SCENES FROM A CONCIERGE'S DAY

Q: What are the most challenging requests you've received?
A: Some flight attendants from British Airways wanted to purchase a sofa from a little shop I had recommended. The shop is small, and really more of a showroom: customers usually pick colors and have their furniture made and shipped to them. In this case, I arranged to let them buy the floor-model sofa. I got a truck and we picked up the sofa and took it to the airport, where we got the sofa through customs and, with the help of the flight attendants, onto a British Airways plane.

A guest who had just recently given birth was at our hotel on a last minute "must-go" conference. She asked us to find a breast pump and had us arrange to overnight her breast milk home. For the three days of her conference, she brought us her breast milk, we'd put it on dry ice and walk it down the block to the FedEx office. We also had to give her husband instructions on how to prepare the milk and serve it to the baby.

Q: Ever been asked to track down something unusual?
A: A couple asked me to track down some exotic beetles and a certain kind of frog for their son's collection. I searched all over the city and was finally able to find the beetles in a small shop in Chinatown. I wasn't able to find the exact frog, but that same Chinatown shop had a wonderful giant bullfrog preserved in a glass jar. We put it in a box and taped it up so they could take it home with them on the airplane as carry-on luggage.

Q: Have you ever saved the day for a guest?
A: A mother of a bride showed up at my desk quite frantic, with a shoe in one hand and a heel in the other. She'd broken her heel walking up the hotel's staircase and didn't have time to get new shoes. I went down to the engineering department with her heel and her shoe and we made the repair with glue and nails. She was quite impressed!

Joel Stevens is Chief Concierge at Hotel Vitale on San Francisco's waterfront, and has been a concierge for more than five years. "It really is about helping people find that special something they may not even be looking for, and the positive reaction or memories we help facilitate that makes every day worth it."