- I shadowed a concierge in charge of substantial-spending company at the Four Seasons in downtown New York.
- I observed the unique techniques lodge employees cater to VIPs having to pay up to $25,000 a night.
- Consider a behind-the-scenes glance at what goes on inside one particular of the world’s most deluxe inns.
Beneath the 4 Seasons in downtown New York is a maze of hallways, hidden entrances, and key elevators.
The underground network feels like an ant colony as safety guards, doormen, and housekeepers labor absent out of community watch. The queen ant in this metaphor is 27-year-outdated visitor relations manager Jessica Waddy, whose task revolves all over the hotel’s substantial-profile attendees and their many needs.
“It truly is like an unscripted reality present,” Waddy mentioned. “At the rear of the scenes, there is a whole village of persons managing all around undertaking things you really don’t see.”
Carrying a polka-dot dress and three-inch black heels, Waddy someway manages to stroll extremely quick with no hunting rushed or frazzled. Her three cell phones regularly buzzed during the working day — it’s Manner 7 days in New York and the lodge is booked to just about 100% ability.
She led me down to the cellar amount and into a home exactly where the resort merchants the belongings of regular friends, some of whom commit various months at the lodge just about every calendar year. You can find a tempur-pedic mattress topper, movie video game console, kid’s toys, and a consulting executive’s total wardrobe.
“He is extremely particular about how his closet is arranged,” Waddy discussed.
Down the corridor, there is a loading dock for celebs and their motorists to dodge paparazzi and make a discreet entrance into the resort. On Sunday, when the avenue was closed for a 9/11 memorial provider, hotel security “finessed” law enforcement to permit a celebrity visitor push as a result of, Waddy stated.
Hannah Towey/Insider
From there, VIPs enter 1 of four personal elevators in the basement that lock as soon as in movement, barring any frequent people from hopping in on the journey up to their suite. Most celebrities are nearly nocturnal throughout their stays, Waddy mentioned, introducing that close by places to eat will continue to be open up so they can try to eat supper unbothered and by itself at 1 a.m.
As we emerged from the basement, Waddy was named in excess of to greet a superior-profile visitor checking in less than an alias. The receptionist experienced under no circumstances satisfied him before, so Waddy is tasked with matching his encounter to the code title.
“We are unable to just be handing out room keys willy nilly,” she said.
From procuring unique rest room seats to washing mattress sheets with a precise brand of detergent, the devil is in the aspects in this sector. Within two several hours, I only hear one particular visitor complaint: She was given a double room alternatively of a entire. Her disappointment was rather distinct.
“They spend more for one evening than my hire,” Waddy claimed. “So they are worthy of all the attention we can give them.”
Courtesy of the Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown.
The desires of superior-profile attendees are mentioned on a “rider,” a document that is ordinarily a number of internet pages extended and attached to their hospitality contract. But it really is not the size of the list that results in a problem, Waddy mentioned, it can be the little detect with which staff gets them.
A VIP visitor when requested all the furnishings be taken out from an extra space at 10 p.m. the night time right before look at-in so they could convert the room into a huge wardrobe, Waddy stated.
A further visitor keeping at the hotel’s Empire Suite, which prices $25,000 a night, claimed he would only enjoy Xbox on an 85-inch tv — 10 inches smaller than the hotel’s flat screens. The consequence was a wild goose chase by means of Staten Island and Queens to purchase two brand-new screens in advance of his arrival.
“Our director experienced to get his car or truck and go to two different stores so this guest could perform his Xbox on the Television that he wished,” Waddy recalled. “We had to squish them into his car or truck with a person of our gross sales interns in the back again.”
Photograph by Jason Jean
With Monday officially kicking off Style 7 days, the resort was swarmed with influencers and designs. Upstairs, I viewed a tall brunette dressed in head-to-toe neon pink feathers exit a celebratory brunch hosted by Vogue.
The lodge flew in three different bakers from across the region to help with the brunch, 1 worker explained to me. Dozens of pastel cakes, gold-dusted cookies, and metallic blue product puffs sat untouched after the brunch concluded. Waddy reassured me the leftovers would be transferred to the staff cafeteria.
“I informed them we should not give manner folks sweets,” a different employees member joked.
A person of Waddy’s a few telephones begins buzzing once again, sending us back again to the lobby downstairs. It truly is now around midday, so attendees are setting up to check out.
The hotel was small-staffed — a blend of jury duty, sickness, and labor marketplace woes — so interns and security guards are handed lists of home numbers to knock on doors and politely persuade any lingerers to go away. With the hotel occupancy this large, there’s pretty limited wiggle place for late check out-out, Jessica stated, evaluating test-in and look at-out to a activity of Tetris.
Every thing goes efficiently till a wild card ask for threatens to established it all off-harmony. A large-profile guest has identified as to request an observance of the home her just lately-deceased mom final stayed in, but an additional VIP visitor is scheduled to examine-in quickly. These are the types of conundrums that finally make their way over to Waddy, who in some way is ready to take care of them all.
“A concierge isn’t just your fundamental generating a reservation at Carbone, acquiring into Polo Bar, or scheduling hair and make-up appointments,” she explained. “We deal with everything and everything. It can be so unpredictable — I adore it.”
Do you do the job at a luxury hotel? Share your story by emailing this reporter at htowey@insider.com
