A concierge/etiquette question
 

Has this ever happened to you? You make hotel reservations, use the services of the concierge prior to arrival, and then choose to stay at another hotel. How do you handle the payment of the concierge you've already used, as well as the transfer of the reservations he has secured for you? Or, is this simply not done? Thanks.

Hi I,

There is no need to pay the concierge at the hotel where you will not be staying.
He/she is on salary to perform those services.

>.. the transfer of the reservations he has secured for you?

Restaurant? Theater?

Have you made sure that you still have reservations?

((I))

Are you in direct contact with him?

If so, I would write my regrets to him directly and simply ask if you might still rely on the reservations. I would add that, when in Paris, I would like to drop by the hotel and thank him personally (i.e., tip him) for his service.

(This is assuming he did more than make a single dinner reservation.)

I wouldn't do it. It's really ugly. If he has secured reservations for you it is not for making you a favour..it is because you are a client and it is his job. If you are not sure of staying at a hotel, don't ask the concierge to work for you. And no, you can't pay the concierge..just forget about his reservations if you do that.

Thank you for your input. I probably won't do it anyway. However, the question came up (which I thought was an interesting one) when I saw another hotel I was interested in. Lesson learned...quit searching for a hotel once you have a reservation!!! But isn't that half the fun?

I didn't mean "pay" the concierge, but rather, tip him. Don't you always tip for something more than a simple dinner reservation?

Hi I,

>Don't you always tip for something more than a simple dinner reservation?

What service(s) was(were) performed?

((I))

Hi Ira. Nice to "see" you!

He has made dinner reservations and show reservations. Nothing I couldn't have done for myself, but it was more convenient to have him do it.

A few years ago, I was working on a government survey and interviewed a man who worked as the concierge for one of the more expensive hotels in Bath. Part of the survey was asking questions about income.

He told me how much he earned annually from tips. He said that guests tipped him to recommend restaurants, but that restaurants gave him free meals so that he would recommend them to guests. It seemed a profitable arrangement, and how else was he to know what a restaurant was really like?

I would double check to make sure you still have the reservations.

Concierges can get things you can;t because they do a lot of business with and give recos for restaurants, tours etc. they don;t want to make reservations that aren;t kept - it will make their job harder in the future.

So - it you're not going to be at the hotel and he never sees you - how does he know you're keeping the reservations/picking up the tickets etc. Depending on the situation you may find your reservations cancelled.