Les Clefs d'Or® International Revue | Autumn/Winter 2011/2012 No. 206
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The official member magazine of Les Clefs d'Or® International
Transcript of Les Clefs d'Or® International Revue | Autumn/Winter 2011/2012 No. 206
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 3
UICH LES CLEFS D’OR REVUEAUTUMN-WINTER
2011 / 2012
No 206
Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hotels “LES CLEFS D’OR”
OBJET : Regrouper les Membres ou les Sections Nationales ayant pour appellation
LES CLEFS D’OR
Siege Social : 12, rue Cambon - 75001 PARIS
Association Loi 1901 declaree a la Prefecture. Paris
Message from the International President 4 France 5Our Values 6Historic Executive Committee Meeting Vissoie 7Germany 10Morocco, Hungary 11Italy 12USA 13New Zealand, Australia 14Luxembourg, Denmark 15Japan, Canada 16Austria, Czech Republic 17International Congress Toronto 2011 18U.A.E. 20U.A.E. - Qatar, India 21Brazil, Argentina - Cile 22China 23Russia 24Russia - Ukraine, Mexico 25United Kingdom 26Hellas 28Pinning Ceremony 29Asian Congress Hong Kong and Macau 30Honorary members 32
LES CLEFS D'ORRevue de l'Union Internationaledes Concierges d'Hotels"LES CLEFS D'OR"
Post-Humous International PresidentAnDy POngCO (PHILIPPInES)
COnSEILLERSA. SCHnEIDER (AUSTRIA)J.M. BAUTISTA (SPAIn)A. OSTERTAg (SWITZERLAnD)A. DAMOnTE (gREAT BRITAIn)W. FREyTAg (gERMAny)A. gUnST (deceased) (HUngARy)M. SILVERMAn (UnITED STATES)A. gIACOMELLO (SWITZERLAnD)D. OBRIEn (IRELAnD)R. BASTOnI (FRAnCE)
MEMBRE D'HOnnEURJ. DESJEUnES (FRAnCE)
International President VIRgInIA CASALEHotel Sofitel Montreal, Canada
1st Vice President EMMAnUEL VRETTOSHotel Mistral, Athens, greece
2nd Vice President COLIn TOOMEyShangri-La Hotel, Sydney, Australia
3rd Vice President SIMOn THOMASBrowns Hotel, London, England
Past President ROBERT WATSOnWillard Inter-ContinentalWashington, DC USA
Treasurer JEAn-ROLAnD BOUTILLEHotel Bel-Ami, Paris, France
general Secretary MICHAEL ROMEIThe Waldorf Towers,new york, ny USA
Ass't general Secretary SHUJAAT KHAnThe Capital Hilton,Washington, DC USA
Representativefor International LIOnEL LORAnSPresident in Paris Hotel Raphael, Paris, France
Director of Publication MICHAEL ROMEICoordinator of Information MICHAEL ROMEI
BOARD OF DIRECTORS(42 MEMBER SECTIOn COUnTRIES)
ARgEnTInA M.MORELLIAUSTRALIA M. AnDERSOnAUSTRIA C.PARALBELgIUM A. VAnDERAUWERABRAZIL g.BORgESCAnADA H. LEgRAnDCHInA J. SUn DOngCHInESE TAIPEI A. LAICZECH REPUBLIC P. ZEZULADEnMARK A. KHOKHARFInLAnD S. JOUTSEnVUOFRAnCE L. LORAnSgERMAny C. nETZLEgREAT BRITAIn R. CROWDyHELLAS (gREECE) S. ARATHIMOSHOLLAnD B. MACKEnZIEHOng KOng F. LUIHUngARy T. UngARInDIA E. SALDAnHAIRELAnD M. MULHOLLAnDISRAEL R. ALKELAIITALy F. BARBAROSSAJAPAn M. TAJIMAKOREA J. KIMLUXEMBOURg S. DELCOMMInETTEMALAySIA R. KUMARASAMyMEXICO D. HIKICHIMOROCCO M. TAOUFIKnEW ZEALAnD F. STAUFERnORWAy K. ERTSASPHILIPPInES L. HIDALgOPORTUgAL J. ALVESROMAnIA C. MALUREAnURUSSIA P. nIKOLAEVSIngAPORE g. TAnSPAIn A. MASASWITZERLAnD C. CASERTHAILAnD S. nIyOMTURKEy A. OnERU.A.E C. FERRERUnITED STATES J. MILLS
ADMInISTRATIOn: LES CLEFS D'OR (UICH)12 rue Cambon 75001 ParisTelephone: 33-1-42-60-77-57Fax: 33-1-42-60-17-44
graphic design and printing
Montreal, QC., [email protected]
L’opinion exprimée dans la revue n’engageque ses auteurs et ne saurait en aucun casengager l’UICH “Les Clefs d’Or”
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INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT4
MESSAGE FROM OURINTERNATIONAL UICH PRESIDENT
Dear colleagues and friends of Clefs d’Or,
What a pleasure and honor to address you for the first time on our
Revue as your new President. My first words of immense gratitude
will be addressed to General Secretary Michael Romei who main-
tains all the communication channels open from our blog to our
upcoming Revue which you should be reading over the Christmas
holidays. Secondly, my sincere appreciation goes to my entire
board, from our 3 Vice Presidents, Emmanuel Colin & Simon who
work diligently across the world in their different duties. My invalu-
able treasurer Jean-Roland who keeps the accounts and our
French President, Lionel who maintains our Paris office all in good
order. Our Past President Robert, maintains his contribution on
many levels and will be part of the Andy Pongco committee at Lon-
don along with Shujaat Khan and then Shujaat will also put to-
gether our Book of Members which is a huge achievement every
two years. My seven Zone director heroes also need to be men-
tioned, Maurice, Tamas, Federico, Gregory, Michael, Simon and
Sami. Our sages Marjorie, Aldo, Denis, and Roger which are the
advisers and keepers of our statutes, follow us always with great
passion.
Our last executive meeting brought us for the first time in Vissoie,
and we were so grateful to have among us two other sages: Walter
Freytag and Albert Ostertag. After so many years it was an incred-
ible reunion for our sages to have this moment together and we as
an association directly benefit from this because they are a wealth
of knowledge. My sincere appreciation goes to our President
d’Honneur Aldo Giacomello and Claudio Caser, President of the
Swiss section for making this meeting a reality. Vissoie represents
our heritage, the spirit that started after the first world war which is
still alive today. We are also entering the celebrations of our 60th
Anniversary in 2012 as an international organization and what a
better way then to launch it from Vissoie, le Village de l’Amitié, what
a perfect setting.
The British section is busy finalizing what promises another mem-
orable congress which will mark our history. President Crowdy,
Paul Still, Simon Thomas among others are leading the troops for
success and already the numbers have been achieved in registra-
tion. The educational is bridged to Toronto, and we shall see again
our dynamic Gerald Parent facilitate the event with Roberta Nedry
from Hospitality Excellence.
This revue will also cover the Toronto congress and we need to ap-
plaude the chairman Toni Daoud and his committee for an out-
standing event, the survey speaks for itself with incredible
satisfaction. We shall never forget Isadore Sharp speech and that
panel of distinguished leaders of our industry… the acceptance of
India… Anabella Pelling our Andy Pongco winner and the fact that
we serve 126 million guests yearly.
In the meantime may you have a wonderful holiday season with
your families in peace & harmony and start a 2012 with good health
& love in your hearts.
I remain always yours in Service through Friendship & Excellence,
Vive Les Clefs d’Or !!!
Virginia Casale
President Les Clefs d’Or “U.I.C.H.”
Concierge Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile
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AROUND THE WORLD 5
FRANCE
On June 8th 2011 was held in the prestigious Plaza Athénée Hotel
in Paris the 4th Promotion graduation ceremony of the FPE
Concierge d’hôtel. François Dehalaye, Director of this beautiful in-
stitution, was this year’s sponsor, for which, once again, a young
lady was first of this promotion. She is now assistant concierge at
the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz, becoming the first female at the
concierge desk. All the students who graduated found a job which
is very satisfactory for the Clefs d’Or.
The recruitment of the 5th promotion was already achieved when
the graduation took place. On September 6th, 14 students joined
the Hospitality College in Toulouse. This year’s sponsor is as pres-
tigious as last year’s, Patrick Scicard, President of Lenotre. He said
he was much honored to have this privilege. He will meet all the
students during their educational tour in Paris next March.
Our French section has
worked several months
and was quite active on
an important project to
put on line our new web
site (www.clefsdor-
france.org). Since Octo-
ber 18th it is
available.This huge work
needed several months of research in our archives. It allows us to
have an efficient tool on our association, our history, and our job.
It gives a better visibility to our sponsors. Well documented we can
find many pictures and historical documents. In future we would
like to have this site available in several languages
Roger Bastoni, le chef concierge du Majestic Barrière, présidentsortant de l’union internationale des concierges d’hôtels “Les Clésd’Or”, a été nommé Président d’honneur et devient ainsi membrepermanent du Comité des Sages. Cette nomination s’est faite àToronto, début mai, lors du 58ème congrès international de l’UnionInternationale des Concierges d’Hôtel, plus connue sous le nomdes “Clés d’Or”. Un congrès qui a réuni 650 concierges, venus desplus grands hôtels de la planète pour échanger sur leur professionet son avenir. Virginia Casale, chef concierge du Sofitel Montréal,a été portée à la tête de cette association prestigieuse.De nouveau confirmé, le Cannois va quant à lui pouvoir poursuivreson action en faveur d’un métier qu’il exerce, défend et promeutavec brio, depuis plus de 40 ans (dont 35 années au service de laclientèle du Majestic Barrière !). Il fut ainsi président de l’Union Na-tionale des Concierges d’Hôtels “ Clefs d’ Or françaises” de 2003à 2007 avant d’assurer la présidence de l’Union Internationale des
Clefs d’ Or de 2007 à 2009.Des responsabilités qu’il a sumettre à profit pour créer, avecle bureau national, la premièreformation aux métiers deconcierge d’hôtel, en partenar-iat avec le Lycée Hôtelier deToulouse.Cette expérience de l’accueil,il l’a transmise aussi à ses en-fants qui ont choisi de suivreson exemple dans le groupe Barrière également. Non sans résultat.Tandis que Gilles affirme ses compétences davantage chaque jourau sein de la loge du Majestic Barrière à Cannes, Yannick, lui, dirigela loge de l’un des palaces les plus courus de Paris : l’Hôtel Fou-quet’s Barrière. Relève assurée.
The Clefs d’Or France is also
working on organizing this No-
vember the Trophy Pierre Quentin
(Founder of the Clefs d'or in
1929). Challenge which rewards
the best Clefs d’Or concierge.
Last year around 12 young mem-
bers participated in these oral and
written tests which verify their
professionalism. The winner will
be offered his participation to the
International Congress in London
and will take part in the 2012
Andy Pongo Award.
Many French Concierges have
planned to attend the next Congress in London. The proximity of
this country eases the transport and the French delegation should
be important. We are very happy as a substantial amount of Hotel
chains have decided to support their concierge.
It is already time to think of our end of year dinner which should be
held first weeks of December. This dinner will gather our members
and partners in a place held secret right now. This should be, again,
a strong moment of 2011.
Lionel Lorans
Président "Les Clefs d'Or" France
CEREMOny AT THE PLAZA ATHÉnÉE FOR OUR 4TH PROMOTIOn FPE COnCIERgE D'HÔTEL
CAnnES : ROgER BASTOnI, PRÉSIDEnT D’HOnnEUR MOnDIAL DES “CLÉS D’OR”
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OUR VALUES6
OUR VALUES
FRIENDSHIPShare the pleasure of meeting each other;enrich our knowledge with each other’s ex-perience with the enthusiasm of the same fra-ternity union beyond all borders.
THE GUEST FIRST AND BEFORE ALLBe devoted to creating a positive experi-ence for your guest who will be so satisfiedof the relationship that they will return andbring others.
SOLIDARITY AND MUTUAL HELPThe chain of the Clefs d’Or is as strong asthe weakest of its links.Be available and offer assistance.
RESPECT OF ENGAGEMENTSThe respect of its own word: I say, I do,and I do until the end.Be honest in all circumstances.
QUEST OF EXCELLENCEI want to progress all the times.I seek for the exceptional in everything I do.
DISCRETIONI see, I hear, or I know…but I remain silent.
EXEMPLARITYLeading by example is worth a ton ofspeeches.I am more demanding to myself than whatothers would expect from me.
NOS VALEURS
L’AMITIÉPartager le plaisir de se retrouver, s’enrichirensemble de chaque expérience, dans l’ent-housiasme d’une même union confraternelleau-delà de toute frontière.
LE CLIENT D’ABORD ET AVANT TOUTJe fais tout pour que les clients soient telle-ment satisfaits de la relation, qu’ils revien-nent et incitent d’autres a venir.
LA SOLIDARITÉ ET L’ENTRAIDERendre solide. La chaine des Clefs d’or estaussi forte que le plus faible de ses maillons.
LE RESPECT DES ENGAGEMENTSRespect de la parole donnee : je dis, je faiset je fais jusqu’au bout. Etre honnete danstoute circonstance.
LA RECHERCHE DE L’EXCELLENCEJ’ai la volonte de toujours progresser. Jerecherche l’exceptionnel dans tout ce quej’entreprends.
LA DISCRE�TION ET LA RÉSERVEJe vois, j’entends ou je sais ... et je me tais.
L’EXEMPLARITÉRespect de la parole donnee : je dis, je faiset je fais jusqu’au bout. Etre honnete danstoute circonstance.
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ExECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 7
MEMORIES OFHISTORIC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING VISSOIE
Dear Friends and Colleagues: “A return to our Heritage: A nostalgic journey”…….We were there to honor
our founding father Ferdinand Gillet who came from this storybook village of Vissoie adjacent to St-Luc
where we held our official meetings in the Val d’Anniviers. Mr. Gillet left his native mountain village to live
and work in cosmopolitan Paris, France. In 1929 while working as a concierge at The Hotel Scribe in
Paris Mr. Gillet began the journey which culminates where we are today; the creation of a professional or-
ganization of hotel concierge all linked to one simple but profound motto: IN SERVICE THROUGH
FRIENDSHIP. Little did he know that years later in 2011 we would be returning to his native land to honor
him as our founding father and to exalt his vision and motto. The following are some memorable quotes
and excerpts from our fellow members who attended this most historic meeting in the spirit of true friend-
ship and hospitality:
Michael Romei,
General Secretary, UICH
“M. e Mme Buchs un couple d’hoteliers qui aime les concierges, un hotel sympathique et con-fortable.” Le President Claudio Caser et son comite d’organization competents et attentifs. ”Albert Ostertag President d’honneur
My sincerest thanks go out to you and your fellow organising committee, Marc, Olivier and,last but no means least, Freddy. This was, as I am sure you are all aware, my first ExecutiveCommittee meeting as a serving member of the committee. it was always going to be a memo-rable experience for me, but nothing could prepare me for the monumental, historic and won-derful weekend that took place in Val d'Anniviers.Simon Thomas 3rd Vice President UICH
Ferdinand & Jean Gillet were inspired from the harmony and the fragance of this little hospitablevillage and the surrounding mountains. The harmony and the fragance that flourish in our heartswith the friendship and solidarity.Emmanuel Vrettos 1st Vice President UICH
"Aldo Giacomello proclaimed during his homage to Jean that Vissoie, as the seat of the Gilletfamily, founder, Ferdinand, and son and collaborator, Jean, ought to be a place of pilgrimage forall Clefs d’Or concierges. We spoke of an idea to someday establish a study center there,where concierges could come to do training and ongoing studies in the profession. It wouldbe such a serene and alluring place to take an educational retreat. Maybe that can become agoal for some of you younger members to continue the legacy of Jean Gillet. "Marjorie Silverman President d’honneur
It is very pleasing to know that such an important occasion was handled so professionallyand diligently by the two of you and the rest of the Swiss members. I am sure that the twogentlemen we honoured over the weekend would be delighted to know that the spirit of friend-ship is alive and well in their home-town of Vissoie. Like everyone involved I am taking away somany wonderful memories of this historic occasion and I thank you both for making it atruly special event.Colin Toomey 2nd Vice President UICH
We are lucky all who could be attend at the most authentic place for Clefs d'Or, the rootsof the Gillet Family in Vissoie.Tamas Ungar Central Europe Zone Director UICH
The whole area is beautiful, and the Hotel Bella Tola was one of the best, so friendly, helpfuland willing to please. I was so pleased that I had the opportunity to enjoy a little of every-thing, the food, the wine, the local tour, the history, etc etc etcPaul Still – Great Britain
In short, the visit to Vissoie created a historic journey and left all of us with AN INDELIBLE EXPERIENCEAN EXPERIENCE THAT CANNOT BE FORGOTTENAN EXPEREINCE THAT CANNOT BE REPLACEDShujaat Khan Assistant General Secretary UICH
“The Charte”. This will be an extraordinary document reminding us always to the Meeting inVissoie / Val d’Anniviers. This is where our roots are and the very beginning of the history ofLes Clefs d’Or, of our history. From a small charming village in the Swiss mountains to 42countries worldwide.Claudio Caser President Les Clefs d’Or Switzerland
Some very special quotes from those who attended.
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VISSOIEphotos
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ExECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 9
managed to create a bal-
anced blend of Far East
charm with Western indus-
trial history. Kathrin has
been a Les Clefs d’Or
Member since 2006 and is
also Director of the Ham-
burg Section for Les Clefs
d’Or Germany. Congratula-
tions again dear Kathrin for
winning this very presti-
gious award in Germany!
Congratulations to Kathrin Beulshausen, winner of the Concierge
of the Year Germany 2012. Each year since 2006 the famous pub-
lishing house “Busche Verlag” known for their travel and restaurant
guides awards the Concierge of the Year for all of Germany. This
year’s event was held in Germany’s most northern island of Syit on
the 24th of October 2011; more than 350 guests attended.
Some background information about our dear Kathrin Beul-
shausen: She started her concierge career in 2004 at east Hotel in
Hamburg, Germany where she remains today. Kathrin opened the
east Hotel Hamburg (128 rooms) in October 2004. The east is
famed for its innovative design; forged by Jordan Mozer who has
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GERMANY
Kathrin Beulshausen with our
President Mr. Christian Netzle
KATHRIn BEULSHAUSEn COnCIERgE OF THE yEAR gERMAny 2012
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETIng In VISSOIE
AnnUAL BOARD MEETIng AnD 3RD “nEW BLOOD” TRAInIng In BAD SCHAnDAU
nEXT nATIOnAL MEETIng nEXT yEAR TAKIng PLACE In COLOgnENext National Meeting next year taking place in Cologne
Our next national congress will take place from July, 19th until July,
22nd in Cologne. We are quite sure it will become an amazing
event, due to Cologne is a wonderful city with a lot of historical
background. We hope to welcome some good old friends there
from different countries especially we will have a combination of
the next area meeting as well as our national meeting. Our colleges
from the section Cologne/ Dusseldorf are almost quite busy in or-
ganizing this event.
In Service through friendship
Ralf Schuetz
Member of the board Clefs d’Or Germany
In October our national Board Meeting took place in Bad Schan-
dau, close to the beautiful city of Dresden at the “Hotel Elbresidenz
Bad Schandau” in a beautiful landmark directly at the “Elbe” River
just a few kilometers away from the borderline.
This year we did something special for the first time: we combined
our Board meeting with our 3rd “new blood” seminar where 25 young
members had the opportunity to find out something about team
building, our association, finding new friends helping them to become
part of our union. There was also an outdoor part deeply in the forest
in the training session, where the attendees were shown how impor-
tant team building and team work is. Also some of the International
Presidents took part in our meeting. So we had an amazing weekend
– especially the youngsters finding new friends, got to now the mem-
ber of the board and also the International Presidents. We have amaz-
ing feed back from different General Managers how motivated the
attandees came back to their properties.
We can highly recommend to do the same in your countries, because
younsters are very important for our association and for our future.
Dear Friends
From September, 29th until October, 2nd I had the opportunity to take
part in the Executive Committee Meeting in Vissoie, Switzerland.
What an amazing location on 1.400 meter altitude in the wonderful
valley of Walis and also the place of birth of our founder of Clefs d’
Or international Ferdinand Gillet.
He had an extraordinary meeting of almost all Presidents fom Eu-
rope, USA and Asia. Thank you to our International President, Vir-
ginia Casale and Michael Romei for organizing this event in a
perfect and very professional way. I was deeply impressed, also
because I had the chance to meet a lot of „old“ friends, which ac-
companied me during my profession in the past and my member-
ship of Clefs d’ Or.
We have discussed the future of our associaton in different meetings,
also how important it is to help and support each others in friendship
and connectivity. That is the general goal of our association.
Yours faithfully
Walter Freytag
MOROCCOOur first meeting was in the 11th June,in the Saadi Hotel, Marrakesh.
The second was in the 20th August, in the Sofitel Hotel, Agadir.
The third, in the 24th September in the Palais Jamai Hotel, Fes.
The last one, in the 15th October in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Casablanca.
During all this meetings we emphasized on training and the different ways to improve com-
munication between concierge members.
We will organize the second mediterranean congress the 16th and 17th of December in
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Casablanca.
Let me know if somebody from the executive committee will attend the next meditettanean
congress, we will be happy to welcome him/her.
Warm regards,
El Mostafa TAOUFIK
HUNGARYDear Friends!
it is a great plesure to infrom you that we had a very special, active
period in the last several month.
In May we had a go cart rally competition with the Airportshuttle
Minibus Company drivers and our Clefs d'Or members.
In June we visited the Caprice Jewelry and Diamond factory in
Szentendre, we enjoyed very much the lecture of Mr Arik Herman,
GM of the factory. After the visit we had a great dinner at the
Kereskedőház Restaurant.
End of June we visited the worldfamous wine region Tokaj, This
was a full day excursion with wine tasting and lovely dinner.
In July we had a fantastic dinner at the Restaurant Melba. This place
has a special location as it is at the Danube river with own Yacht dock.
In September we had a partner party at the famous Gundel restau-
rant. We invited our bussiness partners for a get together, this
evening was also an occassion to get more and new bussiness af-
filiated member.At this evening we had the chance to introduce our
new Marketing and Strategy partner the Bunt 24 Company with the
leadership of Mrs Mariann Hammerle. We strongly believe that this
partneship will help us to achieve our goals.
In October we had a traditional dinner at the Mátyás Pince Restau-
rant, we had special guest at this eveing , Mrs Krisztina Dudas who
is the Director of Marketing at the Hungarian Tourism Ltd. She gave
us a very interesting presentation about the plans and achievment
of the hungarian tourism. We had also Mr Tamas Botka with us from
Absolute Media Ltd, he is the publisher of several high class edi-
tions about the hungarian Spa's, wine regions, fine restaurants. the
latest books were intreduce at his presentation.
As the winter season holidays are coming I wish a Merry Christ-
mass and a Happy New year to everyone worldwide and more im-
portant good health and peace.
In Friendship
Tamás Ungár
President Les Clefs d'Or Hungary
Area Director Central Europe, UICH
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Where Milan Magazine in association with
Morris Visitor Publications (MVP) spon-
sored their first annual Concierge of The
Year 2011 Award. This was also in cele-
bration of the 75th anniversary of Where
Magazine and the first anniversary of
Where Milan. This year’s award goes to
our dear friend Riccardo Arnaldi
Concierge at The Westin Palace Mi-
lano. Mr. Arnaldi is originally from Rome
and has been working at The Westin
Palace Milan for 10 years. He also has
worked at several luxury hotels in London,
Austria and Germany as well as onboard
Cunard’s luxury ship The Seabourn Sun. He is a world adventure
traveler, avid runner, and fluent in several languages.
Michael Romei, International
General Secretary UICH hap-
pened to be visiting Milan at
the same time and was invited
to attend the Award ceremony
sponsored by Where Milan at
The historic La Brera Milano.
Featured in the photo with
Michael are all of the award nominees: Bernie Gallotta from Grand
Visconti Palace, Davide Gambi from King, Mario Gambron from
Principe di Savoia, Maxim Juricic from Park Hyatt. together with
the winner Riccardo Arnaldi.
We wish to congratulate Riccardo for winning this prestigious
award and we send many many thanks to our dear friends of Where
Milan and Morris Visitor Publications (MVP) for their continuous
support and partnership with our Les Clefs d’Or organization
worldwide. Thank you very much dear friends!
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On a recent trip to Italy; I had the pleasure of meeting and getting
to know a Les Clefs d’Or Concierge colleague and now a great
friend: Francesco Battesimo Chef Concierge Hotel Caruso – Orient
Express Hotel – Ravello, Italy (AmalfiCoast). Francesco has been
at The Hotel Caruso in Ravello for several years but is originally
from Northern Italy and worked years ago at another Orient Ex-
press Hotel; The Splendido in Portofino. Most recently he was fea-
tured on the cover of Orient-Express Hotels Magazine ; Franceso is
featured prominently at the entrance of this most beautiful hotel
with his great warmth and friendliness; truly inviting you in to ex-
perience this little piece of heaven. Imagine a Palazzo type struc-
ture perched on a village cliff with a backdrop of sheer panorama
and The Amalfi Coast below. The setting is magical and so is
Francesco’s service: His recommendation of Trattoria Lorenzo in
the tiny little hamlet of Scala was one of the
best al fresco lunch’s ever experienced in
all of Italy! The other really truly “Service
Magic” performed by Francesco was his
ability to arrange for a special order Hertz
Car to be delivered directly to Ravello in-
stead of having to travel more than one
hour away for an Airport pick up. When
everyone else said “NO” he was able to
make this happen effortlessly and with pleasure: Truly representa-
tive of our Les Clefs d’Or service standards and strength of
“Golden Keys” relationships.
ITALY
> Name and Last Name: Romano Pallai
> Position: Concierge
> Hotel: Plaza Hotel Lucchesi – Firenze, Italy
> Hotel Website: www.plazalucchesi.it
> How many years at current hotel: 16 years
> How many years with Les Clefs d’Or: 19 years
> What do you love the most about your city and location? The fact
to be small. People can reach the sites of tourist interest walking
and that allows them to see part of the attractions along their way,
without be worried about the schedule of public busses or pay ex-
pensive taxi fares. Florence is also a city, and it is usual in Italy,
where people can feel safe walking around during the day and even
at night time. Our location is just
outside the pedestrian area, along
the river, with rooms facing the river
or with a view on the roofs of the
centre. I feel the Lucchesi to be like
a second home for our guests,
where people can arrive or return
with pleasure, counting on efficient
and discreet service. My superior,
Mr. Michele Paonessa, president of Les Clefs d’Or of Tuscany,
and myself do our best to accomplish to their wishes and have
them feel welcome.
> Name & Last Name: Andrea Scarpa
> Position: Chief Concierge
> Hotel: Saturnia International Venice
> Hotel Website: www.hotelsaturnia.it
> Location: Venice, Italy
> How many years at current hotel: 11 years
> How many years with Les Clefs d’Or: 14 years
> What do you love the most about your city and location? The
art, architecture and uniqueness!
COnCIERgE OF THE yEAR MILAn 2011 AWARDED TO RICCARDO ARnALDI
LCD MEET & gREET: ROMAnO PALLAI AT HOTEL LUCCHESI FIREnZE
LCD MEET AnD gREET WITH “SERVICE MAgIC”
LCD MEET & gREET: AnDREA SCARPA AT SATURnIA InTERnATIOnAL VEnICE
well known Bell Captain for 37
years. It is no wonder that she
developed passion for our
Concierge profession and our
symbolic Les Clefs d’Or Motto
“In Service Through Friend-
ship.” Her favorite quote
is: ”Life is a journey, not a des-
tination.” Fellow Members
Worldwide: Please welcome
Jeanne Mills as President LCD
USA!!!
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USADear Friends,
The national meeting of the USA Section was held in the historic city
of Boston, Massachusetts, July 7-11, 2011. The Greater Boston
Concierge community delivered what will always be fondly remem-
bered as “A Revolution in Service”. Boston will forever hold a special
place in my heart as it marked the beginning of my mandate as the
newly elected President of Les Clefs d’Or USA. I have always felt
quite privileged to simply be amongst the membership ranks of our
prestigious organization. I am both humbled and honored to now as-
sume a role in which I may contribute to shaping its future.
It was my great pleasure to attend the 10th National Mexican Con-
gress held in Cancun, Mexico, September 21-25, 2011. From the
moment I arrived in Cancun, I felt the sincere warmth and hospi-
tality of our Mexican colleagues. It was truly inspiring to witness
the meeting room filled with approximately 80 delegates of a young
section. I applaud Yasmine Flores for the leadership she has given
our neighboring section during her Presidency and also extend my
most sincere congratulations to Mexico’s newly elected President,
Ms. Diana Hikichi of the Hotel Nikko, Mexico City. Viva Mexico!
Most recently, the USA Board of Directors gathered in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, October 27-31, 2011, for our annual face-to-face
meetings. While in San Juan, Les Clefs d'Or, USA hosted a service
excellence class titled "The Art of the Concierge," at the InterCon-
tinental Hotel. The educational symposium welcomed concierges,
hotel employed front service professionals and hospitality students
to attend this complimentary four hour session. The USA section is excited to host the 17th Pan American Con-
gress of Les Clefs d’Or April 26-30, 2012 in fabulous Las Vegas!
Please look for on-going congress updates on Face Book at “Les
Clefs d’Or 17th Pan American Congress 2012”.
I am greatly looking forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming
UICH Congress in London!
Until we all meet again, I respectfully remain yours…
In Service through Friendship,
Jeanne Mills
President
Les Clefs d’Or USA
The Annual Concierge
Choice Awards NYC
2011 Michael Romei
with Mary Murphy As-
sistant Chef Concierge
Omni Berkshire NYC
OUR nEWLy ELECTED PRESIDEnT LES CLEFS D’OR USA
LES CLEFS D’OR nyC QUARTERLy MEETIng
Jeanne Mills, Chef Concierge of the MGM Grand Las Vegas has
been elected as the new President of Les Clefs d’Or USA Ltd. Elec-
tions were held recently in Boston during the LCD USA National
Congress. Jeanne Mills has served wtih distinction on the Board of
the USA Section since 2002; she has been a member of Les Clefs
d’Or USA for many years and has attended several International, Pan
American and Domestic Congresses. Jeanne began her Concierge
career at age 19 and was quite inspired by her mentor Jacque Hall-
stead. She is one of the Founders of the Southern Nevada Hotel
Concierge Association. She also grew up in the Hotel business and
was often seen playing as a young girl in the luggage storage room
of the historic Dunes Hotel Las Vegas where her father served as a
Last night on Monday June 27th 2011; The Les Clefs d’Or Hotel
Concierge of New York City held its quarterly meeting at Hotel Kim-
berly here in Manhattan. Our Meeting was organized and moderated
by Maurice Dancer, Chef Concierge of The TAJ Pierre NYC and Zone
Director of The Americas for Les Clefs d’Or UICH. Peter Johnson
Chef Concierge of The Hotel Kimberly was our most gracious host
and organized our private meeting room followed by a lovely outdoor
supper buffet on the beautiful rooftop terrace of The Hotel Kimberly.
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NEW ZEALANDAuckland, New Zealand
In July 2011, Auckland New Zealand hosted the Inaugural Oceania
Congress and the 17th Annual General Meeting This congress
brought the ties between Australia and New Zealand even closer.
This was history in the making and I was very humbled being a part
of it! Special thanks to Gabi Milling from AMEx and our UICH In-
ternational President Virginia Casale for her well wishes and very
kind words!!!
Preparation for the UICH International Congress in Queenstown
2013 is well on the way!!! We look forward to showing you all our
beautiful country and we will show you all…
This is Queenstown “As Good as it gets”….
Yours always in Friendship
Franz Staufer President
Les Clefs d’Or New Zealand
Most recently at their annual national meeting; Les Clefs d’Or Aus-
tralia elected their new President Michael Anderson replacing Mr.
Elvis Soiza who served us with distinction. We thank Elvis for his
support and hard work in representing our Australian Section for
the past few years. We also wish to congratulate Michael Anderson
not only for his newly elected position as President of LCD Australia
but also for his new appointment as Oceania Zone Director.
Michael Anderson has been Chef Concierge of The Observatory
Hotel in Sydney, Australia for the past 19 years. His career in cus-
tomer service spans nearly 30 years; he has been recipient of nu-
merous awards including the AHA NSW accommodation division
Employee Excellence in Service Award in 2000; he was also ap-
pointed the official ambassador for the Sydney 2000 Olympic “Wel-
come the World” program. Over the past 3 years he has
represented his hotel as its public face making numerous sales
trips especially in the Arabian
Gulf area. Michael has been
recently quoted as follows: “ I
enjoy leading my team, and
sharing with them, my pas-
sion for Customer Service,
that said I am no “one trick
pony.” “I also believe that life
lessons are prime in impor-
tance.” “The key component
in Customer Service is “the
creation of empathy” that
being one’s ability to connect
with people on an emotional
level.”
HISTORy In THE MAKIng… 1ST UICH OCEAnIA COngRESS
From our Friends in Queenstown hosts of Congress 2013… Bryan Wilkinson Chief Concierge of the luxury Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and
Spa hosted the South Island members of the Hotel Concierge Society Les Clefs d'Or New Zealand aboard the 48ft ketch rigged motor
sailor the mv Yvalda used by Sir Winston Churchill during World War two. The Society Les Clefs d'Or (The Keys of Gold) is meeting to or-
ganise the 60th International Congress to be held in Queenstown in April 2013. To mark the occasion 42 decorative banners were raised
with the sails to represent the 42 member countries from around the world who will be attending.
Left to Right
Bryan Wilkinson, LCDNZ South Island Delegate, Nick Steele,
LCDNZ Assistant Secretary, Shaun Ryan, LCDNZ Secretary
Logan Fleet, LCDNZ Treasurer, Franz Staufer, LCDNZ President,
Gaby Milling, American Express Representative
Michael Anderson, LCD Australia President, James Ridenour,
LCD Australia Secretary ,Peter Brown, LCD Australia NSW State
Delegate, Steve Ciric, LCD Australia Treasurer
AUSTRALIAPLEASE WELCOME MICHAEL AnDERSOn:OUR nEW PRESIDEnT LCD AUSTRALIA AnD OCEAnIA ZOnE DIRECTOR
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We then had our raffle with a lot
of prizes that came from the
most prestigious boutiques,
wineries and restaurants in
Luxembourg : CARTIER,
LOUIS VUITTON, HOFFMANN/
M O N T - B L A N C ,
ROLEx, JITROIS, HERMES,
JAGUAR LUxEMBOURG,
JOALLERIE SCHROEDER,
SONIA RYKIEL, FREY WILLE, Le ROYAL HOTEL BOUTIQUE and
many more. None of us left without a magnificent gift. Again, we
thank them for the generosity and support.
After a short but comfortable night, we spend some time visiting our
small, but beautiful town and we went on the TSCHOU-TSCHU
PETRUSSE ExPRESS TRAIN going through the oldest parts of the
city. We ended up at the VILLA VAUBAN for a short visit of that old
18th century villa (museum-artgallery) in the middle of the city park.
The group of friends crossed the park during a few minutes to go
to the HOTEL "Le ROYAL*****" where Simon DELCOMMINETTE
hosted a aperitif in the garden of his hotel. After that relaxing mo-
ment we all left for a five minutes walk to the very heart of the city
where we were guests of the restaurant LA LORRAINE for a excel-
lent lunch under the trees of the place d'Armes.
I would like to thank everybody from the Luxembourg section for
their participation as well as all our sponsors that I would like to
name here, but there were so many that it would be
impossible. Thank you also to the sunshine that has been with us
from the first till the last minute of our meeting !
Simon DELCOMMINETTE
President - LCD LUXEMBOURG
LUXEMBOURGThe 13 members of the Luxembourg section met for a lovely spring
week-end mid-june.
After a warm welcome at the ALZINN HOTEL where most of them
spend the first night, the SALES-LENTZ coach company took us
for the traditional diner in the gambling rooms of the CASINO2000.
Diner followed by a "Black Jack" training !
Next morning, all of us were the guests at the extraordinary GOLF
DU CHATEAU DE PREISCH located just after the Luxembourg bor-
der, in the french countryside.
For all of us this was a first golfing experience. We had a great
teacher, Michael who gave us a good idea of how difficult and ex-
hausting this very elegant sport can be. Thanks to one of the spon-
sors of that warm Saturday to the local brewery BOFFERDING, we
could quench our thirst !!!
After lunch at the golf club restaurant LE SWING, we left France to
go back to the green heart of Europe : Luxembourg. We all
checked in at the new SOFITEL "LE GRAND DUCAL" where our
new member Giovanni MARCONI had reserved the best rooms
with a super view on the old part of the city.
The most important part of the week-end was when we were the
guests of our good Clefs d'Or friend, Thierry DUHR who is the chef
and owner of the one star Michelin rated restaurant "LE BOUQUET
GARNI" in the upper part of the old town, behind the Grand Duke's
Palace in the rue de l'Eau. Thierry had the pleasure to be our 2011
Member d'Honneur. The press was very happy to share this im-
portant event with many readers in Luxembourg ! Thierry and his
team had prepared an perfect gala diner for us with the best
wines. Service was so good and elegant under the management
of José, THE Maître D !!!...
SPRIng WEEK-EnD OF LES CLEFS D'OR LUXEMBOURg
DENMARKIn May the Danish Section held our 74th Year Anniversary at Cus-tom House. Many of you probably remember this lovely venue bythe harbor of Copenhagen as it was one of our venues when wehad the Congress in 2008.
During our anniversary it is tradition to elect Concierge of the year.This Year Kasper Poulsen won the title together with nice pricesfrom one of our main sponsors of the event Interntional Herald Trib-une. AVIS Car Rental was the other sponsor for this magnificentevent. Herald Tribune was represented by Carina PierreRochard,Circulation Director Central Europe & Scandinavia. Kaspertook his first steps as a Concierge at the 5* Skt. Petri Hotel inCopenhagen and became a member of the Danish board duringhis time at the property. Since then he has been a Chef Conciergeat the environmental friendly property of Copenhagen TowersCrowne Plaza. Since 2011 Kasper has been the Chef Concierge atRadisson Blu Scandinavia. The property that hosted all of us duringthe International Congress in 2008. Kasper has been a board mem-ber since 2008 and is very dedicated to Les Clefs d’Or Denmarkand UICH. He’s the treasurer of the Danish section where he hasdone an outstanding work through his last 2 terms. Kasper wasalso the Danish nominee for the Andy Pongco award in Toronto.Next year we will celebrate our 75. Year Anniversary and hope tosee as many of you as possible!!!
COnCIERgE OF THE yEAR 2011Kasper Poulsen
with his present
from IHT.
Another story from us:
Miss Katrine Stadum, Concierge at Copenhagen Marriott, was
"keyed" on Monday September 19 when we had our second sem-
inar with one of our main sponsor, DanTaxi, which is the second
largest taxi company in Copenhagen. The seminar is to highend
the service between hotels and the taxi business. All this to the
benefits of our visitors! After the seminar and keying we went to
Bishop & Arms Pub to network and celebrate.
Looking forward to see you in London.
Warm regards and best wishes,
Anders
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JAPANDear Friends and Colleagues,
On behalf of the Japanese section I wish to share a warm hello to
all of our friends and colleagues around the world.
It is over 8 months since the earthquake and tsunami hit the coast
of Tohoku region in Japan. We are very grateful for the generous
contributions and support that we have received from our friends
and colleagues all over the world. According to Tokyo Electric
Power Company, the reactors are currently stable and any critical
and urgent matter that needed to be resolved is headed in a posi-
tive direction. Step by step, Japanese citizens are starting to move
toward the normal life they had. We must not forget that Japan's
recovery could not have and cannot be achieved without constant
support from countries from around the globe.
In April, we started the fiscal year with a new committee, and with
the support from all of you and the management at our hotels, we
are moving forward little by little day by day in hopes of aiding
tourism in Japan during these harsh times resulting from the March
11 disasters.
In July, we distributed our first newsletter “Keynews” written specif-
ically for our international peers. We created this newsletter in an
effort to advertise a “Safe and Fun Japan” to our international
counterparts and we plan on publishing this newsletter bimonthly.
In September, we had a Fam Trip in Kyoto organized by Tourism
Division, Kyoto City. We had an experience of ‘Beautiful Maiko
dancing show & Kyoto Cuisine’ at the traditional Japanese INN
“Hatanaka”. Lectured at “Tomihiro Hand-Dyeing Yuzen”, “Nishiki
textile fine arts of Tatsumura KOHO”, and “The Ando Japanese Doll
shop”.
In November, we held our 14th anniversary party at Park Hyatt
Tokyo, with the member of Japan Concierge Association and in-
vited guests including former Les Clefs d’Or member and the mem-
ber from Associative Companies.
We thank all of you again for your support that are helping our na-
tion recover from the disaster.
We all look forward to seeing all of you at the London Congress in
2012.
In Service Through Friendship,
Masumi Tajima
President, Les Clefs d’Or Japan
Chief Concierge
Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo
Carolina Avaria, Chef Concierge
InterContinental Toronto Yorkville
recently attended the Americas
Zone IHG Meeting in Las Vegas
where she was awarded the Best
of The Best Concierge of the Year
for InterContinental Americas
Zone (North, Central and South
America). The Meeting was at-
tended by more than 6100 delegates. Featured in the above photo
with Carolina Avaria is Mr. David Webster International Honorary
Member Les Clefs d’Or and Chairman of The InterContinental Hotel
Group. Also shown in the photo to the right of Carolina Avaria is
Mr. Simon Scoot VP of Global Branding for IHG. InterContinental
is recognized as a leader in the industry with Concierge In The
Know Program and their celebrated Concierge App. We wish to
congratulate Carolina Avaria for this stupendous award and to also
thank The InterContinental Hotel Group for their continued friend-
ship and support of our Les CLefs d’Or organization and Concierge
profession.
Our dear friend Carolina Avaria has been working for InterConti-
nental Hotels for 8 years: Chef Concierge for 6 1/2 years at Inter-
Continental Toronto Yorkville and 1 1/2 years at InterContinental
Toronto Centre. Carolina is a native from Chile and moved to
Canada when she was 8 years old. She was a Professional Stage
Manager for 18 years before becoming a Concierge. Carolina
worked on more than 100 Shows including; Rent, Les Miserables,
Ragtime and even toured with Cameron McIntosh’s Oliver in the
UK. She has been a Hotel Concierge for 11 years. She shares her
life with her 4 year old Josephine and her well known Toronto
French Chef husband Masayuki Tamaru. Carolina is also Vice Pres-
ident for Les Clefs d’Or
Canada. She is known for
her award winning personal-
ity, hard work and enthusi-
asm and shares tremendous
passion for our beloved
Concierge profession. Con-
gratulations Dear Carolina!!
CANADAInTERCOnTInEnTAL COnCIERgE OF THE yEAR AWARDED TO CAROLInA AVARIA
AUSTRIASpring and summer in Aus-
tria was thankfully a very
busy period all over Austria
and our members had plenty
of possibilities to show their
abilities and the importance
of our Clefs d´Or network to
our management and more
important to our valued
guests.
Despite the amount of work,
our national association had
regular meetings and some
very special events over the
last few months – we at-
tended the International
congress in Toronto, cele-
brated our Clefs d´Or birthday, had examinations in our partner
schools and so on.
On July 7th our National board was invited at the newly opened
Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom for a very successful board meeting.
We were also invited at their new restaurant – an absolute hot spot
in this beautiful city – and had the pleasure to welcome a new and
highly motivated new member into our association. Wolfgang Wag-
ner, Concierge at the Sofitel and colleague of our National Presi-
dent Christian Paral was awarded with the Golden keys by his
General Manager and Mr. Paral.
“I am very proud that all concierges in our hotel are members of
Les Clefs d´Or and that they are allowed to wear the crossed
Golden Keys as part of their uniform. Being members of Les Clefs
d´Or is a signal that our concierges belong to the best in the world
and therefore the philosophy and customer orientation of Sofitel is
fully met.” said the proud General Manager, Mr. William Haandrik-
man.
We are very proud to say that with motivated members like Wolf-
gang and supportive GMs like Mr. Haandrikman, our association
will steer into a bright future and our guests will feel the benefits of
our motto “In service through friendship” all over the world!
Recently I had the golden op-
portunity to stopover in lovely
Prague on my way back
home from attending various
Les Clefs d’Or meetings and
events: Our members and
friends of Prague most gra-
ciously hosted a lovely dinner
at the Restaurant Chagall in
the heart of the Historic Dis-
trict: Seated from Left to Right: Michael Romei, Sarka Hakenova
(Marriott Hotel), Stanislav Malek (Four Seasons Prague), Kvetoslav
Tomas Krejci, Petr Zezula (President Les Clefs d’Or Czech Republic
and Chef Concierge Four Seasons Prague), Pavel Ruml (Mandarin
Oriental Prague), and Marek Psenicka (Rocco Forte Augustine
Prague).
Aperitifs at the lovely home of
Stanislav Malek and Kvetoslav
Tomas Krejci in Prague.
Petr Zezula is President of Les Clefs d’Or
Czech Republic and also Chef Concierge
of The Four Seasons Prague. Petr was
kind enough to walk with me outside his
Hotel to explain the history and design of
the unique structure and building overlook-
ing the fairytale Prague Castle and steps
away from The Charles Bridge.
CZECH REP.PLEASE MEET OUR LES CLEFS D’OR MEMBERS OF PRAgUE!!
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UICH 58th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSAPRIL 27TH to MAY 2ND, 2011
U.A.E.
From left Sandra Newman Chief Concierge Kempinski Emirates
Palace Abu Dhabi (newest & only female LCD UAE member),
Michael Sorgenfrey, GM Grand Millennium Al Wahda Abu Dhabi,
Helen Konstantopolous, Susan Kderiet (both from Int'l Herald Trib-
une) and myself.
Regards,
Charles Ferrer
President - Les Clefs d'Or - UAE
Grand Millennium Al Wahda hosted the UAE chapter of the official
international Concierge Association’s first ever meeting last week.
The meeting brought together concierges from across the Emi-
rates, and facilitate sharing of ideas and experiences across ho-
tels.
Michael Sorgenfrey, general manager of Grand Millennium wel-
comed the country’s top concierges to the hotel in his opening
speech. He said: “It is a great honour to host the cream of the
UAE’s concierges here in Grand Millennium Al Wahda. Our hotel,
as well as Millennium & Copthorne as a group, are committed to
continuous development of our staff, our standards and best prac-
tice, and we are proud to support Les Clef d’Or in the UAE.”
The meeting was attended by high profile senior figures from the
tourism industry including representatives from the Dubai Depart-
ment of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), the Interna-
tional Herald Tribune, Ferrari World and the Dubai Islamic Arts
Centre, as well as Grand Millennium Al Wahda’s chief concierge
and president of Les Clef d’Or, Charles Ferrer.
The organisation aims to enhance the hospitality experience and
provide professional development and networking opportunities, and
some of the topics discussed included a training workshop run by
DTCM, strengthening the ties between UAE concierges with a com-
mitment to solidarity and integrity, and the UAE chapter’s bid to be-
come host nation for the 2016 international Les Clef d’Or congress.
Group Photo of the UAE meet in Grand Millennium Al Wahda
Please join us in congratulating our
Abu Dhabi Concierge Group Pres-
ident and Asst. Secretary General
of Les Clefs d'Or UAE, Mr. Jerome
Rodrigo of Crowne Plaza abu
Dhabi for the coveted Hotelier
Middle East Concierge of the Year
Award 2011.
…..Congratulations Mr. Jerome
Rodrigo……
UAE 1ST gEnERAL ASSEMBLy HOSTED By gRAnD MILLEnIUM AL WAHDA ABU DHABI
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Our very own hospitality
trainer and concierge ex-
pert; Holly Stiel traveled
recently to both Doha,
Qatar and Dubai, UAE
where she conducted a
most effective and well
attended Seminar/Work-
shop for the concierge
community in both
places.
Holly’s seminar was sponsored in partnership by both The Tourism
Authority of Dubai and Doha, Qatar together with both Les Clefs
d’Or UAE and The Concierge Association of Qatar. The attendance
was incredible: 300 people in Dubai and 150 in Doha, Qatar.
Please note the following quote from Holly: “It was really thrilling
to meet so many people and have the opportunity to touch their
lives. In the forward of
my book The Art and
Science of The Hotel
Concierge; Marjorie Sil-
verman wrote that with
this new book I would
have an opportunity to
inspire another genera-
tion of concierge. That
is exactly what it felt like
in Dubai and Qatar.
There were people in attendance
from all over the world and it was
the first time they had received
training especially designed for
them. The Hosts were mar-
velous, the audience apprecia-
tive, and the experience: a life
time happy memory.” Quote
from Holly Stiel
HOLLy STIEL SEMInAR/WORKSHOP In DUBAI AnD QATARU.A.E.- QATAR
Les Clefs d’Or India just held their 5th Annual General Meeting today in New Delhi: We wish to congratulate the
following newly elected members of their Exec. Committee: President – Edwin Saldanha, 1st VP - Albert Amanna,
2nd VP – Sunny Prasher, Gen Sec. – Albert John, Ass’t Sec. - Naveen Dahiya, PRO. – Shaunak, and Treasurer -
Michael Fernandez.
OUR 42nD AnD nEWEST MEMBER SECTIOn: LES CLEFS D'OR InDIA
INDIA
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of Les Clefs d’Or Brazil. At night we cel-
ebrated the date in a bar with fellow
concierges and friends.
On August 30th we had our 04th Clefs
d’Or meeting in Rio. Our meeting took
place in a gorgeous palace by name
“Casa de Arte e Cultura Julieta de
Serpa” that is one of the best eateries
with good reputation for serving the
best afternoon tea and snacks, besides
great French gastronomy. This elegant
venue gives a fantastic experience of
dining with a touch of great cultural ac-
tivities taking place there. At our meet-
ing, we discussed many topics about
our AGM , coming elections, and infor-
mation about new members.
During the meeting, our then president
Silvio Gomes said that he would no
longer conduct the presidency of Les
Clefs d’Or Brazil for personal reasons and then announced me “Guil-
herme Borges” as Brazil’s Clefs d’Or new president.
Our members wish to thank and applaud Silvio Gomes for all of his
hard work and tremendous support he has given to the Brazilian
section for the past years.
Guilherme Borges
Brazil’s Clefs d’Or President
Dear friends,
Let me give you a brief summary of our recent activities here in
Brazil. One of the most important news is that we will have our 3°
AGM (Assembly General Meeting) scheduled for the 05th and 06th
of December in Rio de Janeiro. We will have two exciting days, with
educational seminars, cultural tours in town with a professional
guide, board directors meeting and lunch/dinner, the delivery of
keys for new members and Concierge Foundation party. Les clefs
d’Or Brazil will celebrate it’s 20th anniversary this year, and our
Brazilian Section will prepare a great party.
Last June 29th we celebrated for the first time in Brazil “the
Concierge Day, the date refers to Saint Peter’s day, as a predomi-
nant catholic country we celebrate this date which refers to the
saint who has the heaven’s golden keys door, so, we thought that
the syncretism to Clefs d’Or crossed golden keys would be a good
idea. Many concierges visited St Peter’s church in a nearby neigh-
borhood to attend the morning mass, guided for Mr. Paulo Roberto
Correa from the Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Hotel and a founder member
Please welcome Guilherme Borges as the new President for Les
Clefs d’Or Brazil replacing the outgoing President Silvio
Gomes. Guilherme Borges has been a Concierge since 2003; he
began his career at the JW Marriott in RioDe Janeiro and then
worked also at the Intercontinental from 2005 to 2007 before re-
turning again at the JW Marriott where he remains today. He has
been involved with Les Clefs d’Or Brazil since 2003 and became
an International Member in 2005. We wish to congratulate Guil-
herme on his new position and at the same time we wish to thank
Silvio Gomes for all of his hard work and tremendous support he
has given for so many years.
BRAZILLES CLEFS D’OR BRAZIL AnnOUnCES nEW PRESIDEnT gUILHERME BORgES
We are proud to inform you another concierge who gets few days
ago the golden keys.
The new Les Clefs D'or member is Andrés Vergara who works in
the W Hotels in Santiago, Chile.
Congratulations Andrés!!
ARGENTINA - CHILE nEW LES CLEFS D'OR MEMBER IS AnDRÉS VERgARA
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CHINASHAngRI-LA HOTELS COnCIERgE WORKSHOP In gIULIn, CHInA
Les Clefs d’Or UICH 2nd Vice President Colin Toomey and Presi-
dent d’Honneur (Sage) Marjorie Silverman addressed this recent
Workshop in beautiful Giulin, China for Shangri-La Hotel Concierge
Worldwide. Photos: Group Photo of The Concierge from Shangri-
La Hotels Worldwide.
The following is re-
ported and written by
our 2nd VP Colin
Toomey. “Les Clefs
d’Or members have
gathered from around
the world to participate
in the Shangri-La Ho-
tels Concierge Work-
shop in Guilin, China.
Although this year’s
workshop saw mem-
bers come in from as
far afield as Vancouver,
Paris and Sydney, the
majority of the 60
Concierge in attendance are based in Hotels around Asia, particu-
larly China.” Photos: Les Clefs d’Or UICH 2nd. VP Colin Toomey.
The five day event comprising two separate groups focused on
technological innovations, human resource management, travel
trends, luxury touring and networking opportunities. A detailed up-
date of Les Clefs d’Or activities including the upcoming 2012 In-
ternational Congress in London was delivered by 2nd Vice
President Colin Toomey. An
inspirational address from
Marjorie Silverman , Past
President and Committee
de Sage member was also
an absolute highlight of the
week’s event.
With such a busy program
in place there was little time
for exploring, but a morning
tour of the famous Guilin
Caves followed by a cruise
on the beautiful Li River
gave attendees some idea
of the tourist city’s natural beauty. Photos: Lady in Red
President d’Honneur (Sage) Marjorie Silverman.
Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural workshop in
Hong Kong, the Guilin meeting provided a wonderful opportunity
for Les Clefs d’Or members to broaden their network of contacts
within the Shangri-La Hotel Group and will no doubt lead to a
closer working relationship for all involved.” Photos: River Cruise
Beautiful Giulin, China.
John sun Dong, Caroline Cheah, Colin Toomey
Les Clefs d’Or China 16th Annual Congress in beautiful Yantai, China.
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In 2001 during the congress in Athens the Russian chapter got its of-
ficial status as a U.I.C.H. member and Russian concierges in full joined
the great International concierge family. After Eugene Bagdasarov (our
founding farther) and few other members of the board, left the
concierge profession it seemed that the Russian section was not in
the best shape. However our Past President - Kate Zhuravleva and
Past Vice-President - Michael Hopf put the flame back into the hearts
and in the past couple of years we are developing and growing. Our
section increased almost for 40% for the past 2 years and we are con-
stantly working on educating young Concierges in different cities in
Russia and Ukraine.
As part of the celebration of our 10th anniversary and first time ever
for 10 years of existence, Russia hosted an International Clefs d’Or
event – Central European Zone meeting, which took place in Moscow
on August 26-28, 2011. We were delighted to welcome not only Cen-
tral European Zone country Presidents and delegates, but also guests
from other countries. It was like a small congress! Austria, Canada,
Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Ro-
mania, Switzerland and USA. All Russian members and especially
whose who didn’t had a chance to be on any of the congresses were
inspired and full of emotions after such a great opportunity to meet
International colleagues. This meeting gave us an excellent opportu-
nity to show the development of the Hospitality industry and
Concierge profession in Russia and Ukraine.
Continuing to celebrate our anniversary and again first time ever we
hold our second annual meeting in the so called North Venice – St.
Petersburg. A beautiful city, outstanding hospitality from hosting hotels
– Taleon Imperial Club, Corinthia Nevsky Palace and Grand Hotel Eu-
rope Orient Express and great program designed by our St. Peters-
burg colleagues made all of us feel very warm welcomed. During the
meeting in 2nd Russian capital 5 new members were accepted and
we elected an Interim Vice-President – Chief Concierge of recently
opened Intercontinental Tverskaya Moscow, Andrey Korystov.
For the past year we finally got our International logo protected on the
territory of Russia. Re-designed our web site – www.concierge-
russia.ru with the sponsorship and help of Moscow office of American
Express. Made a site inspection visit to the Olympic capital of 2014 –
Sochi. Step by step we are moving forward.
Many of us are going to London and we cannot wait to see all the
friends.
Vive Les Clefs d’Or and truly yours,
Pavel
CEnTRAL EUROPE ZOnE MEETIng MOSCOWRUSSIA
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RUSSIA - UKRAINEPLEASE MEET THE COnCIERgE OF ODESSA, UKRAInE
PLEASE MEET OUR COnCIERgE MEMBERS FROM KIEV
Like a ray of light cascading on The Black Sea; please meet the
first and only Hotel Concierge of Odessa, The Ukraine. Shown in
the photo above from left to right: Kristina Seryozhechkina,
Michael Romei, and Lena Stefak; two out of the three concierge at
the luxurious Bristol Hotel. They may be very new to the Concierge
profession and yes they are stationed for the moment at the far end
of The Front Desk, but they are most eager to please and learn their
craft. When you enter the little jewel-box of a Hotel; The Bristol;
they are right there with a shinning smile. They know the history
of their Hotel and are quite knowledgeable of all the major attrac-
tions and culture of Odessa. I had the pleasure of spending some
time here after visiting our Les Clefs d’Or members in Kiev. I was
quite fortunate to have Lena Stefak take me on a personal walking
tour of old Odessa; their eager-
ness and enthusiasm is so won-
derful to see. I highly suggest
any of our members who happen
to be in this part of the world to
pay a visit to these very lovely
concierge friends of Odessa!!
Known as the two Kirill’s of Kiev (Kyiv) some of you may have metthe two Kirill’s as they both attended our most recent InternationalCongress in Toronto. In fact Kirill Kuleshov was an Andy Pongconominee. Both Kirill’s have been very instrumental in supporting ourteam of Les Clefs d’Or members here in Kiev. Currently we haveapproximately 5-6 members in Kiev; a city which is growing by leapsand bounds. Several new Hotels are due to open quite soon: Hilton,Fairmont, more boutique hotels and even a Ritz Carlton. Both Kirill’sorganize frequent monthly meetings and their favorite place togather is the Buddha Bar. They possess great passion for our pro-fession and are most eager to learn and develop. They are currentlyworking on a Charity Event in Kiev bringing forth the city and theLes Clefs d’Or Concierge together. I had the pleasure to spendsome time with both Kirill’s as well as most of our Concierge mem-bers here; they all see themselves as Pioneers and it’s so wonderfulto share their excitement and enthusiasm.
The Concierge at the Intercontinental Kiev have a very unique andone of kind feature; they actually have an adjacent lounge forguests who prefer to have more private one on one conversationand/or consultation with the Concierge. The Lounge is wellequipped with several comforts; a wide assortment of referencematerial, comfortable seating, beverages available and evenportable iPads for viewing and sharing of maps and information.
Thank you dear friends of Kiev for your wonderful warmth andfriendship and thank you for all of your hard work and support indeveloping our Concierge profession and Les Clefs d’Or in Kiev.
Kirill Korobstov
Aleksey Nikitan
Kirill Kuleshov
A warm welcome
to newly elected Madame President Diana HIKICHI, of the Mexican
section at the Cancun congress last September 2011.
Congratulations to outgoing President, Yasmin Flores who has con-
tributed to much success of the section and who joins wonderful
colleagues such as Rosalia Sanchez, Leonel Quijano, Daniel Va-
lencia, Sergio Rodriguez , Nelly Duarte and Carolina Vilar. The as-
sociation in Mexico has become influential in the Americas and has
been getting great recognition internationally. Madame Hikichi
works at the Nikko Hotel in Mexico City along with Sergio Ro-
driguez where they remain at your service. We wish a great man-
date to Madame Hikichi with much accomplishments. Viva Les
Clefs d’Or Mexico !!!
MEXICOCOn LAS LLAVES PARA ABRIR TODAS LAS PUERTAS
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UNITED-KINGDOMCOnCIERgE OF THE yEAR LOnDOn AWARDED TO MR. RICHIE LOng
UICH LES CLEFS D’OR WESTERn EUROPE ZOnE MEETIng In LOnDOn
Mr. Richie Long, known
also as “Fat Richie” has
been a Concierge at The
Cadogan Hotel in Lon-
don for more than 13
years. Richie is our very
own Concierge Come-
dian and has been a pro-
fessional standup Comic
for years. The coveted
award: Concierge of the
Year is proudly spon-
sored by Morris Visitor
Publications (MVP), the
leading publisher for the
domestic and interna-
tional traveler markets
and Les Clefs d’Or Great
Britain.
This was the 6th an-
niversary celebration of
The Morris Golden Keys Concierge Awards in London held at the
spectacular 8 Northumberland Avenue. The magnificent Ballroom
of 8 Northumberland was the setting of the evening: Key leaders
of London’s hotel, restaurant, tourism and business community at-
tended. Speeches were given by our very own International Pres-
Our Western European Zone Meeting for UICH Les Clefs d’Or took
place recently in London, England August 26th – August 28th 2011.
The following is a summary posted by Simon Delcomminette our
Zone Director and President of Les Clefs d’Or Luxembourg:
At the end of the summer, our zone meeting took place at the very
comfortable Imperial Hotel on Russell Square. All seven presidents
of the largest European Zone attended a very positive and con-
structive meeting with their new Zone Director, Simon DelCom-
minette, President of The Luxembourg section.
GB section president, Ron Crowdy, and 3rd vice-president UICH,
Simon Thomas organised an amazing weekend for the participants.
This featured a splendid dinner at Brown’s Hotel, in an historic
room called The Niagara Room, which is where the famous Niagara
Agreement on electricity supply, worldwide, was convened. This
was followed by a visit to Sophie’s Restaurant where we were
served after-dinner drinks in superb surroundings with great
and friendly service.
On the day of the meeting, our spouses and partners were taken
to Covent Garden. This was the home of London’s Fruit and Veg-
etable Market for many years and is most famous as being the
home of The Royal Opera House, and for the film “My Fair Lady”
which was made here. It featured Audrey Hepburn as Eliza, who
one of the ‘flower girls’. Simon’s wife Dawn was kind enough to
act as escort, and took everyone around this vibrant shopping area,
then treated them to a very nice Light Lunch at The Mercer Street
Hotel, where she is GM. This was followed by a trip to the world-
famous Madam Tussauds where they were treated as top VIPs, and
had a great time. Their afternoon ended with a truly unforgettable
experience – ‘Afternoon Tea’ at one of London’s most prestigious
Hotels, The Lanesborough.
Whilst our partners were being entertained, our presidents had a
very positive meeting at The Imperial, and then went to splendid
lunch at The Brasserie in John Lewis’ Department Store. If you
don’t have an opportunity to eat there, at least go round this very
well appointed store on
one of the most excit-
ing shopping streets in
the world! That
evening, we gathered
for Champagne at The
Imperial, before being
chauffeured to the
River Thames, where
we were treated to a
trip on the cruise ship,
“Bateaux London“.
This was the highlight of the weekend; we were at the very front of
the boat and very much enjoyed a lovely meal and drinks with el-
egant service whilst we sailed down the river at night. It was a
beautiful experience – Big Ben, The Tower of London, and Tower
Bridge at night – I can tell you it was so nice! When we got off the
boat, Simon Thomas suggested we visit the newly-opened
Corinthia Hotel for late-evening drinks. It was an impromptu visit,
but we were welcomed warmly by Clefs d’Or colleague, Darren
Cousins and he treated us to one last glass of Champagne at this
newly opened hotel. I can tell you that The Corinthia is absolute
luxury, very stylish, and we were all tremendously impressed.
Unfortunately, on Sunday morning, the weekend was coming to a
close, but there was one more surprise, when we went for a beau-
tiful lunch in a private room at “Gary Rhodes at The Cumberland“.
The food and service were superb, and we were joined by our
friend from Kronometry 1999, Cedric Glogg. Cedric had been re-
sponsible for leaving each of the presidents beautiful gifts at the
hotel, and it was our opportunity to thank him in person.
I can tell you my dear friends of Les Clefs d’Or all over the world,
London will be a super great congress! Register soon to make sure
you can attend. In Friendship, Simon DelComminette, Director of
The Western European Zone.
ident Virginia Casale and
Mr. Ron Crowdy President
of Les Clefs d’Or Great
Britain.
We wish to congratulate
Richie Long as well as all
of the nominees. Many
many thanks to our dear
friends: Morris Visitor
Publications (MVP) for
their continuous support
and friendship throughout
our global network of the
Les Clefs d’Or Organiza-
tion. Thank you very
much dear friends!
59TH UICH LES CLEFS D’ORInTERnATIOnAL COngRESS
Dear Colleagues of Les Clefs d'Or,It will be our pleasure to host the 59th UICH Congress in London from 27th January 2012 with a pro-
gramme which is designed to show you as much as possible and mix business with pleasure. All delegates willbe accommodated at The Thistle Marble Arch Hotel on Oxford Street, which is the heart of our theatre, shoppingand entertainment district - London's famous 'West End'.
We will open with a very lively 'Celebration of London's Theatre' at the fabulous London Hilton on ParkLane, and close at 2.00am on 1st February with a fantastic Gala Evening in The Great Room at London's finestbanqueting venue - The Grosvenor House, a JW Marriott Hotel.
It will be memorable, and it will be great to see you.
Kindest Regards,
Ron Crowdy,President, Society of the Golden Keys of Great Britain.
London - So much to do!27 January - 1 February 2012
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Toni Daoud Past President Canada & Chairman, Virginia Casale President UICH and Gerald Parent International Honorary Member
are looking forward to bridging the Educational of Toronto 2011 to London 2012.
Palazzo Hotel Fourways,
Lizelle De Haas Radisson Blu
Sandton, Vinny Maharaj Inter-
continental Sandton Towers,
Billy Chetty Davinci Hotel &
Suites Sandton, and Ryan Van
Zyl Cape Royale Luxury Hotel
and Residence Cape Town.
We look forward to seeing
Ronnie Govender and Claude-Francois Ndala at our upcoming
UICH London Congress in January 2012. Congratulations to all of
our new members in South Africa and many thanks to Charles Fer-
rer President Les Clefs d’Or UAE for attending this most worthwhile
Conference and sharing this photo and information.
Charles Ferrer, President Les Clefs d’Or UAE recently addressed
and attended the Second Annual South African Guest
Relations/Concierge Conference. This unique forum which brings
together both guest relations managers and concierge from 4 and
5 star Hotels is sponsored by the Johannesburg Tourism Council
(JTC). This Second Annual Conference took place on September
27th 2011 at La Toscana Montecasino in Johannesburg.
During the Conference four new Head Concierge received their Les
Clefs d’Or keys and were officially inaugurated in affiliation with the
Les Clefs d’Or Great Britain section. Currently South Africa has
eight Les Clefs d’Or members: Ronnie Govender – Sandton Sun,
Archie Christodoulides – Michelangelo Hotel Sandton, Claude-
Francois Ndala – Beverly Hills Hotel Umhlanga, Deon Prinsloo
2nD AnnUAL SOUTH AFRICAn COnCIERgE/gUEST RELATIOnS COnFEREnCE
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Hydraiki Naval Company18, Ermou str. 10563 Athens – Greece
Tel. (+30) 210 32 30 100
Fax. (+30) 210 32 30 108
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.onedaycruise.gr
HELLASIn late April we attended the 58th U.I.C.H. International Con-
gress in Toronto. Thanks to Toni and his team we were very de-
lighted to participate, to meet old friends and establish new ones.
In June, our Annual Ball was held at "ZORBAS", one of the best
fish restaurants at Mikrolimano (next to Piraeus Port)
Panagiotis Varotsis & Spiros Arathimos
Panagiotis Varotsis& Dimitris Liapis
PINNING CEREMONY AND NEW MEMBERS
Nizar Saidi Pinning Ceremony in Doha
Bashar Bardaneh, The Four Seasons Amman, Jordan
Mohammad Alqabalani chef concierge le Royal Amman
MiladFrancis our one and only member in Beirut, Lebanon
The official Le Royal Amman, Jordan Management and Staff Les
Clefs d’Or Golden Keys Pinning Ceremony: Featured in this photo
from Left to Right: Mr. FOUAD (Rooms Division Manager, Ameera
Hamdam (Guest Relations Supervisor), Ala’a (Asst. Chef Concierge)
Simon Delcomminette, Mrs. Fadia MBAYDEEN (Director of Human
Resources), Mohammad Alqabalani (Chef Concierge and brand
new Les Clefs d’Or Member), Idrees (Le Royal Amman Doorman),
and Hekmat (Le Royal Amman Shoeshine Staff).
Mario Morelli, President Les Clefs d'Or Argentina pinning our
newest member Mr. Francisco Patriarca Concierge at Los
Cauquenes Resort & Spa Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina. Also shown in the photo is Maria Jose Espinosa
Concierge Sofitel Buenos Aires
Michael Chatzakis, Aggelos Rigas & Nikolaos Mitrou in front of
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki. A special ceremony for our new mem-
bers at Athenaeum Intercontinental. Our new members Aggelos
Rigas and Nikolaos Mitrou have officially received their keys from
our Board Member Michael Chatzakis.
The new Les Clefs D'or mem-
ber is Andrés Vergara who
works in the W Hotels in San-
tiago, Chile.
The pinning of Teiva Milz Chef
Concierge Intercontinental Pa-
peete, Tahiti.
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UICH LES CLEFS D’OR ASIAn COngRESSHOng KOng AnD MACAU
Michael Romei with our Hosts of the Gala
evening: Ms. Siana Iong MGM Grand
Macau and Edward Ma Chef Concierge
Langham Hotel Hong Kong and Vice
President Les Clefs d’Or Hong Kong.
Mr. Grant Bowie – President and CEO
of MGM China Holdings Ltd; with Inter-
national President Virginia Casale and
General Secretary Michael Romei.
In the true spirit of hospitality and
friendship; hence our famed motto “In
Service Through Friendship” I was per-
sonally greeted by surprise by my dear
friend Edward Ma at Hong Kong Inter-
national Airport.
Fred Lui, President Les Clefs d’Or
Hong Kong hosted a welcome lunch-
eon for all Asian Presidents and Repre-
sentatives.
Fred Lui hosted a welcome luncheon
for Virginia and Michael at the world fa-
mous Sabatini Ristorante
At the sound of the GONG marked the
official opening of our the first ever Les
Clefs d’Or Asian Congress; performed by
our most honored VIP guest: Mr. James
P.C. Tien Chairman of The Hong Kong
Tourism Board with President Fred Lui.
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UICH LES CLEFS D’OR ASIAn COngRESSHOng KOng AnD MACAU
General Secretary Michael Romei
with International President Virginia
Casale and Hong Kong President
Fred Lui.
Group photo of International President Virginia
Casale with President Fred Lui, The Les Clefs
d’Or Asian Congress Organizing Committee,
LCD Asian Zone Director, President Les Clefs
d’Or Singapore Gregory Tan, Michael Romei
and visiting dignitaries James P.C. Tien Chair-
man of The Hong Kong Tourism Board and
Mr. Anthony Lau Executive Director of The
Hong Kong Tourism Board.
General Secretary Michael Romei
with International President Virginia
Casale and Hong Kong President
Fred Lui.
More than 150 concierge from 14 member
section countries visited the municipality of
Macau.
We had the pleasure of meeting
one of our keynote speakers:
Karen Tam.
Virginia Casale International President and
Michael Romei International General Secre-
tary Les Clefs d’Or UICH together with 14
Presidents and Representatives of our
member section countries in Asia, gathered
for a group photo at our Gala Night Dinner
Reception Langham Hotel Hong Kong.
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Honorary LCD Membership
presented to Mr. David Webster
Chairman INTERCONTINENTAL Hotel Group
Most recently in London our very own Robert Watson, Immediate
Past International President, presented honorary Les Clefs d’Or
Membership (Diplome d’Honneur) to Mr. David Webster, Chairman
Intercontinental Hotel Group Worldwide. This most distinguished
award of Honorary Membership status has been given to Mr. David
Webster for his continuous support and commitment to Les Clefs
d’Or Concierges worldwide. We wish to congratulate Mr. Webster
and welcome him to our worldwide network and organization.
Courtesy visit at BUCHERER in Geneva & discussion on the BUCHERER UICH official Keys.
From left to right:
Mr. Marc Pierrain, CC at Beau-Rivage Geneva & Vice President Swiss section
Mr. Olivier Mazille, C at La Reserve Geneva & President Geneva section.
Mrs. Cecile Gameiro, PR at BUCHERER Geneva & Swiss section Honorary Member
Mr. Gerard Muller, Manager at BUCHERER Geneva & International Honorary Member
Mr. Aldo Giacomello, Senior CC at Beau-Rivage & UICH honorary President.
HONORARY MEMBERS
BUCHERER IN GENEVA
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Le mercredi 12 octobre, Elite Rent-a-Car, la société de location de
voitures de luxe et de services chauffeur invitait ses partenaires de
l’Association « les Clefs d’Or » pour une ballade d’une journée sur la
Côte d’Azur.
C’est au petit matin qu’Elite emmenait ses 12 convives en limousine
de luxe vers l’Aéroport International de Genève afin de les familiariser
avec son nouveau concept de transfert VIP « Door to Door ». Ce
nouveau service développé conjointement avec la société de han-
dling Swissport, propose une pise en charge exclusive depuis la
porte du domicile ou de l’hôtel jusqu’au pied de l’avion tout en béné-
ficiant d’une assistance dédiée, du contrôle accéléré, du salon VIP
et du transport en limousine sur le tarmac.
Après une restauration au lounge VIP, l’équipe Elite et ses acolytes
s’envolèrent pour Nice à bord du Dash 8-400 de son partenaire
Baboo-Darwin. Une surprise de taille les attendait à bord : un concert
« privé » interprété par la violoniste Eva Simonin qui berça les pas-
sagers par ses quelques belles notes. Un heureux participant pu
même assister au vol depuis le cockpit, tout un programme…
A destination, les limousines d’Elite emmenaient tout ce petit monde
dans le pittoresque village de Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Là furent remises
les fameuses boules de pétanques, personnalisées au nom de
chaque participant, pour un tournois improvisé sur la Place du Vil-
lage. Un goût de Provence et quelques fous rires garantis !
Après cet intermède « sportif » et une visite des lieux, la prochaine
étape fut le mythique hôtel Carlton de Cannes où toute la délégation
fut accueillie par les Clefs d’Or de la Côte d’Azur. Une belle rencontre
entre nord et sud, pour un moment d’échange et de convivialité au-
tour d’un délicieux déjeuner avec en arrière plan, le bruit de vagues
et des arpèges d’Eva.
17h00 et déjà l’heure de repartir vers les contrées helvétiques avec
des souvenirs ensoleillés plein la tête…
LES CLEFS D’OREN BALLADE AVEC ELITE RENT-A-CAR
Toutes l’équipe des Clefs d’Or, Elite, Swissport et Darwin-Baboo
près au décollage pour… le sud et son soleil !
Photos de famille Elite et les Clefs d’Or sur la fameuse Place Cen-
trale de Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Cela sent la pétanque…
La compétition fait rage. Mina Bayat, Chef Concierge
Four Season Hôtel des Bergues,
Genève, Hervé Laborde, Di-
recteur Général Elite Rent-a-Car
et Nicolas Lobinet, Fleet Man-
ager. Il y a du défi dans l’air !
La compétition bat son plein.
« Tu tires ou tu pointes ??? »
Marc Pierrin, Chef Concierge
Beau Rivage Genève. Litige de
pétanque ? Qu’à cela ne tienne !
Une ceinture en guise de
mesure et l’arbitre tranche !
Eva Simonin, violoniste ; Virginie
Boursier, Responsable des opéra-
tions chez Elite et Mina Bayat,
Four Seasons, Genève. Une
équipe de charme.
Elite Rent-a-Car et toute l’équipe des Clefs
d’Or immortalisés dans une belle ruelle de
Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
Après une belle ballade sur la Côte d’Azur, les
Clefs d’Or Suisse rencontre leurs homologues
de la Riviera.
Photo de famille Elite Rent-a-Car avec leurs
convives devant le mythique hôtel Carlton qui
a vu naître en 1952 les Clefs d’Or.
