Review: Concierge Confidential

I took Concierge Confidential by Michael Fazio (with Michael Malice) on vacation, and it turned out to be the kind of book you want to take on a trip. It's light, it's gossipy, and it gives an inside peek into the concierge system and how they can get you those dinner reservations when the place is supposedly booked up.

Fazio was a concierge at a big hotel in New York, and then later ran his own concierge company, which serviced apartment and condo buildings. What started as an escape from Hollywood turned into a career of what he found he did best: service.

I read this book while staying in a hotel in DC that left a message on the bed saying they were going to shut down the power for four hours overnight and gave guests a glowstick to guide us around the room if we needed it. Really? That's service? Didn't seem to match what Fazio said about it.

It's nothing that's brain bending, but a good, quick read. I picked up some tips on how to ask for hotel upgrades, too.

I also appreciate that he put his writing partner on the cover because I have a feeling that the OTHER book I read this week, which was a meh 'celebrity' memoir, was written by a ghost writer who got no credit. Now, I know that ghost writing contracts are all different, but it irked me.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Hi Jen. Just want to say thanks for keeping this blog. Many of my favorite books and authors this year came from here. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English was my favorite of the year. Born to Run and discovering Elin Hilderbrand were also highlights.

Thank you and cheers to a new year!

January 6, 2011 at 10:58 AM

christa @ mental foodie said…

This sounds quite interesting I'd read something along the line of "waiter confidential" before and enjoyed the behind the scene stuff, so I'd probably like this too.

Now I wonder what is the other book you'd read!

January 8, 2011 at 1:52 PM

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