Where to stay when you leave.
Four Seasons Chicago Concierges Tell All in New Book
3/07/2008 at 12:13 PM
Tags: Concierges, Celebrity Scoop, Hotel Books, Four Seasons Hotels, Hotel News

On the one hand, we love this. Two former concierges at the Four Seasons Chicago have written a book, Great Reservations (pun on Dickens title duly noted) about the celebrities who used to stay at the hotel with their outrageous (but normal for celebrity types) demands.
Abigail Hart and Nancy Joyce Callahan spent years as concierges at this swank luxury hotel and have tons of tidbits on who requested what when they visited. For instance:
For a mere 12-hour stay, assistants for Nicole Kidman shipped a set of pink, 800-thread-count Italian sheets to the hotel ahead of her visit - along with diagrams and pages of instructions on how to make the bed. The then-Mrs. Tom Cruise never actually arrived.
Crazy Gary Busey requested a potted palm be taken from the hallway and placed in his room. Diana Ross said eye contact is a no-no. She also left her wig on the floor for housekeeping to find. There's also a bit about John Cusack shipping his laundry to the hotel but his reps denied it.
But not all were tyrants. Madonna was polite while staying there during the filming of "A League of Their Own" and apparently tipped one of the concierges enough to finance her European vacation.
Elton John requested the hotel's smallest rooms and refused any VIP amenities after he cleaned up his drug-fueled lifestyle.
So initially we thought, "Who doesn't love all this celebrity goss?" Then we thought about the fact that these concierges got a book deal to spill on their A-list hotel guests as well as regular old guests who threw down diva behavior and that made us feel a little uneasy.* Then again, it can't be much worse than reading PerezHilton.com every day.
Naturally, the stuffy Four Seasons hotel chain has no comment on this book which goes on sale April 15.
*Some questions: Does anyone write fiction anymore these days? Also, why do these types of books usually have two female authors? Lastly, what is up with the ridiculously-long subtitle trend?
Related Stories:
Overnight sensations: a hotel tell-all [Rush & Molloy]
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