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Many of you will have met with or spoken with concierges at hotels throughout the world, but you may have wondered [or not because you knew!] what the crossed golden keys worn by some concierges on their lapels meant, that is that they are a member of the illustrious and highly prestigious concierge club, of the best of the best, Les Clefs D’Or.

With Les Clefs D’Or, meaning the Golden Keys, a sometimes to some a rather mysterious club or association of international concierges, their moto is  ‘In Service Through Friendship’, with the concierge members of this rather unique and special club who generally work at the best hotels, believe that by nurturing friendships with fellow concierges and through the networking they are able to offer their own guests better service, either directly or indirectly, through the sharing of ideas and knowledge, which ultimately promotes a higher level of professional development.

How does this impact or affect us as guests?

Well basically, these are the guys that are an absolute wealth of information about the city in which the hotel is located and further afield, and their reputation includes that often they can acquire or book practically anything you want, even often the normally unattainable as they have contacts everywhere and of course with absolute discretion and confidentiality as they often they deal with the rich and famous of this world!

So, with only 8 Les Clefs D’Or concierges in the whole of Queensland, I was amazed on my recent visit to Emporium Hotel South Bank Brisbane to find 3 of the 8 in one hotel, clearly demonstrating the very high standards to which this new luxurious boutique hotelEmporium Hotel South Bank Brisbane is aspiring and delivering already.

Chief Concierge Graham Hodgson, also a member of Les Clefs D’Or was unfortunately not in the hotel for me to meet with him, he was undoubtedly delivering some amazing guest requirement or service off site to guests, probable a private aircraft or helicopter, but I did manage to have a chat with Assistant Concierge, Quintin McLeod, Australia’s newest member of Les Clefs D’Or.

You might be wondering who the third member of Les Clefs D’Or at Emporium Hotel South Bank Brisbane is, and very interestingly it is the General Manager of Emporium Hotel South Bank Peter Savoff, who clearly is not working as a concierge, but he is an honorary member of Les Clefs d’Or.

So, what does a concierge have to do become accepted as member of Les Clefs D’Or?

Well is it not easy and you can hear from Quintin what he had to do and what he does in his everyday work, by clicking on the video box below, with Quintin having worked on his application for Clefs d’Or for almost five years, passing comprehensive testing to prove, beyond doubt, his ability to deliver the highest quality of service to his guests and studying and preparing himself for over two years to meet the exacting standards set by the final selection committee, who conducted their final interview with Quintin recently and as Quintin describes it was a tough and challenging experience.

He told me, “Becoming a Les Clefs d’Or Concierge is definitely the highlight of my career so far.”  “A superior concierge must know everything about his or her city and must be extremely personable as a good concierge is a one stop tourist shop.”  “My goal now is to become the best I can be at Emporium Hotel South Bank and to work with the Queensland members of Les Clefs d’Or to try to get the Asia Pacific Congress to Brisbane, if not the World Congress.”

Quintin has an interesting background having worked in the hospitality industry for over 20 years, starting his career in his parent’s mobile food van, followed by a number of roles in hospitality, then Quintin recognised his calling as a concierge, working at number of five-star establishments where he was concierge and becoming Chief Concierge.

In order to gain membership to the society, a concierge must also be employed by a hotel of excellent standing and have at least five years’ experience in hospitality, three of which must be as chief concierge or as an assistant to a chief concierge who is already a member, with letters of reference also to be provided, plus introductions from at least two members of the society and a formal interview.

Wow, sounds pretty exhausting to me, but it does give me tremendous confidence in the knowledge and skills, not only Quintin’s but of all Les Clefs D’Or concierges globally that I meet up with, knowing that he or she is the best of the best.

To check out what Quintin had to tell me, please click on the video box below.

An on-location report by John Alwyn-Jones