Concierge Services
Concierge services exist to make life easier for people. No longer exclusive to the rich and famous, concierge services can arrange for everything from babysitting to renting a mink coat for the evening.
Concierge services are not just for hotels anymore. This industry has experienced much growth in the past few years and expanded to include corporate concierge services, retirement concierge services, university concierge services, and personal concierge services. The fact is, you can contract with a concierge for just about any type of hospitality service.
Many concierges have opened home-based businesses, offering their services to busy moms and employees who don't have the time to take care of everyday business. These concierges act as a personal assistant of sorts, taking care of many details themselves and locating the right service providers for those services they don't personally provide.
Many companies have started to include concierge services as part of the benefit package they offer to employees. This benefit has a huge impact on the workplace, because it increases productivity since the employees no longer have to worry about taking care of personal business on company time.
Online concierge services are international businesses, offering everything from procuring concert tickets to finding rare books. Concierges make travel arrangements, plan weddings and other events, and do your shopping. There's almost nothing, legally and morally speaking, that a concierge won't do.
Concierge services are experienced at making travel arrangements all over the world. Whether you need the services of a concierge after you've reached your destination, or you prefer to have the concierge make all your travel arrangements, they have a wealth of knowledge about the travel industry and related services.
Concierge services can charter a flight to your favorite destination, choose a pet-friendly hotel, arrange for all your favorite snacks to be waiting for you, and still procure first-class tickets to the most exclusive event. Suppose you have special dietary or mobility needs. Securing the services of a concierge to make your travel arrangements will ensure that all your special needs are taken care of.
Letting a concierge make your travel arrangements on a regular basis can save not only time but money and aggravation, as well. An experienced concierge knows how and when to get the lowest airfares and the best hotel prices and has the resources to locate the best possible deals, while still providing the level of service you request. Since concierge services maintain travel profiles on their customers, your preferences will always be honored without your having to repeat your special requests every time you travel.
Personal concierge services can make anyone's life a lot easier by taking care of many of the mundane details that many of us don't have the time to take care of. A personal concierge can act as a personal assistant by providing some of the requested services, or by locating service providers to take care of all needed services.
There are home-based concierge services that, while they may not be able to compete with large organizations, can provide personal assistant services to the busy individual that are valuable time savers. Some personal concierges will clean your house, run your errands, stand in line at the DMV, cook your dinner, and still find that one missing piece of china from your grandmother's set halfway across the world.
The best thing about personal assistant concierges is that they offer a wide variety of services, and if there are services a personal concierge doesn't provide personally, he or she will locate the proper service providers for you. A personal concierge can help you get organized or organize a birthday party for your child. There's no limit to the services a personal concierge can provide.
Corporate concierge services are one of the many benefits companies offer their employees today. With fewer employees working longer hours, this is an attractive benefit for employees and has been shown to raise productivity levels, as employees have fewer personal details to attend to on company time.
Employees who work a traditional Monday through Friday workweek have little choice but to attend to some personal details at work such as making phone calls, paying bills, and making appointments. Although it's true that some employees blatantly abuse company resources such as shopping on the Internet during business hours, some employees have no recourse but to take care of personal business on company time.
Offering employees corporate concierge services can change all that, however. Some companies even have an onsite concierge as well as a web-based application that employees can access 24 hours a day. By going through the concierge, employees can save a lot of time and aggravation searching for service providers and making arrangements.
For example, corporate concierge services can locate a childcare provider for an employee whose child is sick and unable to go to daycare, but not sick enough to cause the employee to stay home. Perhaps an employee has lost their childcare provider and needs another one in a pinch. Corporate concierge services that provide this service would have a list of trusted and bonded childcare providers that could save the employee a lot of steps.
Corporate concierge services could also make arrangements for mobile car care, secure event tickets, and make dining arrangements, so the employees can better focus on work during working hours.
Concierge services offer a wide array of event planning services. They regularly plan weddings, reunions, and parties of every kind. They take care of details like locating and renting a hall or church, arranging catering, decorating, and renting tables, chairs, and other necessary items. They also arrange for transportation including airport pick-up and return and limousines upon request.
Just think of all the vendors you would have to deal with on your own, if it wasn't for the personal assistant concierge. Coordinating arrangements and delivery times with multiple vendors is a monumental task for one person, whereas concierge services have a staff to share the responsibility.
Concierge services are used for special requests and have resources that many of us aren't aware of. Want to arrange an adventure weekend for five or ten at a corporate discount? Want to propose marriage in a hot air balloon over an exotic locale? Engaging the services of the right concierge can make that happen with little effort on your part.
Concierges do much more than just make exotic arrangements. Although we tend to associate the concierge with the luxurious, many concierges take care of everyday activities including the mundane responsibilities we all have. Next time you have an event to plan, consider taking advantage of concierge services.
Online concierge services can usually be accessed 24 hours a day which makes life a lot easier for busy people. Many industries are following the hotel industry and providing guests and employees with the service of a concierge. Hotels have taken the concierge perk a bit farther and while still offering the lobby concierge, have expanded their services to offer online concierge services.
Now guests can have access to the hotel's concierge as soon as the reservations are made and request hospitality service ranging from late check-out times or extra pillows to tickets to a favorite event.
Some universities offer an online concierge to assist online students. This type of concierge is an expert at locating textbooks and assisting students with any school-related needs. This type of concierge can also offer technical support, as it pertains to the online learning environment, as well as assisting the students with orientation and other university departments.
Corporations that offer concierge services to their employees often provide an online portal the employees can access from home to assist them with taking care of personal matters which in turn increases productivity in the workplace.
Retirement communities often offer concierge services as a lucrative incentive to attract new residents and maintain occupancy levels. An on-site concierge can assist with the personal needs of the residents like shopping, transportation to and from appointments, packing, etc.
Retirement communities used to offer only activities like bingo and crafts, but many of today's energetic senior citizens want more options. Concierge services can enable seniors to do more activities by taking care of many of the details.
Traveling can be a struggle for senior citizens who don't have anyone to accompany them, but would like to travel nonetheless. This type of hospitality service can arrange for traveling companions or find trips to suit the needs of the retiree. Because concierge services work with a large number of service providers, an experienced concierge will know when companies offer specials and for which venues.
Since concierge services work with vendors and companies on a regular basis, they are able to provide reliable and bonded service providers to meet the needs of the individual. This is a valuable service that can make the difference between a pleasant trip and one wrought with aggravation.
With senior citizens being the target of so many scams, having a concierge make arrangements for service providers can help prevent the unscrupulous ones from having contact with seniors. Having this type of arrangement can ease the senior citizen's mind and the minds of their family, as they can work solely through the concierge, instead of being vulnerable to various providers.
Canine concierge services have become quite popular and offer a variety of services to pet owners who must be away from their pets due to work or other responsibilities. By using canine concierge services, pet owners have all the services their dogs could possibly need with just one contact. Instead of having to make arrangements for veterinarian visits, boarding, dog sitting, dog walking, and grooming services, this type of concierge service takes care of everything.
Canine concierge services can arrange for play dates for your dog and romps in the park, as well as caretaking services. Suppose your four-legged friend has just had minor surgery and you don't want to leave him home alone all day while you work. You could simply request someone dog sit for the day while you are at work through this type of service provider.
Maybe you have to be out of town for a week on business and don't want to board your dog where he will be caged most of the time. Canine concierge services can arrange the specific type of care that you request from doggy day care to full boarding services.
Canine concierge services can arrange a trip for you and your pet, so you only stay in pet-friendly hotels and have dog sitting and dog walking services available. This type of service provider knows the places where your dog will be welcome and will be able to arrange visits to places where your dog can run free off the leash.
Hotel concierge services have for years seen to the needs of travelers who request a variety of extras to make their trip extra special. Sometimes a hotel concierge is merely asked for the name of a good restaurant, and sometimes he or she may be asked to procure hard to get event tickets.
Hotel concierges are at your service, if you forget something or find you need something you didn't plan on needing. Suppose you need an emergency dental visit; the hotel concierge will be able to arrange that. This sure beats flipping through the phone book when you're in pain in a strange city.
Some hotels provide what has been called "extreme" concierge services such as a tanning butler who cruises the pool area with oils and butters. Not only will the tanning butler provide oils and lotions at a moment's notice, but will honor a request to rub them on hard-to-reach places, as well.
An IT concierge often roams the business area of a hotel that offers the business traveler computer and office services. This type of concierge can assist with any business needs and is at the ready if a computer glitch should occur.
Hotels that offer this type of hospitality service remain a favorite among travelers.