 | ||||||||||
| It’s hard to find a concrete definition of a personal concierge. You won’t find the definition if you open a dictionary, so we’ve decided to clarify things. |
A personal concierge is someone who will make arrangements or run errands.The term has been drawn from the definition of Concierge in English.
1. (Especially in France) a resident caretaker of a block of flats or a small hotel.
2. A usually multilingual hotel staff member who handles luggage and mail, makes reservations, and arranges tours; broadly: a person employed (as by a business) to make arrangements or run errands.
What does a personal concierge do?
As the definition states, a personal concierge will make arrangements and run errands, the list of which are endless. Some examples are; booking a table at a restaurant, arranging a housekeeper, organizing trades and services, creating and planning events, taking vehicles to be cleaned or serviced, pet care services, and laundry services. Or such things as running daily errands like collecting dry-cleaning, do personal shopping, pay bills or any such errand the client requires.
There is a common phrase used by personal concierge: ‘So long as it is legal, we will do it’. A personal concierge will charge for their services by the hour, a monthly retainer or by each project.
How is a personal concierge different from a hotel concierge?
A personal concierge provides these services to clients everyday at home or in their workplace. A hotel concierge is restricted to the hotel location and the service offerings are more limited. A personal concierge develops an in-depth knowledge of clients needs and becomes an integral part of their lifestyle.
The original concierge transitioned from castles and stately homes into hotels in the late 1800’s. In the 1990’s the hotel concierge moved back into the domestic environment with the addition of ‘personal‘ in the job title.
What are the characteristics of a personal concierge?
A personal concierge needs to be highly resourceful, astute, discreet and pro-active, and will usually have a background as an Executive Assistant, Event Manager, Hotel Concierge, Project Manager, or any role which requires logical thought, co-ordination and completeness.
Want to know more? Drop us a line or leave us a comment!