For 11 days a year, Cannes’ famous promenade is a hub of activity as the rich and famous descend on the annual film festival.

Lined with hotels, the Croisette, as the promenade is called, also hosts some of the world’s best concierges. CNN had a little chat with a few of them, to find out just what they have to deal with when it comes to the outrageous demands of celebs.

First up, some background on the concierges themselves. Many of them don a golden key pinned to their lapel, which means they are “the insignia of Les Clefs d’Or, an international association of elite concierges”:

First formed in 1929, their understated motto “Service through friendship” belies the power this organization has.

Between them, this network of nearly 4,000 members from more than 50 countries can fulfill unimaginable requests in most major cities around the world. (Think “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and you’d be on the right track. Les Clefs d’Or were the thinly veiled inspiration behind Wes Anderson’s Society of the Crossed Keys.)

“When you’re a concierge and a Clefs d’Or, it opens some doors that are usually closed,” says Thierry Revel, president of the French branch of Les Clefs d’Or. Every top concierge, their contacts, their resources, are only a phone call away.

With over 100 golden keys, the French Riviera has the highest concentration in the world. Below is what three of these elites had to say:

Maxime Nerkowski

Maxime Nerkowski is head concierge at the InterContinental Carlton Cannes Hotel. He started as a bellboy at the Four Seasons Georges V in Paris. After training in Montreal and interning in Paris, he moved to the Carlton in 2002. In 2017 he became president of the French Riviera association of Les Clefs d’Or.

What’s your best festival story?

An actor called me from the airport saying he needed a massage.
“Of course,” I said, “May I get your last name?” He said, “I am Pierce Brosnan.”
I said, “You mean Pierce Brosnan as in James Bond?” He said, “Yes, of course, Pierce Brosnan from James Bond.” I said “I’m Maxime and I’m taking care of it.”
He arrived at the hotel and asks “Where’s Louis?” There’s no Louis at the Carlton.
“I spoke with someone here at the concierge desk,” he says. I said, “Yes, I’m Maxime, you just spoke with me.”
“I remember you,” he says, “You told me that I’m James Bond. So I can tell you that you are Louis.”
For the rest of the film festival he called me Louis. It became a game.
At the end of the festival he was shooting a film (“The Love Punch”) inside the hotel, and he comes to see me and says, “You know, Maxime, it would be good if you could be in my film.” (Mercifully, Nerkowski was allowed to play himself.)

What’s the hardest request you’ve ever fulfilled?

I received a request at 11 p.m. one night to organize [sic] a private plane.
Not a small private plane, though. It was for more than 100 people, leaving in the morning in eight or nine hour’s time. Except it was not from Cannes, but from Morocco to another country. The request came from a person who was taking care of a big family, a royal family, who was on vacation at The Carlton.

Roberto Cerina

Roberto Cerina is the longest-serving concierge at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez. Cerina, who trained at the Savoy and the Barclays Hotel in London, first became a concierge at Hotel Du-Cap Eden Roc in 1985 before moving to the Martinez in 1990.

What’s the hardest request you’ve ever fulfilled?

Many years ago we had to find a 100-room boat with five or six days notice. You reserve those boats two years in advance, normally. That was pretty exceptional. I cannot tell you if I would be able to do the same if I got the request this year.

Roger Bastoni

Roger Bastoni is head concierge at the Majestic Barriere Hotel and honorary president of Les Clefs d’Or International, after serving as president between 2007-2009. Previously he was French national president between 2003-2007. Born in Cannes, he studied at the London Carlton Tower Hotel before moving back in 1976 aged 30, when he started working at the Majestic.

What’s the strangest request you’ve ever received?

One day during the festival a very well-known person called me. He asked me to go to the shop next door — a very high-end French brand.
He needed me to get him a tuxedo, a shirt, socks, the shoes, the tie, the watch, the cufflinks, all in his size.
We did, and we got a tailor who came up to his room when everything was being delivered. Two or three hours later he was able to wear his beautiful tuxedo.
That would be nothing if not for the following day, when at about the same time, the very same question came from the very same person.
I asked if there was anything wrong with yesterday. He said no, it was perfect, but he said it very short and abrupt. We made the arrangements.
The day went by, then Sunday arrived. I came on duty at about 7:30 to find a young girl in tears by the desk.
I ask her what’s wrong and she says her boss is very difficult. She says, “Well, he wants a tuxedo, a shirt, shoes, socks, the cufflinks, the watch…”
I told her today is Sunday, it might be a little more difficult.
We also found out the person was on a boat in Monte Carlo. He was going to watch the Grand Prix and come back by helicopter.
With the help of the helicopter company we work with, we sent everything to the heliport in Monte Carlo, the concierge at one of the major hotels in Monte Carlo sent one of the pageboys plus a tailor to the helicopter. They picked up the clothes, went on to the boat and delivered the goods. And that was that.
That was easy enough, until I took time to speak to the young girl. I asked her how long she’d worked for her boss. She said about seven months. I said, “Look, I’ve never met him, but what does he look like?” “I don’t know,” she said, “I’ve never met him.”
‘One day, two days, three days. Three suits, three shirts. What’s the story?” I asked.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘Mr — never wears anything twice.’

And there you have it.

Each concierge gave a few more anecdotes – read here – which just makes you wonder why in the world would anyone want to be a concierge.

[source:cnn]