Hand on the pulse: about concierges in Russia. The Golden Keys That Open All Doors: What the World Concierge Organization Can Do Lena Hoschek Dress, Shoes & Other Stories
The International Association of Professional Concierges "Golden Keys" (Les Clefs d'Or) was founded in 1929 in Paris and today has more than four thousand employees of five-star hotels around the world who have passed exams and have been interviewed by members of the executive committee. But many learned about its power only after the Wes Anderson film “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. You can turn to a person with golden keys on his lapel with a request for help in any business, city or country - his comrades in the association will always come to his aid.
suit, vest, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
shirt, VAN LAACK
tie, WINDSOR
boots, BOSS
ILYA WRITTEN,
concierge Hotel Four Seasons Moscow:
“About a year ago, a couple from America approached me with a request to organize an unforgettable birthday party for their daughter - she was turning 30 years old. She is fond of ballet and loves the Bolshoi Theater very much. I gave her a private tour of the historical stage, and after that she changed into tights and pointe shoes and took part in a rehearsal with the Bolshoi troupe.
three piece suit, BROOKS BROTHERS
turtleneck, CORNELIANI
boots, FABI
PAVEL NIKOLAEV, president of the Russian section of the Golden Keys,
Chief Concierge at Baltschug Kempinski Hotel:
“In 2004, an Arab sheikh lived with us, and his assistant approached me: the sheikh certainly wanted to buy an antique edition of the Koran, which, according to his information, was in Russia. None of the Moscow book dealers had heard of this edition, but we found it in St. Petersburg, agreed on a price, and the sheikh’s assistant with security guards went there by night train - a diplomat with dollars was handcuffed to the hand of one of the guards. Having bought the Koran, they placed it in a safe box in the Grand Hotel Europe, and took it away before the train back. The sheikh's joy knew no bounds, and I received one of the biggest tips in my life.
Shirt, vest,
DIOR HOMME
trousers, VAN LAACK
shoes,
CHRISTIAN DIOR
Costume, JOOP
shirt, BOSS
tie, BRIONI
vest, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
vest, FABI
ANNA ENDRIKHOVSKAYA, the best young concierge of the Golden Keys Association in 2013, the concierge of the Metropol Hotel
IGOR LANTSEV, Chief Concierge at The St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya
Shirt, jacket, VAN LAACK
trousers, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
butterfly, BROOKS BROTHERS
boots, ROCCO P
ANNA ENDRIKHOVSKAYA:
“Recently I got a call at 2 am from Paris: a woman, a very famous Russian designer, forgot her cosmetic bag in Moscow, and tomorrow she has a show at fashion week. It was necessary either to send cosmetics from here, or to collect similar funds there. It took about three hours of telephone conversations, but in the end, with the help of the night concierge of the Le Bristol hotel, where the designer was staying, I agreed with the consultants of all the stores that sell the right brands that they would open an hour earlier, and the cosmetic bag was recreated by the right time. .
Costume, LOUIS VUITTON
shirt, VAN LAACK
vest, CORNELIANI
tie, WINDSOR
boots, BALDININI
three piece suit, BRIONI
shirt, VAN LAACK
tie, CORNELIANI
loafers, SANTONI
suitcases, LOUIS VUITTON
ANDREY KORYSTOV, vice-president of the Russian section of Golden Keys,
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel:
“Once I saw a very sad guest in the hotel bar and asked what happened. He said: “Tomorrow I’m returning home, and my wife thinks that I’m on a business trip in the capital of another state, I just called and asked to bring local sweets, a bottle of liquor and some kind of box.” The next morning, I knocked on his door with a box, a bottle, and sweets from this country, and - an important detail - I handed him some notes of the local currency to put in his wallet for completeness.
Concierges are secret agents of the world of luxury, and the Golden Keys Association is almost a Masonic lodge. Kommersant-Lifestyle proves that no concierge service can replace an experienced campaigner with countless tips and connections.
Many hotel guests still often confuse concierges with administrators, and meanwhile they understand high gastronomy, contemporary art, ballet, watch brands, jewelry trends, subtleties of etiquette and other similar issues better than many offspring of rich families. These are people with an innate sense of tact and impeccable taste, with gentle manners that cannot be learned, and intuition that cannot be bought. These are people who know not only the best restaurants in the city, but also their owners, on friendly terms with curators of fashion galleries. At the same time, an important quality for a concierge is the ability to elegantly balance between willingness to please and secular snobbery. And also - not to be surprised at anything: they have to listen to eccentric requests from guests much more often than you might think.
“All the work of a concierge is personal charm, communication, connections, friendship,” says Andrey Korystov, chief concierge at Metropol and president of the Russian section of the Golden Keys association. - The scheme, when a restaurant wants to see guests in five-star hotels and therefore pays interest to the concierge, does not work in the best hotels. I try to be friends with restaurants, we monitor this market, get to know each other, see what the institution is like. A personal acquaintance with the restaurant manager just helps us in difficult situations, for example, when all the tables are booked. Success in such enterprises depends on the professionalism of the concierge. Not everyone will be able to book a table in a popular restaurant, but for someone it’s enough just to call and ask, and the guest will most likely even be offered a compliment.”
It is also common practice to “entrust” a guest to colleagues from other hotels. “For example, if a guest comes up to the counter and asks to book a taxi for him to the Leningradsky railway station, I will ask if he is going to St. Petersburg and in which hotel he will stay,” Andrey Korystov continues. - If this is a hotel where I know the concierge, I will give the guest my business card and tell them to show it to the hotel. Even if he doesn’t need anything, our goal is for the guest to see the personal attitude and know that in case of anything they will be taken care of.”
It is almost impossible to learn to be a concierge. Some schools of hospitality formally give the specialty "concierge", but it happens more often that concierges produce one of the most intelligent employees. In a large hotel, there are usually two or three concierges who are selected by the head of the service. He can see the talent in the bellboy, in the waiter, and in the doorman.
The presence of a concierge desk is a prerequisite for classifying a hotel as a five-star hotel. Some high-end four-star hotels also have such an employee on the staff, but not as all-powerful as five-star hotel concierges, not to mention members of the Golden Keys association, made famous by Wes Anderson at the Grand Budapest Hotel.
The professional association of concierges of the Golden Keys grand hotels is more often called in French Les Clefs d’Or, since it was born - what a surprise! - in Paris. You can also see the abbreviation U.I.C.H, from Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hôtels - only a person with a hotel business card and the position of “concierge” can be a member of the association, no freelancers and private agents can apply for membership.
The association's current emblem, the crossed golden keys worn by concierges on their lapels, was designed in collaboration with Bucherer. Luxury brands generally like to cooperate with the association, because if the concierge is familiar with the portfolio of a jewelry, watch or fashion brand, the chances that he will recommend guests to look into their boutique increase, but not radically - a professional concierge must remain impartial, like a good gastronomic critic. During the annual congresses of the Golden Keys, master classes are held for participants on a variety of topics in the luxury industry. “This may be a representative of a black caviar company who will tell you about the features of the right choice, tell you how to identify a fake,” says Anton Noshchenko, head concierge at the StandArt Hotel. - Or an expert in ballet who will destroy popular myths about this art form; eminent bartender or sommelier, whose advice will help to give a competent recommendation to the guest; or the founder of the Butler School, whose graduates serve the royal families, will help to understand the intricacies of etiquette.
"Golden Keys" is not a mysterious order, but a completely modern organization, albeit built on the principle of a club. One of its tasks is to introduce members to each other in order to create a worldwide network of concierges.
Les Clef d'Or was founded in 1929 when Pierre Quentin, concierge at the Ambassador Hotel in Paris, persuaded colleagues from other hotels to unite and work together. One of his goals was to increase the prestige of the profession: one concierge can do a lot, but if he has agents throughout the city, he becomes truly indispensable.
Applicants are asked to complete a series of written assignments. The task can be, for example, to create a complex route with many transfers, taking into account the change in time zones
The motto of the association to this day is the phrase "In Service Through Friendship" ("Service through friendship"). A good concierge works exactly like this - not for service, but for friendship. He becomes your friend for life and will not refuse to help, even if you are no longer a hotel guest. What's more, independent concierge services like Quintessentially often turn to hotel concierges for help as their field agents.
To join Les Clef d'Or, a candidate must have worked at a grand hotel for at least four years (this is how five-star hotels are called in the association, in the old manner, although such a classification does not formally exist), of which three years - as a concierge . After that, you can apply. “When all the conditions for joining the organization are met, the candidate must prepare a presentation about himself and present his project aimed at improving the work and development of the organization,” says Anton Noshchenko. - The candidate must have a recommendation from two current mentor members who also oversee the introductory project. And this is by no means a formality, since none of us will vouch for an unfamiliar person from the street.
Golden Keys has about 4,000 members in about 50 countries around the world. In France, there are several thousand of them, in Russia - only about 40. The history of the Russian section began in 1995 with the fact that Moscow and St. Petersburg concierges were admitted as affiliated members to the Hungarian section, at that time the most numerous in Eastern Europe. Geographical boundaries in Les Clefs d'Or are often arbitrary in general - for example, Kyiv and Baku concierges now belong to the Russian section.
In Asia, the association is just beginning to develop. As Asian tourists embrace the delights of old-world travel and old-fashioned European luxury, Golden Keys concierges are on the rise at Asian (particularly Chinese) hotels. A concierge with keys on his lapel is a special distinction for a hotel, like a Michelin-starred restaurant or a spa under a well-known cosmetic brand.
They try to support young concierges in Golden Keys, but not to indulge. Every year, the association presents the Andy Pongo Award to the best young concierge (under 35). Candidates are checked with the help of inspectors - secret guests - and are asked to complete a series of written tasks. “The task can be, for example, to draw up a complex route with many transfers that take into account the change in time zones,” says Anna Yendrikhovskaya, who won the competition in 2013. - At the same time, you can use any sources, ask friends for help, because the meaning of the work of a concierge is precisely to be able to quickly find the right answers to tricky questions and know who to turn to for help. After that, the candidate goes to the annual congress - in my case in New Zealand, - and there the main test awaits him: a conversation with important members of the association and invited guests, as a rule, employees of the luxury industry. This stage is the most difficult: it seems to you that you have already seen everything, communicated with both celebrities and difficult guests, but here you need to speak to strict colleagues, some of whom have been in the profession for 60 years and have found that world of old luxury, in which celebrities staying at grand hotels did not change their name, and they could be addressed as “Hello, Mr. Sinatra” ... "
Many startups have tried to develop chat and voice applications with concierge features in different segments - from mid-range to ultra-luxury. The Golden Keys concierges are completely calm about this: until some particularly complex neural network appears on the market, which, among other things, has a ton of personal charm, they will not have to retrain.
When you understand how wide the range of knowledge and capabilities of the concierge really is, the question of whether mobile applications will replace them in the near future disappears by itself. In recent years, many startups have tried to develop chat and voice applications with concierge features in different segments - from mid-range to ultra-luxury. The Golden Keys concierges are completely calm about this: until some particularly complex neural network appears on the market, which, among other things, has a ton of personal charm, they will not have to retrain. “We have been approached many times with offers to participate in the creation of such robot concierges, to become their trainers,” says Anna Yendrikhovskaya. - But it seems to me that in the next 20 years no concierge application will be able to replace it. The main thing that we give is emotions, a human and very individual attitude.”
As an example of what a concierge can do and what an application devoid of initiative and cordiality will never think of, Anna tells the following story: one of the regular guests of the hotel, an intelligent elderly gentleman, a connoisseur of Russian ballet, was an ardent admirer of the prima of one of the Moscow theaters. And once he found in his room pointe shoes autographed by the object of his adoration - Anna, as a member of the Golden Keys, was enough for this one call, but the main thing here, of course, is the gesture itself.
The concierge is also a psychologist. Sometimes even literally: Andrei Korystov, as an anecdote, tells how once a famous Russian athlete, a guest of the Metropol, gave him his mobile phone and asked him to conduct SMS conversations with a girl for him. And Korystov reconciled them.
In addition, in the social plane, a concierge is a person who can correctly calculate the degree of awareness and range of interests of a guest in terms of demeanor, clothing style, accent, and advise something really relevant. So, if the Internet gives you “Teremok” or “Pushkin” for the request “Russian cuisine restaurant”, then the concierge, having seen a gourmet in you, will rather send you to the “White Rabbit” or Twins.
And finally, do not forget that the skill of personal communication is an important social capital in a decent society. Even the very habit of turning to the concierge for help is that same old-fashioned suite, a bastion in which news is still passed from mouth to mouth, where a look and a handshake mean more than a tip, and a conversation about the weather is filled with hidden meaning. The digital industry will be the last to learn to imitate these subtle mechanisms - which is why so far most IT startups in the luxury field have failed. The Internet will conquer this fortress last, after a very long siege and only having learned how to properly address its inhabitants.
Photo: film stills from The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Ksenia Naumova
She announced Wes Anderson as a director with his own - and very colorful - handwriting. This time, the creator of "The Tenenbaum Family" and "Kingdom of the Full Moon" told the viewer the story of the noble and honest hotel concierge Monsieur Gustav.
If you look closely, Gustav, who lives in the 1930s, can see crossed golden keys on his suit - a sign that he belongs to the international association of concierges. Which, by the way, actually exists: its representatives even advised Anderson on the details of the "Grand Budapest".
To find out if there is a place in the modern world for Gustavian nobility and devotion to the profession, as well as to find out how the capital's owners of honorary golden keys work, the site's correspondent went to the oldest Moscow hotel, the Metropol. We met with the chief concierge of the hotel and talked about the omnipotence of the representatives of his profession, the authenticity of Anderson's film and why the computer will never be able to replace the hotel "manager".
"Metropol". Photo: site
The one who remembers everything
"Concierge": reads a sign above the corner counter in the lobby of the Metropole. Almost omnipotent people stand behind it - they are the ones who are able to knock you out for the closing of the Cannes Film Festival or a ticket to a sold-out premiere at the Bolshoi, which is inaccessible to mere mortals. Of course, if you are their guest.
On the lapels of one of the men scurrying behind the counter, miniature golden keys flaunt. "Is it possible to make a discount? You need a ticket urgently," he turns to someone on the phone, simultaneously smiling at the client leaning on the counter.
This man's name is Andrei Korystov, and he is the head of the Metropol's concierge service. And part-time - also the vice-president of the Russian section of the "Golden Keys of the Concierges" (Les Clefs d'Or).
"Golden Keys of Concierges" is not just an international organization that brings together hotel professionals, but a whole community with its own traditions and etiquette. Each of its several thousand members wears crossed golden keys on their lapels. This sign is not only a matter of special pride, but also a great responsibility: the concierges of the Golden Keys must fulfill any requests of the guests and help their colleagues in everything.
"Golden keys" are omnipotent in their own way: their owners are able to solve any problems with a couple of calls and can boast of a million useful connections.
Andrey Korystov. Photo: site
Outside, it's time for conferences and exhibitions, and it's noon on the clock: in general, there are no free rooms "for show" in the hotel, as Andrey says. Therefore, we go to talk to the "golden" living room, located on the third floor.
Instead of the pomposity that is often inherent in five-star hotels, here, as in the entire hotel, a mighty spirit of old color reigns. And the "Metropol" is so huge and confusing that you can easily get lost in it.
The hotel is really small. You haven't seen office premises yet - to be honest, when I started working here, I remembered what was located and where, for seven days, - Andrey smiles.
Even if it took Andrey a whole week to memorize the "Metropol", an ordinary person, most likely, would not have coped with this matter in two: experienced concierges have a professionally excellent memory. They have to keep in mind hundreds of faces, names, numbers, addresses, preferences, wishes, habits.
Probably, I have a special "disk" in my head, on which all this is "recorded", Andrey smiles when I ask how he manages to remember all this. - However, modern technologies significantly "soften" the process of memorization. Today, for example, we are introducing part of the guests' preferences into the hotel system. True, I do not always use this: recently one of my Italian guests came to us, and out of habit I told my colleagues that every morning he needs to be delivered to the Corriere della Sera room. Only then did I remember that even during the last visit of the guest, he had filled in information about the newspaper in his profile.
"Metropol". Photo: site
One who is faithful to the profession
Remembering the "Grand Budapest Hotel", Andrey smiles. He says that the film really reflects the intricacies of the concierge profession very well. Anderson was especially successful in subtle "hotel" humor.
Remember, there was such a moment: the girl of the lobby fight is in danger, he runs to save her and flies into one of the hotel rooms.
The guy runs to the door, and there is a sign "Do not disturb" hanging on it. He has a stupor: a hotel employee has no right to enter a room if this sign is hanging on its door! This idea is on the subconscious level. And here it seems that the girl needs to be saved ... As a result, he overcame this fear in himself and nevertheless burst into the room.
Andrey Korystov
Andrei says that his own professional qualities are also already in character. With good concierges, it doesn’t happen otherwise: if a person comes to this position, he either immediately understands that this is “not his”, or stays in the hotel forever.
I started in the 90s at Baltschuga Kempinski. In those days it was probably the only good hotel in Moscow. I was not a lobby boy, but a porter, then a luggage carrier. Then I was transferred to the position of night concierge. About this profession, I must say, then they knew even less than now ...
After working for a year, I went to China and retired from the hotel business. But I constantly thought about him, so when I returned, I went back to work as a concierge. I worked at Sheraton, Barvikha, created a concierge service for Radisson Royal (Ukraine), opened InterContinental, and now I am proud that I work at Metropol.
Not everyone is still aware of our profession: when I proudly say that I work as a concierge, many are surprised, simply not understanding what I am doing at all. Do I open doors? Do I keep the keys to the hotel rooms? Am I sitting on watch in the stairwell? Hopefully, thanks to the film, more will be known about concierges.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
There are few good concierges in Moscow, and they all know each other. Andrei says that the hotel world is so small that every time a new hotel opens, he knows everyone who will be called to invite them to the position of chief concierge or concierge. For comparison, in the entire Russian section of the "Golden Keys" (and it includes Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kiev, Yalta, and other cities) there are only 40 participants, and in France alone - about 900.
The one who is irreplaceable
Recently, some hotels have begun to install various electronic devices that "know" the addresses of interesting restaurants, city maps, posters of interesting events. Above people who are sure that such devices will be able to replace concierges in the future, Andrei only chuckles: his profession is not only the ability to book a table or order a taxi. For their guests, concierges do everything from simple intimate conversations to delivering unusual products from other countries and buying gifts for relatives.
In Malaysia, we once held the annual international congress of the "Golden Keys". The CEO of a watch manufacturer said at the time that for him the hallmark of a good hotel was a concierge with golden keys.
Hotels, in fact, are not much different from each other: each has a bed to sleep in and a plate to eat. But all of them are different in terms of service, in terms of the human factor - and this is the main thing. A good concierge, professional, experienced, versed in details, is the soul of the hotel. And if a good five-star hotel doesn't have a concierge, it's not a good five-star hotel.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
In the Metropol concierge service, two more people, besides Andrey, have golden keys. And here, just like Anderson's "Grand Budapest", many guests come solely for the sake of his concierges. And this is perhaps the best assessment of their work.
The way to Cannes lies through the hotel
At the Grand Budapest Hotel, the Golden Keys Association has an entire movie chapter dedicated to it. It's called "Crossed Keys" and its members can fix just about any problem with just a few phone calls.
Now, Andrei says, it is possible to keep in touch and resolve issues even faster. Technology is moving forward: it has become easier to call, and you can use the Internet.
A film is, of course, a film. But everything works exactly as it is shown in it. For example, they call me from another Moscow hotel and say: I have two people bending their fingers here, they want to get to the closing of the Cannes Film Festival. Ready to pay any money. I explain that tickets for the closing of the Cannes Film Festival do not exist in nature: there are only special invitations that are issued for certain people. The concierge says, Andrey, help, we know, but you can do anything...
I call my colleague in Cannes. I explain the situation, he asks to call back in two hours. I dial his number in two and a half, and Roger tells me that on Friday at 18.00 two invitations in my name will be on his counter (closing, I remind you, on Saturday, and our conversation takes place on Tuesday or Wednesday).
I ask, Roger, how much do I owe you? And he replies that since he got them for free, it means that I don’t need to pay for them either.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
Letters from the front for a chess player
When you listen to the stories of the concierge, you may get the feeling that he does nothing but fulfill the crazy whims of wealthy guests. But this is not true at all. Andrey, for example, has a kind, sincere and very sentimental story, which, probably, even the creators of the "Wait for me" program would envy. It has everything: the war, the father who died at the front, random coincidences and, of course, the all-powerful concierge.
Once, a foreigner who spoke Russian poorly came up to my counter. He gave me the name and surname of a certain woman, claiming that he really needed to find her. However, he did not know anything at all about her: the only "hook" that, as the guest hoped, could help me, was that this woman was somehow connected with ... chess.
I asked him why he is looking for a stranger? It turned out that the front-line letters of her father fell into the hands of this person, which at one time did not reach the addressees.
I managed to find a school where this woman - now quite old - once worked as a chess teacher. The director, of course, was not going to share with me the personal contacts of the former employee, but I explained all the sentimentality of the situation and left my own number. The woman called me back literally twenty minutes later.
It turned out that she had never seen her father and knew about him only from stories: he went to the front, from which he never returned. The young man died at the very beginning of the war, and the family never received a single message from him. Excited by the words that a man is sitting in the hotel who has front-line letters from her father, the woman promised to come to the hotel in a couple of hours.
The foreigner was in real shock: he kept asking how I managed to fulfill his request? And I smiled - at such moments I usually say that this is all "the magic of the Golden Keys".
When the woman arrived at the hotel, she and my guest sat in the lobby for a long time and hugged. Tears rolled down her cheeks. The man said that he himself is a doctor from Germany, who learns Russian and loves chess, and therefore somehow caught fire with the idea of buying a book by a Russian grandmaster. This grandmaster was the father of this very woman, whom he now found in Moscow.
The German began looking for a book on eBay and accidentally stumbled upon an Italian who sold letters from front-line soldiers for a symbolic price (the Italian's father found a backpack with mail that could not be delivered to the addressees and brought it with him from the front). My guest knew that in a few months he would go to Moscow for a meeting of doctors, and therefore he decided that he would try somehow to find here the daughter of the chess player, whom he mentioned in his letters.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
Andrey, it seems, has a million more stories - both kind and more mercantile. To know them all, it would take more than one hour of detailed conversations.
Maybe someday I'll just pick up and write a book! Andrey laughs.
The one who has friends everywhere
So, the "Golden Keys" is not a nominal organization and not a trade union. This is something more: the concierges of the association at any time, in any place and with any request can turn to one of their "hotel" brothers. Each of which, of course, has its own connections everywhere.
Connections do not appear in advance, while you are still a lobby boy or doorman, but already in the process - when a person becomes a concierge.
For example, a new restaurant opens in the city. We can, having become interested, go there, or they can call us themselves. They call, they say, they say, come to eat. It is beneficial for them that the concierges like the kitchen and interiors. After all, then we will advise a good place to their guests.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
"Metropol". Photo: site
It may seem to the viewer of the Grand Budapest Hotel that the main character, Monsieur Gustav, is a little uncomfortable asking for help from the association when he gets into trouble. in fact, this is not so: concierges use connections both for selfless purposes - fulfilling requests and anticipating the desires of guests - and for their own interests.
It is inconvenient for the hero of the film to ask for help from the "Golden Keys", rather, simply because of the situation that has developed for him - prison, escape ... In fact, anything can happen.
Once, a bag with money and documents was stolen from the daughter of one of my good guests in St. Petersburg. He calls me, says, the girl is there, I can’t do anything ... I answer, okay, let him go to the hotel, say, Talion. I call there, I tell the chief concierge: now such and such a girl will come to you, give her 30 thousand rubles under my responsibility. The money will be transferred to you as soon as possible. The girl came in, they gave her everything, she got out of the situation.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
but on the other hand
Working as a concierge is, of course, not only honey, but also a little bit of tar. Many guests can line up at the counter, each of whom wants his own, a lot of problems and unresolved cases can accumulate. It happens, Andrei says, that several guests simultaneously demand their own, literally tearing the concierge to pieces: some ask to be shown how to get to the Kremlin, others shout that they urgently need a guide. And so on. At the same time, the concierge must resolve all issues with a permanent smile. Coping with pressure is not for everyone and finding those who are capable is a whole art.
Andrey Korystov. Photo: site
Usually the concierge service is recruited like this: you watch those who work in the hotel, see how they react to what. You can sometimes throw some task to those who show themselves well, see how they cope with it.
I remember I worked at a hotel where a concierge team was recruited before I arrived. I noticed that one girl, a telephone operator, grasps everything very quickly, reacts to everything vividly and promptly. I look at her, and I feel that she herself is interested in working as a concierge: she asks what and how. He invited her to eat. We sat for about forty minutes, and I said: you probably didn’t understand, but it was an interview. I'm taking you with me.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
The "Golden Keys" were officially formed in the 1950s, and their "foundation" was laid back in the 1920s. Then eight concierges from Paris decided to communicate closely, share useful information and help each other. Now there are concierges with golden keys on their lapels in more than 40 countries around the world.
To become a member of the Russian section of the "Golden Keys" (and in different countries requirements are different), you need:
At least four years of experience in a five-star hotel, at least three of them as a concierge;
Be "in the public eye" of a professional association;
Write an essay and answer the questions of various exams;
Make a presentation at the annual meeting at the Russian section. In it, the concierge must tell why he needs the keys and what he can do for them;
Talk to the executive committee of the Russian "Golden Keys";
For the applicant for the title of concierge with golden keys, two of their current owners must vouch.
One who takes pride in his calling
Andrey gives the impression of not just a high-class professional, but a person who is deeply in love with his work. This is felt in everything: in the manner of conversation, movements, smile and brilliance that shines in Andrey's eyes when he talks about himself as the owner of the treasured golden keys.
I like that I am not an office worker, that I do not have to sit at the table from 9.00 to 18.00. Yes, when I come to work, I know that 60-70% of my affairs today will be routine. But I also know that something unusual is bound to happen today. I may be asked to do something that I don't know how to do yet. I'm wondering how I will solve this issue.
I decided to become a concierge because the representatives of this profession seemed to me almost omnipotent. Guests come to them with various questions, and they decide everything.
And also, as in the movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel", a man with golden keys, a professional who has been working as a concierge for a very long time - this is really the soul of the hotel.
Andrey Korystov
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel
Prepared by Anna Teplitskaya
The International Association of Professional Concierges "Golden Keys" (Les Clefs d'Or) was founded in 1929 in Paris and today has more than four thousand employees of five-star hotels around the world who have passed exams and have been interviewed by members of the executive committee. But many learned about its power only after the Wes Anderson film “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. You can turn to a person with golden keys on his lapel with a request for help in any business, city or country - his comrades in the association will always come to his aid.
suit, vest, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
shirt, VAN LAACK
tie, WINDSOR
boots, BOSS
ILYA WRITTEN,
Four Seasons Moscow concierge:
“About a year ago, a couple from America approached me with a request to organize an unforgettable birthday party for their daughter - she was turning 30 years old. She is fond of ballet and loves the Bolshoi Theater very much. I gave her a private tour of the historical stage, and after that she changed into tights and pointe shoes and took part in a rehearsal with the Bolshoi troupe.
three piece suit, BROOKS BROTHERS
turtleneck, CORNELIANI
boots, FABI
PAVEL NIKOLAEV, president of the Russian section of the Golden Keys,
Chief Concierge at Baltschug Kempinski Hotel:
“In 2004, an Arab sheikh lived with us, and his assistant approached me: the sheikh certainly wanted to buy an antique edition of the Koran, which, according to his information, was in Russia. None of the Moscow book dealers had heard of this edition, but we found it in St. Petersburg, agreed on a price, and the sheikh’s assistant with security guards went there by night train - a diplomat with dollars was handcuffed to the hand of one of the guards. Having bought the Koran, they placed it in a safe box in the Grand Hotel Europe, and took it away before the train back. The sheikh's joy knew no bounds, and I received one of the biggest tips in my life.
Shirt, vest,
DIOR HOMME
trousers, VAN LAACK
shoes,
CHRISTIAN DIOR
Costume, JOOP
shirt, BOSS
tie, BRIONI
vest, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
vest, FABI
ANNA ENDRIKHOVSKAYA, the best young concierge of the Golden Keys Association in 2013, the concierge of the Metropol Hotel
IGOR LANTSEV, Chief Concierge at The St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya
Shirt, jacket, VAN LAACK
trousers, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI
butterfly, BROOKS BROTHERS
boots, ROCCO P
ANNA ENDRIKHOVSKAYA:
“Recently I got a call at 2 am from Paris: a woman, a very famous Russian designer, forgot her cosmetic bag in Moscow, and tomorrow she has a show at fashion week. It was necessary either to send cosmetics from here, or to collect similar funds there. It took about three hours of telephone conversations, but in the end, with the help of the night concierge of the Le Bristol hotel, where the designer was staying, I agreed with the consultants of all the stores that sell the right brands that they would open an hour earlier, and the cosmetic bag was recreated by the right time. .
Costume, LOUIS VUITTON
shirt, VAN LAACK
vest, CORNELIANI
tie, WINDSOR
boots, BALDININI
three piece suit, BRIONI
shirt, VAN LAACK
tie, CORNELIANI
loafers, SANTONI
suitcases, LOUIS VUITTON
ANDREY KORYSTOV, vice-president of the Russian section of Golden Keys,
Head of the concierge service at the Metropol Hotel:
“Once I saw a very sad guest in the hotel bar and asked what happened. He said: “Tomorrow I’m returning home, and my wife thinks that I’m on a business trip in the capital of another state, I just called and asked to bring local sweets, a bottle of liquor and some kind of box.” The next morning, I knocked on his door with a box, a bottle, and sweets from this country, and - an important detail - I handed him some notes of the local currency to put in his wallet for completeness.
Anna Yendrikhovskaya, chief concierge of the MOSS hotel and trendsetter, is known far beyond her professional circle. Indeed, in order to provide a high-class service, connections with influential people in various fields are necessary. However, as Anna herself says, the main thing in her work is the ability to empathize and empathize. Especially for Buro 24/7, she spoke about the most incredible challenges from her practice, which she managed to cope with only thanks to love.
About the most important qualities of a concierge
In an essay for the international competition for the title of the best concierge, which I won in 2013, I wrote that people who constantly sacrifice themselves, their interests, time for the sake of others were previously called saints, and today concierges have taken on this role. And it is true. It is impossible to take place in this profession if there is no sincere love for people and the world, if there is no desire to come to the rescue at any time of the day.
I know every good doctor in Moscow, I know to whom, when and which guest to send, what to recommend. I myself can’t go to the doctor, I simply don’t find the time and I don’t consider it important, unfortunately. Or, for example, I know the best stylists in the city, but I myself can run into an economy-class hairdresser, the closest to my home MOSS hotel. But when you see that you have done something special for the guest, you hear words of gratitude, then the realization comes that my labors and sometimes complete self-denial are not in vain.
I selected the concierge service team at MOSS according to the same principle: whether there is fire and warmth in a person. All my guys treat their work with trepidation, for them it is a great pleasure and drive. It is a constant feeling of butterflies in the stomach. I see that their love for the profession is natural and conscious, and not dictated by any regulations.
About the features of the service in Russia
By the way, Russian concierges are more sacrificial than Western ones. For example, in Europe there is a clear schedule and division: now they are working, but tomorrow they are on vacation with their family. We don’t have this, and we don’t know how to do it differently, and this crazy regime without rest is taken by many for granted.
Recently I was in Rostov, where I was relaxing with my friends in a bathhouse. Eleven in the evening, I’m sitting in a coffee scrub after a font, suddenly a call comes from an unknown number from the assistant of a famous person: “Anya, hello, I urgently need to send a bouquet of flowers to Frankfurt.” I tell her that she caught me on vacation, to which she replied in surprise: “I thought you were always working.” What to do? Of course, I could not refuse: I hastily wrote to my colleagues from Frankfurt. The flowers were delivered on time and to the address.
And here is the story of my colleague from a Moscow hotel. Once a foreign guest was staying with them, who was very impressed by the forged floor in St. Basil's Cathedral. He asked the concierges to find craftsmen who could do exactly the same. The task was not easy, because the technology was lost after centuries. A friend of mine raised all the links and someone advised to go to the AQ Chiken restaurant in Patrick with a similar gender, but it also turned out to be historical!
The world of concierges, like many years ago, rests on friendly relations
A desperate search was nevertheless crowned with success, but the solution came in the most magical way, as if in a fairy tale with the quest “go there, I don’t know where, and do that, I don’t know what”: a random taxi driver spoke about his brother in New York, who for a long time traveled around America, warming himself by fire barrels, like in the movies. And then he began to make works of art from these same barrels and founded his own workshop. As a result, the floor was ordered from him, and when the guest returned from Russia, a forged floor was already installed in his Mexican villa - exactly the same as in the temple on Red Square.
The MOSS Hotel recently had a similar case. The guest fell in love with our corridors and wanted the same walls at his home in Israel. MOSS interior designer Natasha Belonogova put us in touch with the sculptor, and he quickly made these plates, and they are cast, by the way, by hand.
About the mutual assistance of concierges around the world
Often, any issue can be quickly resolved thanks to the global community of concierges. The principle of mutual assistance is determined not only by the peculiarities of the profession: one cannot do without natural benevolence and cordiality in our craft.
Every time I call the legendary concierge Benoit from the Grand Hotel in Paris with some request, I feel very embarrassed, I imagine with horror how everyone is tearing him apart, and he always calmly says to me: “Anya, what are you are you worried? You are my sister. If I don't help you, then I will disgrace our family! I don't want that, of course I'll help you! Of course, it’s not difficult for me!” We are proud that we have such international unity and brotherhood.
Here is one of the craziest stories to prove it. She is connected with a famous Russian designer who flew to Paris, leaving her cosmetic bag in Moscow. The design assistant called me at 3:00 a.m., pleading with me to deliver the missing piece by morning. I tried to send the makeup bag on the first flight. This method often helps me out: for example, solely thanks to connections in private airlines, I regularly delivered special diapers from the USA to Chelyabinsk to one family. So, there were no suitable flights, so I called the concierge at the Le Bristol hotel. She says to me: “No problem, my friend works in a cosmetics store, I will ask her to come to work early, she will collect everything, and when the store opens, we will try the purchase.”
The world of concierges, like many years ago, rests on friendly relations. Thanks to the contacts, we really own the keys to all the doors. I remember one of the guests was in urgent need of certain famous brand sneakers, but the boutique said that they were out of stock. Then my friend arranged everything, and the sneakers miraculously appeared out of nowhere and were already waiting for me in the boutique.
About the association from the Grand Budapest Hotel and education
I have dozens of collective chats in the messenger, which are divided into countries, regions and cities. There are many colleagues among those who are members of the prestigious Golden Keys Association (Les Clefs d "Or), which became widely known thanks to the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel". This is a really powerful organization, and I never cease to be amazed at what wonders it capable of creating, and its motto is "In Service Through Friendship".
I am very proud that recently I have been a member of the executive committee of the association. Among my tasks is the preparation of an educational program. Last year we held a congress in Berlin, and very soon we will go to Korea, where the world's best concierges will perform and share their experience.
All speakers at our conferences are incredibly bright personalities, such as Jean-Claude Biver, owner of Hublot. From the moment of his speech, the thought settled in my head: “When I grow up, I will have a Hublot watch.” For me, this is a kind of talisman, because all the successes of Beaver and his empire were inspired by love for his wife, and as I said earlier, in any work, especially in ours, everything should be based on love.
About how not to be left without a tip
Oddly enough, concierges rarely hear an elementary “thank you”. In Russia, I would like to develop a culture of tipping. For MOSS we made cool envelopes with cute slogans like "Tipping makes you cool and sexy". It makes you smile and helps guests express their gratitude for the excellent service.