From Police Officer to Luxury Concierge: The Remarkable Journey of Hicham Ajnaou at Sofitel Europe

Affable and smiling, Hicham takes great care of the luxury hotel’s clients. The concierge has 20 years of experience in the profession and speaks English, French and Arabic. The hyperactive forty-year-old works daily to preserve the establishment’s reputation, combining "the local culture of Luxembourg" and "French know-how in elegance and hospitality". Of Moroccan origin, Hicham did not imagine becoming a concierge, having studied at Sciences-Po and served in the police for five good years. But after his marriage to a Luxembourger, Hicham and his wife settled in Luxembourg. Thus, a new chapter of his life opens up. The man made his debut in the hotel industry at the Sofitel Le Grand-Ducal where he remained for 11 years before taking over the concierge service at the Sofitel Europe in Kirchberg, relays Virgule.

How does a concierge’s day go? "The first thing I do when I arrive at my workplace is to greet my colleagues," says Hicham. Then he tours the hotel outside to make sure everything is clean. He also inspects the parking lot to check if there are any damaged cars or if a client has accidentally dropped their belongings. Then he checks his emails to make sure there are no requests addressed to the concierge. "The concierge service is vast. I can perform all kinds of tasks, it’s simple, I do everything," he explains. Meanwhile, one of his colleagues is stationed outside to welcome the clients. "We want to provide an unforgettable experience, we focus everything on the customer relationship. The goal is to bring the client back. And to build customer loyalty, it requires a completely personalized service. We are not robots," Hicham emphasizes.

The daily life of a concierge boils down to finding solutions to all the concerns expressed by the clients. "I have a lot of clients from Latin America or Americans who call me to find an ancestor, a great-great-great-grandparent who was Luxembourgish. I become a detective: I call the municipalities to find the names in question in the registers... Any request from the client that has a legal character, it must be satisfied," he develops, before adding: "When clients arrive in Luxembourg, they don’t know the laws, they’re lost, so they need benchmarks and their benchmark is the concierge service." Everything is done to put the client at ease and give them the desire to come back. "We have a lot of loyal clients, with whom we have gone beyond the simple client relationship. They feel at home. They have their habits, we know what they want."

The concierge profession is demanding and dynamic. "The field of concierge services changes a lot, every day is a new challenge, it boosts our intellect, our abilities, we are not in a routine," says Hicham, who also emphasizes the stressful aspect of this work: "When the client arrives at the end of the day, they have accumulated all the fatigue, and all their stress can be released on you, even if you have done nothing, you must never take it personally. You have to be open-minded and know how to put yourself in the other’s shoes."