My shift starts at eight in the morning, and I finish up around half four in the afternoon. I use the tube to get to work every day – it’s only an hour from my house to the hotel, door to door. As I always come to work in casual clothes, the first thing I do is change into my work uniform. Once I get to my desk I look at the proud sheet (our day’s business sheet) and my diary.  

My working day starts with a briefing with my doorman and porters, to talk about the day ahead. Guests will be requiring taxis, directions and reservation requests from first thing, so there’s always lots to be done. Then it’s on to answering emails and dealing with issues to be discussed with other departments.   

Being a concierge means you are always interacting with guests. They come to me in the first instance and always have a lot of questions! Mornings and evenings are particularly busy, when guests are looking for information about their day ahead and then on to restaurant or theatre recommendations for the evening.

I’ll usually stop for a coffee around 10am, and then take my lunch around 1pm, which I eat in the canteen with the other staff.

I’ve worked for Doyle collection for 19 years, and I’ve been Luggage Porter/Concierge since 1990. Originally, I started off as a butcher, but then a friend who worked in hotels got me a job as a luggage porter, and the rest is history!

A concierge’s whole day is always busy, dealing with guests, delegates, public and staff. No two days are the same, which always makes our job interesting. 

You can get some unique requests, too. Once, we had a guest staying over Christmas, and he decided he would propose to his girlfriend at the Emirates Stadium. He asked me to arrange for the stadium announcer to do this. I said I would try my best and managed to get it on the scoreboard! I’m sure she said yes, as I got a thank you from the boyfriend the next day.

My work day finishes at about 4.30pm but could be later if we are very busy. At about 2.30pm, the evening Concierge comes in and I will have done a thorough hand over by 4pm.

I actually met my wife through work here at the Bloomsbury Hotel. She was a tour operator, and used to come into the hotel fortnightly to see the Head Concierge. We used to chat and have a laugh and then I asked her out on a date, then we had a few more. Now we are married with three children and a dog!