Viewers amazed at clients' peculiar demands on the hit BBC documentary Inside Claridge's should know it is very real, says a former staffer who works at a top Auckland hotel.
Carly Saunders, now the quality and attitude manager for the Pullman Hotel, said only this week a guest was given new pillows because the ones in her room were "too high".
Carly Saunders.
"One of the strangest was the guest who wasn't allowed to touch any of the electrical appliances for an entire day," said Saunders, 35. "So we had to have a staff member on duty to turn everything on and off for that guest. It was for religious purposes, he was an Orthodox Jew.
"Last week we had a guest at breakfast who sat down and asked for their flat white coffee to be delivered in precisely three minutes; then they wanted their toast exactly five minutes after the coffee arrived; and then four minutes after the toast, they wanted another flat white in a takeaway cup. It put a smile on my face because, at Claridge's, that sort of request would not be unusual."
South African-born Saunders was a trainee manager at Claridge's and joined the Pullman last November.
"They did the filming for a year and finished in September 2012. I was there for about three months of the filming, but I'd been with the company for about two years."
Saunders said her new "quality and attitude" role at the Pullman ensures every need is addressed.
"We do a lot of little touches. Yesterday, a guest was going out for a spa and mentioned at the desk that her pillows were a bit higher than she had at home so I went out and purchased some pillows that weren't so high. We changed the pillows and left a note ... It's more about letting them know we are listening to them.
"We had one guest who wanted to bring their own gym equipment and have it installed in the room. When it was assembled, there was a part missing so we had to get that ordered in from the Middle East.
"For me, getting these requests is quite exciting. It gives us the opportunity to show the guests they have chosen the right hotel."
Saunders watched the show when it screened in England and has the three-part series on DVD, a gift from the producers. "I'm in the show coming up on Thursday, just for a few seconds in the background."
The final of Inside Claridge's screens on TV One this Thursday at 7.30pm.