If you think asking for extra pillows, towels, and blankets when you travel makes you a difficult hotel guest, you’ll get a kick out of the crazy requests guests have made at five-star hotels.
Color allergies
“We had a lady come to stay that was allergic to the color purple,” explains Nathan Brown of the Rees Hotel Queenstown in New Zealand. “Yes, a color. She emailed prior to her arrival asking that any room amenities, furniture, or fixtures in her room and around the hotel were removed from her sight so she would not feel ill upon seeing them. All of our amenities at the time were lavender scented, we had purple colored books in our library, shades of purple on wine bottle labels, and paintings in our art gallery as well as flowers throughout the hotel. We did it, no questions asked, and she managed to stay healthy during her entire stay.”
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
“A couple in their early 70s got married at the Crosby Hotel in the winter, and it was the first marriage for both,” shares concierge Todd Hunt. “The groom proposed at Tiffany’s, the jewelry store, and he told our concierge, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to have breakfast at Tiffany’s?’” The concierge at Crosby Hotel takes that kind of stuff seriously and quickly arranged for an actual breakfast on the fifth floor of Tiffany 5th Avenue, which is extremely rare.
A swim with (pet) fishies
“We had doting parents demand some unusual things for their toddlers,” says a representative of high-end concierge company Leviticus Lifestyle. “They wanted us to fill a bathtub every morning, then add (ever so tenderly) the kids’ pet fish; then hand-wash and air-dry the babies’ clothes, daily.”
Disco naps, anyone?
“We had a VIP family who wanted us to transform our Tata Presidential Suite into a 70s-themed disco for their son’s 18th birthday,” shares Sanela Mrkulic, director of guest relations at New York’s Pierre Hotel. “Our engineering team brought in a dance floor, we hung several disco balls, removed furniture, used tons of silver foil, and voila! Full success. The guests were so happy they insisted we dance with them.”
Serious monkey business
A guest at a luxury hotel in Miami’s South Beach requested a professionally trained, camera-ready monkey, and meant it. The monkey was apparently needed to film a commercial, according to this New York Post article. The original monkey had bowed out, leaving a wide-open casting hole just waiting to be filled by the concierge, who then added animal casting to his resume.
Long lost relatives
On multiple occasions, Hilton concierges have been asked to find long-lost relatives and loved ones. The concierge at The Waldorf Hilton, London was asked to help locate a friend of a grandmother of a young American woman (how’s that for twisted already?). All she knew was that the woman was the landlady of a pub in North England during one of the world wars. After two days and several phone calls, the concierge located the woman and helped plan a surprise afternoon tea! Think that’s adorable?
Lovely to see you, deer
That’s not a typo. One guest at Brown’s Hotel in London actually requested 21 deer be sent to his home in the Middle East to celebrate his daughter’s 21st birthday. And to think, in some parts of the world people consider deer pests.
Is that a landing pad or are you just happy to see me?
One guest at the Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa requested to have his helicopter land on the property. With no landing pad or permission, the concierge had to reach out to the proper authorities for approval and successfully allowed the guest to land his chopper, which if you’re familiar with zoning and aviation laws, is no small feat.
Woof, woof
Edward Mady, a longtime manager of The Beverly Hills Hotel, asked the hotel to arrange a $15,000 wedding for her two pooches, including an ordained minister and catering.
that a smile or just a pleased aura?
“We had guests who requested a specific room because of the effect the sun at that angle had on their aura,” shares Laura Vardon, sales manager at The Eliot Hotel.
Fancy a camel ride, anyone?
At the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona, concierge Victoria Cote was brand new on the job when a guest requested a pair of camels. Victoria told CNN she didn’t want to disappoint a guest so fresh into her tenure and did her best to locate two perfect-seeming camels within 35 minutes. The guest went to see the camels but opted out of the purchase when he found they were each “missing” a hump.
