Sometimes The Concierge Doesn't Always Know Best

December 4, 2009 at 12:04 PM | by juliana | Comment (1)

The front desk at Vdara in Las Vegas.

Ahh...Concierges. In French, this means "know it all." Just kidding. The word actually evolved from the French Comte Des Cierges, The Keeper of the Candles. (Here's the Wikipedia explanation.)

These days there are all sorts of specialized concierges from shopping concierges to teen concierges to pet concierges and yes, Christmas concierges..But what about a good, old-fashioned general concierge? With so much information out there at the touch of our iPhones and Blackberries, we wondered how the concierges were upping their game.

Staying at Vdara Hotel and Spa the other night, we realized that we had forgotten our memory card reader. We knew where we could get one but we thought it would be interesting to see what the Vdara concierge service would recommend.

After all, this is their town. Maybe they knew of a faster way. Or maybe, just maybe, they had one on loan. Isn't CityCenter supposed to be all about technology anyways?

Sadly, the Vdara concierge recommended that we schelp it to Fry's Electronics, about three or so miles away on the Strip in Town Square. A cab ride will certainly be expensive, thanks to Strip traffic and any idling fees they charge. There was also no offer from the concierge of a house car or even an offer that one of their staffers would do it for us. (Both of which we would have paid for.)

Meanwhile, across the street from CityCenter, Walgreens has memory card readers for $26. CVS, which is right next to the Mandarin Oriental, does not.

Yes, we know this is Vegas and the Vdara is a brand-new mega-resort which could explain a less-dedicated concierge staff. After all, no one here has 26 years experience at the hotel. But on the flip side, this is Vegas, a hectic, confusing, distracting city. Concierges here should be the guiding beacon in a sea of neon. Ok, we don't want to be too melodramatic and we're going to keep on using concierges but we're still may check our iPhone first.

What are you recent experiences with concierges? Put 'em in comments below!

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