Most concierge work is never noticed. It’s a table booked, a car arranged, a ticket found. Every so often, though, a request is odd enough that the desk remembers it for years and tells it to colleagues.
Many of the best concierges belong to Les Clefs d’Or, a globally certified professional association founded in 1952[1]. Around 4,000 members work across more than 80 countries[2], and the group vows to accommodate every guest request so long as it is morally, legally, and humanly possible[3]. The stories below come from published interviews and travel roundups. Several are older tales that keep being retold, and some were recirculated in recent travel coverage.
A Pair of Camels in the Arizona Desert
At the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, a newly hired concierge was brand new on the job when a guest requested a pair of camels[4]. She got to work and did her best to locate two perfect seeming camels within 35 minutes[4]. For someone in her first weeks, it was quite an introduction.
Another account names the concierge as Victoria Cote and says she found a place about a half hour from the resort where the guest could buy a pair of camels[5]. The purchase itself never happened, reportedly because of a missing hump[5]. The legwork was done, even if the sale wasn’t.
A Borrowed Llama for a Trip to Peru
One guest at the Grand Del Mar in San Diego wanted to surprise a friend heading to Peru[4]. His idea was to bring a llama into the picture, since that was where the friend was going. It’s a very specific kind of joke to ask a hotel to stage.
The hotel was able to fulfill the request before returning the borrowed llama home[4]. The word “borrowed” matters here. Concierges often succeed by knowing who to call, not by owning anything themselves.
An Elephant at the Wedding
A head concierge at a luxury London hotel listed a bride who wanted an elephant included in the ceremony[6] among his most outlandish requests. The answer was no. Only small animals are allowed on the grounds[6].
Concierges do have limits, and the animal stories show where they sit. At the Lions Sands safari lodge in South Africa, a guest wanted staff to place an engagement ring on a string around a male lion’s neck[7]. The lodge’s staff had to explain that this perhaps wasn’t a very good idea[7].
A Perfume Rebuilt From a Single Vial
A guest wanted to surprise his partner with a perfume bought somewhere in the Middle East. He couldn’t remember whether it came from Jeddah, Doha or Dubai[6]. The source couldn’t be traced, so the concierge tried a different route.
He had a specialist perfumer in France smell the vial, identify the base notes and recreate it[6]. It took a month for the perfume to arrive, but luckily the couple were regular guests[6]. The concierge said he doesn’t charge for his services and wouldn’t dream of asking for a tip[6].
Breast Milk Shipped From Boston to London
Not every unusual request is glamorous. The same London concierge handled a case where a businesswoman had breast milk she had left in Boston successfully shipped to her room in London[6]. It’s the kind of task that is urgent, personal and logistically tricky all at once.
He is clear about where the line sits. He can only help if a request is not illegal, immoral or unethical[6], and he would, for instance, draw the line at organising a sex party[6]. Within those limits, the desk will try almost anything.
Barbecue Sauce, Delivered Across 2,000 Miles
A wealthy guest asked a concierge to find a specific barbecue sauce. It was only made in small batches by a company in Louisiana[8], and it had to be shipped not to New York but to the guest’s home on a Caribbean island[4]. The urgency came from a deadline: the guest was hosting a garden party the very next day[8].
The concierge, named Ipecki in one account, used his Les Clefs d’Or network to contact the company, procure the condiment, and have it shipped roughly 2,000 miles overnight[8]. That network is the real tool here. A single desk can only do so much, but a global professional circle can do a lot more.
Blood Oranges for a Film Set in Mexico City
A concierge named Romei was asked to deliver blood oranges to filmmakers in Mexico City, and customs and international law were in the way[8]. His solution started in New York. After purchasing the required number of blood oranges there, he hired a private flight to deliver them to Mexico City[8].
On the ground, a fellow Clefs d’Or member in Mexico picked up the fruit so it would not be discovered by customs agents[8]. The result, according to Romei, was that the filmmakers had their blood oranges on set the very next day[8]. It’s one of the more elaborate fruit deliveries on record.
A Bathtub Full of Jelly Beans
Concierge Hugo Grand of Montreal was asked by a celebrity guest to fill a bathtub with jelly beans. He described it as one of the most bizarre requests he has ever handled[8]. The sheer volume was the problem.
He reported having to contact almost every candy store in Montreal to get enough to fill it completely[8]. Celebrity food demands have a long history. In 1982, the band Van Halen was famous for requesting a bowl of M&M’s with all the brown ones removed by hand[8].
A Glacier Ice Cube Mailed to South Carolina
At the Four Seasons Resort in Whistler, one couple took a helicopter tour to a glacier and came back with an enormous ice cube that had to be shipped to their South Carolina home, intact[9]. A souvenir that melts is a hard thing to send across a country. Somebody had to figure out the packing, the timing and the carrier.
Part of the appeal of these stories is the staff’s attitude. Ask a concierge about a favorite request, and they’ll usually proudly recount the clever thinking and resourcefulness that went into accommodating their guests[9]. The ice cube is a good example of that mindset.
A Menu Where Everything Had to Be White
The staff at the DUKES London Hotel won’t ever forget one woman who required all white foods[9]. This went well beyond a plain sandwich. It wasn’t just white bread and white sugar instead of brown, but literally everything had to be white[9].
Requests like this rely on the kitchen as much as the concierge desk. Concierges also lean on one another across cities. In one description, a concierge in Tokyo can email a counterpart at a Milan hotel and have dinner reservations and a driver lined up before the guest lands[1].
