champagne served!

  • The staff at a Best Western Hotel couldn't help but giggle when a husband and wife, who were arguing furiously over what they wanted to watch on TV, called room service to demand a second television be installed in their room immediately so they could both watch what they wanted. The staff ended up installing another TV. We just hope the room was big enough for the pair to hear what they were both watching!

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