the vocation of Magali Brandariz It began at the age of ten, when she traveled to Iguazú Falls with her mother and had a tour guide who was passionate about her work and her land. “When I grow up I want to do the same with Buenos Aires,” she said. When he was older, he studied for a degree in Tourism and Hospitality and at 18 he began his career path. He worked in a travel agency, a cruise ship and seven years ago he started in luxury hotels.
“I started at the Emperador Hotel as a telephone operator and receptionist, and later, thanks to my colleagues who saw how I interacted with guests and introduced me to the world of concierge services, I realized that this was what I wanted to do. Finally, I was able to be a concierge at the Four Seasons, I was there for five years and it was a spectacular school. And in January 2022 I entered the Duhau Park Hyatt Palace, where I reorganized the concierge and I am in charge of the sector. It is a rather passionate and toxic relationship that I have with the hotel industry ”, he assures. This year she was voted the best young concierge in the world.
News: Why do you have a toxic relationship with the hotel industry?
Magalí Brandariz: The hotel industry, and especially the concierge service, is a lifestyle. I never cut. I’m constantly running around town, looking for what’s new, thinking about what might work, what I would recommend and what not. We are a team of colleagues who are part of this madness, we go to one side, to another, we spend dates, it is a constant tide. Everything I experience in my personal life at the same time I am thinking for the guests.
News: Why did you choose to be a janitor?
Brandariz: The concierge unites my two passions – tourism and hospitality – and the best of both worlds. I make tourist recommendations, I am a kind of ambassador of my city and the first friend that a guest has in Buenos Aires inside a hotel. I was born for this, it has the two things I love.
News: What does it mean to be Park Hyatt’s Chief Concierge?
Brandariz: I had to reorganize everything from scratch post pandemic. Find the right people, train them, give them a super intensive training in terms of tourist attractions, special guest requests, history, culture, art. Today we have a solid team and my job is to supervise and support them. In addition, I belong to the international association Les Clefs d’Or, which brings together hotel concierges from more than 80 countries, and I am the secretary of the local association.
News: What personal skills does your position require?
Brandariz: A great desire to do public relations, be skillful with words, be kind, have a good handling of complaints, use subtlety, be very discreet, very empathetic, be very nice and manage to generate a bond with the guest.
News: How do you handle difficult guests?
Brandariz: Over the years and experience I was gaining that waist that you have to have in difficult situations. I try to take that guest to another side, to distance him a little from what is the center of the matter and to generate an intimacy with him. Lower your voice, listen to him, try to understand the reason for his complaint. So once the waters go down we try to find a solution on our end and we always find it.
News: What are the most unusual requests?
Brandariz: Our motto in the association is “Nothing is impossible”. We always look for a way to achieve it. They have asked us from locating a person in the province of Buenos Aires with only their first and last names, books that had not yet been published, a zero kilometer car as a birthday present, buying a dress in a mall, thousands of anecdotes. No day is the same as another. It is a constant challenge and that is one of the things I love most about my profession.
News: What did you learn from your job?
Brandariz: I learned that the time and dedication that I dedicate to my guests is super valuable. It is what makes the difference in your travels.
News: And this year she was chosen as “the best Young Concierge” at the World Congress of Les Clefs d’Or.
Brandariz: Yes, every year Les Clefs d’Or awards the prize to the world’s youngest concierge. A previous nomination is made of different young concierges who have to meet certain requirements: be under 36 years of age, that it be their first international congress, have a position in the local association, have an active role in the international association, have a very good performance in daily tasks, among others. This year 16 janitors participated. About three months before the congress, which took place in March in Istanbul, we were given different exams. Finally, we had a face-to-face interview at the congress and on the last night it was announced that I was the winner. The award is a commemoration of all the dedication I give to this work. Any colleague knows how passionate I am, it escapes through my pores. I start talking about the concierge and I get excited.
News: And what kind of guest are you?
Brandariz: Quite easy because working in the industry I don’t like to give so much work. But I do pay a lot of attention to the details. Every time I go on a trip I can’t get out of my role.
News: Why are you so passionate about Buenos Aires?
Brandariz: I was lucky to travel a lot, I love to travel, and I can say that Buenos Aires is an exciting city.beautiful, it has incredible parks, it has history, culture, passion in sports, an incredible offer.
News: What other places subjugate her?
Brandariz: London is a city that I love, every time I go I know a new place, I never finish knowing it. I have traveled through the Balkan countries that are crazy, Sarajevo, Belgrade, they have so much history that they drive me crazy. I have been to the Norwegian fjords, nature, midnight sun, I also went crazy.
News: The ideal trip for this moment?
Brandariz: I am planning my next vacation. With my mother, who is my engine and my person in this world, we want to go to Morocco and the French Riviera. And with my grandmother, who I also love very much, we go to places a little closer to her house.
