Concierge

A hotel concierge

A concierge (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃sjɛʁʒ]) is an employee of an apartment building, hotel, or office building.

Duties and functions

The concierge serves guests of an apartment building, hotel, or office building with duties similar to those of a receptionist. The position can also be maintained by a security guard over the late night shift. A similar position, known as the portero, exists in Spanish-speaking regions. In medieval times, the concierge was an officer of the king who was charged with executing justice, with the help of his bailiffs. Later on in the 18th century, the concierge was a high official of the kingdom, appointed by the king to maintain order and oversee the police and prisoner records.

In 19th-century and early 20th-century apartment buildings, particularly in Paris, the concierge often had a small apartment on the ground floor, called la loge, and was able to monitor all comings and goings. However, such settings are now extremely rare; most concierges in small or middle-sized buildings have been replaced by the part-time services of door-staff. Some larger apartment buildings or groups of buildings retain the use of concierges. The concierge may, for instance, keep the mail of absented dwellers, be entrusted with the apartment keys to deal with emergencies when residents are absent, provide information to residents and guests, provide access control, enforce rules, and act as a go-between for residents and management when management is not on-site.

Hotels

In hotels or resorts, a concierge assists guests by performing various tasks such as making restaurant reservations, booking hotels, arranging for spa services, recommending night life hot spots, booking transportation (like taxi, limousines, airplanes, boats, etc.), coordinating porter service (luggage assistance request), procuring of tickets to special events, and assisting with various travel arrangements and tours of local attractions. Concierge also assist with sending and receiving parcels.

Concierge services

In hospitals, concierge services are becoming increasingly available. A hospital concierge provides similar services to those of a hotel concierge, but serves patients and employees as well. This helps hospital employees who work long shifts, and helps to provide work-life balance.

There are numerous independent personal concierge companies that provide errand services and information services for their members. Services include informational requests, setting dinner reservations, making telephone calls, researching travel arrangements and more. Typically, concierge companies will bill on an hourly rate, and depending upon the type of task, fees can fluctuate drastically. Other companies bill a flat monthly fee based upon the number of requests a member is allowed to place each month. In the United Kingdom, since the year 2000 and as of 2010, concierge has become a key marketing and loyalty tool in the banking sector and offered as a benefit on luxury credit cards. This service offering is also known as lifestyle management. Concierges also entertain their clients.

The owners and operators of concierge, lifestyle management and errand service businesses are supported and advocated by the non-profit International Concierge and Lifestyle Management Association (ICLMA) and the National Concierge Association.

Etymology

The French word concierge is likely derived from the Old French cumcerges, itself related to the Medieval Latin consergius^[1] or the Latin conservus ("fellow slave").^[2]

Another possibility, suggested by French authors as early as the 19th century, is that "concierge" is a contraction of comte des cierges ("count of candles"), a servant responsible for maintaining the lighting and cleanliness of medieval palaces.^[3]

Popular culture

The film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York had a concierge named Mr. Hector (portrayed by Tim Curry) who works at the Plaza Hotel and was suspicious of Kevin McCallister.

In the 2014 Wes Anderson film, "The Grand Budapest Hotel", Monsieur Gustav H. (portrayed by Ralph Fiennes) is the concierge.

Héctor Elizondo portrays a concierge of the Plaza Hotel in the American Dad! Season 7 episode "Fartbreak Hotel". There was a reference by Hector to having done other concierge roles.
The film For Love or Money (with Michael J. Fox in main role) describe the story about concierge at a luxurious hotel who is dreaming to open his own hotel on Roosevelt Island.

References

↑ "Concierge", OED Online (Oxford University Press), December 2013, retrieved 2014-03-07, French concierge, in Old French cumcerges, concerge, -ciarge, -sirge, -sierge, -cherge, whence medieval Latin consergius (in text of 1106): derivation unknown.
↑ "Concierge", Merriam-Webster.com, retrieved 2014-03-07, French, from Old French, probably from Vulgar Latin *conservius, alteration of Latin conservus fellow slave, from com- + servus slave
↑ "Les anciens prisons de Paris". Le Cabinet de lecture et le cercle réunis: gazette des familles (in French) 12 (1): 459. 5 January 1841. Il y avait, comme on sait, outre le comte des Cierges un comte des Etables; par contraction on a fait de ces deux titres ceux de connétable et de concierge. (There was, as we know, in addition to the count of Candles a count of Stables; by contraction of these two titles was made those of constable and concierge.)

External links

Look up concierge in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Concierges.

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