Trends

The virtual concierge

The online avatar of the concierge simplifies and enhances the performance of the keeper of the keys. By Neeti Mehra

A custodian of special services in hotels, the concierge is perhaps more than just the keeper of keys. He is the creative advisor who plots the best holiday for the time available between the first day and the last day of a hotel stay. Broadly, a concierge is defined as a multilingual hotel staff member who handles luggage and mail, makes reservations, and arranges tours - an 'arranger' of things and activities for a guest in a hotel, so to speak.

Apart from a hotel concierge today, one can be a corporate concierge, an apartment concierge, and interestingly, and in this wired world, a virtual concierge too.

Logging on

In 2006, Hyatt International implemented what it describes as a 'practical, service-oriented offering' which includes the E-Concierge - an online tool that allows guests to plan their itinerary weeks in advance. Going into details, guests can plan dinner reservations, destination activities and put forth special requests such as organising a gift or golf bookings. The E-Concierge, in effect, is a guest's personal assistant. The key is to take the pain out of the function. In short, the concierge can focus energies on pleasing the guest rather than dispensing energies on collating information.

The idea is seamless connectivity, before guests check in, that too through an online check-in kiosk, leaving a paperless data trail long after they check out. Says a spokesperson from Grand Hyatt Mumbai, "The E-Concierge is a one-stop shop for guests. It is cost-effective and economical. It is convenient for both the staff and the guests."

Perhaps the inherent disadvantage of the system is that it erases the human touch in a way since one doesn't need to go to the concierge. This however is true of any automated system. The flip side is that it ensures better delivery of services - a must in luxury hotels - embellished with the right personal touch.

Advantage concierge

Enhancing customer experience through each touch-point is what the virtual concierge ensures, so that when the real concierge takes over, the former is in store for a superlative, customised guest experience. It is this connection right from before the journey begins that goes in strengthening brand loyalty.

A steady line of communication, including reservation details, area information, places of interest, right till the day of arrival add to this relationship. In fact, internationally, this service can be outsourced as well, especially if a hotel wants to avoid prohibitive costs involved, as well as saving time for moonlighting front desk staff that double as the concierge. The Concierge on Demand, from TTI Technologies International lets a guest book tours and tickets online through telecharge and print boarding passes through a lobby kiosk or a simple PC workstation, and has the ease of printing vouchers immediately. The model is simple. While the company takes a commission for each service sold, it also shares a part of the revenues with the hotel.

Jeeves at your service

The concept is being refined further. Imagine the ultimate luxury of a multi-lingual butler service at your beck and call. A notch above the concierge is the virtual butler, a technological upgrade of the butler by the Preferred Hotels Group. The hotel butlers in a member hotel in this case are equipped with wireless hand-held devices and are available 24/7. Through this, a guest can dash off a mail through a Blackberry or a computer to inform the butler of a change in reservation, or a change in the business schedule, and receive confirmation within minutes, be it a business or a leisure hotel.

The concept is further refined by Hilton in the cities of Rome and Paris. While in the former, guests can avail of a personal city navigator which doubles up as an MP3 player, a camera (from which photographs are later downloaded by the concierge) and inbuilt with audio tours, in the latter, a PDA, fitted with a touch-screen map and a navigation system doubles up as a concierge, being a guide to the city's history and museum, amongst others.

The personal touch

It is usually the luxury hotels who can afford to splurge on a concierge, and are willing to pay for the expert services. Luxury travel brands will be expected to stretch their services and will be pressed to offer quality, inside-track local information and time-saving services.

Does this mean that the e-version will replace the real one? Or whatever the levels of automation, will a real-life concierge be indispensable? Karen Weiner Escalera of KWE Group, a marketing communications and public relations company that has worked with luxury hotels, speaking of the luxe trends of this year states that the concierge will be king, owing to a lack of time and an overdose of information that confronts the travelling affluent.

In the same vein, Holly Stiel, partner with Stiel Media, the first American woman admitted in the Les Clefs d'Or, the exclusive international concierge association, feels that software does, and will continue to, play an important role. As man merges with machine in customising the most critical service for the guest, it is unlikely that the keeper of the keys will hang his boots anytime soon.