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The Drake Hotel Concierge Has Got 'Juice'

September 8, 2006 at 10:57 AM | 0 Comments

There's a big difference between a good and great concierge. John Dowd of Chicago's Drake Hotel fits into the great category. The Irish-born Dowd trained with the Queen of England's butler and on top of that, he's a trained Shakespearean actor.

Dowd plays a higher role when it comes to concierge service; he does much more than just give directions and recommendations. He supposedly has a secret world of contacts that he uses to offer guests the best experience possible in Chicago. Dowd has such good relations within the city that when people are in need of dinner ideas, he doesn't just send them somewhere he knows they can get a reservation. Instead, he asks series of questions in order to evaluate what would please the guests most based on their personality:

"Your success is completely contingent upon your networking abilities," he said. "I once heard a term used: juice. Do you have juice? Can you command the attentions of a maitre d' on a Saturday evening at 6 o'clock?

But Dowd isn't perfect. One last minute request to get a proposal to read on the Cubs Stadium scoreboard on the same night by an unorganized boyfriend, was unable to be met. Dowd got close to getting there but in the end, what normally takes five days to accomplish just wasn't possible in a couple of hours.

Image via WadeinTulsa/Flickr

Related Stories:
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· Drake Chicago reviews [TripAdvisor]