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The concierge organization is called "Les Cles d'Or", which is the ultimate recognition for experience and a job well-done. They often have outings in area restaurants and bars, lounges,etc in an effort to get everyone together. They also organize national and international trips as well, where a portion of the trip is taken care of by the "Cles d'Or". This year (at this very moment) is the conference in Biarritz. Members from all over the world are participating...

We know all of the Maitre d's! Or pretty much so. Sometimes they pass by the hotel, and we comp them a drink or a coffee, but most of the time it's them bringing us the gifts, as we're the one's sending them the good clients....

True, VivreManger... Unfortunately, due to the "vigipirate" restrictions by the French police, most luggage lockers have been closed in the Paris train stations and airports. Any hotel you have a reservation with during a stopover would happily take care of storing your luggage, and from time to time even we store luggage for former or future clients, or even friends and family thereof...

This is not at all the way we, or our hotel works. Our management has great faith in each and every Concierge's knowledge and savoir-faire. We never have been, or ever will be obliged to reccomend only certain restaurants... I'm really surprised by your son's story, it runs against the grain of every establishment I've ever worked for or heard about... Most of the time, we pay for our own meals, and maybe at the end of the evening, if it comes up in conversation, we mention who we are... We do however have a large number of restaurants we work regularly with, who sometimes will throw in a free drink or two, or on rare occasions comp a meal, however this is not nearly as frequent as in the States. No amount of invitations would influence us to prefer a low-quality restaurant or to reccomend said restaurant to our clients.... Unfortunately not everyone has the same high level of standards...

It depends..everyone has their own style and flair...and all Maitre d's at two and three star establisments will be capable to a high level... The Maitre d's ( I prefer not to give names) at Guy Savoy, Taillevent, Gagnaire, Arpege, Michel Rostang, Relais d'Auteuil, Ducasse, Laurent, Faugeron, Pre catelan, Grande Cascade are all great people, however this is not an exhaustive (though exhausting!) list!

For restaurant reservations, depending on the complexity of the task, 5,10,or 20 Euros is quite customary..when the tip is given is up to the discretion of the client.

Feedback is so important. I normally don't bother a busy restaurant with too many questions, unless I feel it necessary, ie very difficult or VIP guest. Most establishments know we have a good (and sometimes diffcult) clientelle and will keep us informed accordingly. In the case of negative feedback, most places will try to let us know before the clients returns, with as much detail as they can provide. Our clients will generally give us both negative and positive feedback, and we, in general, have a very open forum with our guests concerning their evenings out. Our guests normally get the best tables (as they are accustomed, for the most part being rich and influencial, and/or well-known), but rarely will an establishment give freebees.

Good question. All depends on my mood. One of my top experiences was at "Guy Savoy", an excellent table with a wonderful,friendly and knowledgable staff. I will always remember their Tuna Steak with Beure Blanc and Gingembre sauce! The foie gras ravioli at "Grand Vefour" was also amazing as is the Amandine du Foie Gras at the excellent "Relais d'Auteuil" (a little known, but extraordinary ** in the 16eme). "Bath's" has a great Bonbon de Foie Gras in Lentil Veloute, "Balzar" has a great piece of beef in peppercorn sauce, "Allard" has great Coquilles St. Jacques in a Beurre Blanc sauce, Ze Kitchen Gallerie (William Ledeuil is great) has a fresh, light cuisine, where everything is tasty... Paris has so much to choose from. I am pleased when invited (rare), and all to happy to sample things other than ordered to discover what a restaurant can do. Most will offer, at the least, a kir or glass of champagne. I believe, though, that a Paris concierge gets far less invitations than, say, New York or Boston, where some of my colleagues eat free daily...

Good question, Robert, I was waiting for this one to come up! My answer is that there is no "right" amount. I once had a client come to the desk and ask for "Le Figaro", which was promptly given to him. He handed me 500 FF , and said, "Buy yourself a coffee". For him, this amount was surely nothing, and very welcome, however this is a rarity. Any tip is appreciated. And just a "thank you" is nice as well, although it is very gratifying to receive a healthy tip for a job well done. I have received tips ranging from 20 centimes (sad,but true!) to many hundreds of dollars... We, at the desk, also share everything as a team...

Thanks for the questions, Cab: Every client who comes to the hotel and makes any sort of special request, for a special occasion, having food allergies,etc etc , gets entered into our database. This data is kept up to date, and distributed, and "traces" are printed out when the guest returns to make sure they are not made to repeat their preferences, and get what they want time and time again. A good example is when a client asks for a certain newspaper. This information is entered into our system, and stored. The next time the guest comes, he will have his news delivered every morning like magic! This information is shared not only among concierges, but is accessable to all employees in contact with the client. Everybody is aware. As for regulars, we have many, some staying for a period of days,weeks,even months! Many members of the same family, or friends come based on their reccomendations. As for the *'s! Most clients who come want to sample gastronomic French cuisine. But this depends on the client. Many others want the hottest "trendy" restaurants. One thing which is constant, is that the vast majority go to very reputable establishments, which are highly rated... Concerning special relationships: Our relationships are with the establishment directly. Rarely does it help when a client says, "Tell the chef I'm coming from the part of so-and-so" in New York or Texas. First of all, we have great relations with them, so if they have a table they give it to us, if not they're full..end of story. Name-dropping doesn't help, and we work with no other thired-party. We do it ourselves...

Dear Robert, Sorry to hear about your negative experience. It is true that not all Concierges are alike. There still exists (although this is changing) an "Old School" attitude in certain Concierges (rare), who don't seem to care a whole lot about what they are recommending, but an even larger number, who for whatever reason, do not understand correctly what the client wants, and make no effort to do so... I would have complained to the Chef Concierge. As said before, restaurants are such a personal issue, that great care is necessary to choose the right establishment for each client. For me this is a great pleasure.

Macrosan, thanks for the question. We all have our contacts, but persistance really pays off, for example, when a client asks for a three-star Michelin on a Saturday night. As much as a "contact" may want to help you out, if you call, and call again, and stick to the task, maybe you'll get someone's cancelled table.... The top restaurants also let us know when they have tables left, just in case...

Lizziee, thanks for the question. Many people place great faith in the Concierge, and will choose their hotel accordingly. With me, I have even had clients change their hotel because I moved to another establishment. I don't know if all guests understand the value of a good concierge, however most of them know how to use us to their advantage (!) We get an avalanche of advance requests by phone, fax and e-mail. This requires two, full-time secretaries...

While not always true that the more you pay, the better the Concierge, this is the general rule. Many smaller hotels don't have a Concierge. However, they may have helpful staff, just, perhaps, not as knowledgable as a Concierge in a top palace. You can always educate yourself with a good guide, though. Read the local "Where" magazine, Figaroscope, Pariscope, etc, then when you see something that strikes your interest, all you have to do is find out where it is...

The Michelin Guide Rouge still remains the Bible for many. I read them all, but we give priority to the Michelin. We use the Zagat, too, which is becoming increasing popular in France, as well as the rest of Europe. We also like to think of ourselves as "living" guides.

Hi Cab: The single women diner is a rather rare occurance, and normally one determined by circumstance, ie. husband's flight delayed,etc. Although it is rare, a woman can perfectly well have a very enjoyable evening dining alone in any number of Parisian establishments. We always inform the restaurant in these cases, and make sure they are treated in a way that makes them comfortable and at ease.

There are really so many strange and unusual situations, I don't know where to begin. I remember once we had as our guest a very wealthy couple who insisted upon having a certain top Michelin-rated restaurant. The reservation was made, and all appeared well. Shortly after the client arrived at the restaurant, the Maitre d' called us and said they had arrived, but rather than Monsieur and Madame, it was Madame and Madame who showed up...that is the wife, with her husband in full drag!! The Maitre d' took it all in stride, and we laughed about this for a long while... until they asked a reservation the next day in the same establishment!!

Jonathan, thanks for the post. First of all, Concierges have varying levels of expertise in concerns to dining establishments. I have met some capable of writing a guidebook, and others not so capable. This may be the root of many problems in regards to guests, as a restaurant is such a personal choice, and disasterous situations may arise if the wrong establishment is chosen for a difficult client! Speaking for myself, not only do I read every guidebook,magazine,website, and newspaper I can get my hands on, firstly out of genuine interest in the gastronomic world, but no less importantly to be well-informed for our guests, but I spend a good part of my income dining out. I always ask guests for their feedback on their eating experiences, and get lots of feedback from my teammates as well.. As a Concierge Desk, we try to plan outings as often as possible to try new places, but this can be a rare occurence given our workload. The hotel, as a general rule does not pay for our outside meals.

To Snowangel: Thanks for your interest. I, as many of my colleaegues, sort of fell into the position. I began working with a very large American entertainment and theme park company here in France, my main thrust being to learn the French language perfectly. There I stayed five years, and then decided to make the move to Paris, where I opened a top luxury hotel, then three years or so later, moved on to my present establishment. Throughout this time, I worked as dishwasher, banqueting, lifeguard,security, valetparker, doorman, etc (most of this for the entertainment park company), then when in Paris, I rapidly moved up to Assistant Concierge, then Concierge. My day consists of taking guest requests, either for those in-house, coming or leaving, and making sure that these requests are taken care of in a timely fashion, always trying to exceed the expectations of the guest. Requests may be anything from restaurants suggestions and reservations, reccomendations for nightspots, luxury car rental, calling a doctor, babysitter, etc. ANYTHING can and has happened! The important thing is to always listen carefully to the client to understand what he wants, and to always appear posed, calm and to take an interest in making the clients stay with us as enjoyable as possible.

Not to rain on the party or anything, but "Les Ministeres", although very well preserved, is one of the worst restaurants I've been to in Paris. The food was sub-standard, as was the service. There's much better, believe me...

I've had sauteed foie gras in a lot of casual places in Paris...

cab: All this I understand. But many people just don't understand, don't care, and don't make any effort, and this adds up to what I'm describing. Very few are in your situation, where they really aren't able to make the cancellation until the last minute... You'd be surprised by how many people don't act seriously...

It's difficult as well, because most people visiting Paris aren't as knowledgable as us, and don't have the same conception and understanding of gastronomic restaurants as us. Therefore, perhaps they don't act with the same precautions as might a person accustomed to these establishments. Also, a lot of people with money think they can do what they want, change their mind at the last minute and cancel restaurants at the last minute at will.... This doesn't translate to respect in the finer dining establishments...

I'm not responding to ellenesks post directly. As I said, "In my experience...". I was responding to a very general topic, that of the problem of reservations in restaurants like Astrance, and what I have unfailingly found to be the cause of this sort of problem over the years. If I respond directly to her post, I will say so. She had an unfortunate experience, which, as cabrales said, might have been a "premature" action on the part of the concierge involved, but then again, i don't know the exact situation... And concerning the concierge "comment", you obviously don't know the right ones...because there are some excellent, professional, friendly and very straightforward members of our comunity in Paris.

Sorry about jumping into this so late in the game, but here are a few thoughts from my professional perspective: * The Paris Marriott has a very competent concierge desk. I know all of them personally, and know that they take great pride in their work, and are all people-persons. They *do* have their fair share of whiny spoilt tourists, but always do their best in trying to get reservations. They would not have *sold* the table to another guest, or messed around a reservation in any other way just for the sake of doing so. The only restaurant I know they would never attempt to get a table at is "L'Ami Louis", whom the team detests as being overpriced, full of American tourists, and owned by a major psycho. But, even in this event, they would be happy to call, and pass the client the restaurant... *Most problems at "L'Astrance" are the fault of the prospective diner, in my experience. The staff is highly competent, and if they're full, well then, they say they're full. They have no interest in angering people. Their job isn't easy, though. This is one of the most consistantly exciting gourmet restaurants in Paris, as well as being one of the smallest, and it's true they don't have a huge reservations team working around the clock... I would suggets sending a fax with a credit card number for all reservations, to be taken more seriously, as they must be getting literally hundreds of calls per day. They can get tired of the colossal workload, like anyone else... imagine neglecting your lunch or dinner clients every two minutes to answer the phone. Christophe and Pascal are also really nice people , and deserve their success...