Outsourced Vs Hotel Concierge

There has been a lot of controversy about the value an outsourced concierge team brings to hotel guests vs hotel employed concierge. The argument against outsourced concierges such as Vegas.com, EBG and Expedia is that they don't have the guests best interest in mind. An article from the Wall Street Journal back in 2006, "The Concierge's Secret Agenda" goes into detail.

I started my career as an outsourced concierge and I am now employed by a hotel and I would like to give my take on this matter.

One of the concerns brought up in the article is that outsourced concierges have no loyalty to their property. Instead, their loyalty lies with vendors and that pay the highest commission or products and services they themselves sell (i.e. tours provided by the outsourced company)

People say they don't have the guests best interest in mind. Here is why I don't agree. When I worked for the outsourced company it was still a rule that we had to promote restaurants within our hotel first and then our sister properties which is exactly what they tell you to do if you are employed by a hotel concierge. If you really think about it, this is not necessarily what is best for the guest because of financial constraints or other issues, but that is what the rule is.

As for tours, although some of the outsourced companies do have their own tours they like to provide I see it as an advantage. They sometimes are able to offer discounts that maybe you couldn't get if you used another vendor. When it comes to hotel concierges, the hotel itself doesn't own a tour company, but they still have a short list of preferred vendors they MUST use to avoid liability issues. Again, this is not giving the guest full choice over their plans and not always in their best interests.

When it comes to show tickets, I do agree that the mark up on the tickets from outsourced concierge companies are sometimes crazy, but there is always a charge for convenience. Hotel concierges either have their own in house ticket program for their own properties or they must pick up the phone and call. It depends on who the box office decides to use as their ticketing system whether it will be cheaper to buy them direct or through an outsourced concierge. Again sometimes these outsourced concierge desks get great deals on tickets that you can't get by calling direct.

Another area where the two differ is the arrangement of in-room amenities. While at a hotel run concierge desk you may be able to place a request for rose petals, electric candles and a half dozen chocolate covered strawberries to be placed in your room so you can propose to your girlfriend, at an outsourced desk you may be transferred to room service. That can be a huge inconvenience. 

Here are the things that never change no matter who you work for. When a guest needs a boarding pass both types of concierge teams will go to the same place online to print them. Once a restaurant is chosen, both will still need to pick up that phone or book a reservation on Open Table. When a guest needs a taxi, you tell them to walk out the front doors and one will be waiting. When a guest needs a shuttle you tell them the cost is 8 dollars and they can catch it outside.

What I have noticed from being in the industry is that where a lot of the outsourced concierge desks are located, there really isn't a high demand for the concierge so they will not be faced with the challenge of a lot of these more detailed requests like room setups for proposals, anniversaries, etc. I do believe that if the demand does present itself, the hotels who chose outsourced companies should require them to do the tasks. I think that this silly argument should stop, because whether outsourced or hotel employed, we still do carry the title of concierge and we are still there to help guests whether or not anyone thinks that either side has a hidden agenda.