When we leave our home to go on vacation, we expect a certain level of service from hotel, airline, and attraction staff so that we feel like we're getting a break from looking after ourselves. Whether it's having food delivered right to our hotel room door by room service or having someone else get our theater tickets, the service at a hotel can make or break our vacations. That's why if you really want to feel pampered, you should book into a hotel with a 24 concierge service.

A concierge is a guest relations professional whose only job is to help hotel guests to get what they want. Tasks that concierges accomplish for their guests can be as simple as giving directions to the nearest beach or as complicated as arranging for a mariachi band to wake the guests up in the morning because they don't like the beeping of the alarm clock. It's all in what you're willing to pay for. Most people don't go farther than asking a concierge to get them some theater tickets.

Since a concierge is a middle person or facilitator, he or she must be very good at dealing with people and have an extensive network of connections he or she can mine for services. A good concierge knows where to get theater tickets, where the best local attractions are, where to buy everything from diapers to braided rope, when the least busy times to visit attractions are, how to get from everywhere to everywhere else, and who to turn to for emergency car repairs.

When you use a concierge to assist you in finding a doctor who can help you with your back pain while on vacation, it is customary to tip the concierge. Though the concierge's salary is paid by the hotel, they often go above and beyond for you. If you are pleased with the results, leaving a nice tip will encourage them to continue to exert their best efforts on your behalf the next time you need something.

Because of their portrayal on television, many people are under the impression that they can use their concierge to facilitate activities or special services beyond their control or power to do so. However, if you ask your concierge to get you drugs or arrange for a visit from a prostitute, you are insulting their profession and putting yourself at risk for being reported to the authorities.