Society of Golden Keys

SOCIETY OF GOLDEN KEYS

A good travel professional, who is a Destination Specialist, can give a client lots of information about the city they are going to, but a hotel concierge is very important to use once they get there. For things like theatre tickets, church services, and a million other questions, they are a gold mine.

I am a Destination Specialist for thirty nine different countries, which means I have taken a lot of exams and visited lots of countries many times.

I have been to London over one hundred times, and know the city well. However, on this trip thanks to the concierge team at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, I never used a taxi, I went everywhere on the public double decker bus and saved a fortune. I would say “Marks and Sparks” my favorite department store, and they would say, “take the No.10 bus from across the street” and off I would go. I went to the Rubens Hotel for afternoon tea, and took the No.73 to Victoria Station and walked one block. The best tip, buy an Oyster Card for ten pounds and you just show your card when you get on the bus. The bus fare is normally two pounds 40 pence.

An important thing for you to be aware of when you go to a good hotel anywhere in the world, look and see if the concierge staff have a golden key pin on their jacket. The Society was formed in Great Britain in 1952. Head Hall Porters from London’s leading hotels met to discuss the increasing expectations of the growing number of visitors to London and looked at how they could work together. The founding principles of the Society of the Golden Keys remain to this day and are encapsulated as “Service Through Friendship”. Concierges work together to improve quality of service to guests. The formation of the Society of Golden Keys coincided with a larger meeting in Cannes when Societies from nine different countries attended the first international congress of Les Ciefs D’Or.

This year, the world’s largest congress of concierge was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Over 800 concierge from across the world attended the event to network with fellow members, listen to guest speakers, and exchange information about current developments within the industry.

I was just a guest at St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London, and spent some time with the Head Concierge, Salvatore Bartolone who, when told I was there to write an article on the historical hotel offered to walk around the neighborhood and point out the many changes which were taking place.

He was so pleased and proud, to tell me about James Elliott, the Assistant Head Concierge who had been selected by the Society of Golden Keys to represent Great Britain and the Commonwealth at the annual Congress and St. Pancras Renaissance has been actively supporting him in the lead up to this international event. James took four weeks of examinations, before being selected to go to the congress.

He won the prestigious “Andy Pongco Award for 2014”, which recognizes him as the best concierge in the world.

Thanks to the St.Pancras team of professional Golden Keys members, my trip was very enjoyable.

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

825 Santa Cruz Ave

Menlo Park, CA 94025

650-961-2340 direct

www.AHTinfo@frosch.com or www.froschvacations.com