Here’s another installment of our series of stories courtesy of courteous concierges, who keep their cool when guests have rather strange requests or get into weird situations…

I always believed in Santa Claus as a child, but I never thought it was Santa who brought Easter eggs. Perhaps in the US it’s a different story...

At our hotel there were always three ladies who appeared just before Easter. Each were beautifully dressed in colorful flowery embroidery, the folk costume of Kalocsa. One was a mannequin, set up in front of a glass cabinet to showing off the folksy finery. The others used to sit in the lobby all day, painting eggs. Guests would come and take pictures of them and buy their eggs.

But to my surprise, at Christmas one year, an elderly American lady, who was also in “folk costume,” if I can judge by her pink jeans and flowery blouse, came up to me and asked where the ladies were painting eggs.
I almost answered, “on Easter Island!” because surely it’s always Easter there, but I simply said, “here in Hungary we paint eggs at Easter. Other things are popular at Christmastime.” “No problem,” she answered, “I’ll just buy some with a Christmas motif.”

Szabolcs Molnár is a member of Les Clefs d’Or, the professional association of hotel concierges. These men and women work to provide guests with the best service possible, not only ensuring that they feel at home during their stay, but also that they’ll miss the concierges when they’re gone – which might explain the “In Service through Friendship” motto!

www.clefsdor.hu