Sarah Dandashy

You’ve probably hit up the hotel front desk for simple toiletry items you left at home, but Sarah Dandashy, who serves as concierge at the London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills and blogs at Ask a Concierge, notes that many properties have a whole treasure trove of other things you can request. Her list includes “phone chargers, adapters, safety pins, umbrellas, Band-Aids, tampons, nail files, hair ties, lint rollers, razors, and, funny enough, earplugs. Every hotel varies, but I’ve even loaned… Show more

You’ve probably hit up the hotel front desk for simple toiletry items you left at home, but Sarah Dandashy, who serves as concierge at the London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills and blogs at Ask a Concierge, notes that many properties have a whole treasure trove of other things you can request. Her list includes “phone chargers, adapters, safety pins, umbrellas, Band-Aids, tampons, nail files, hair ties, lint rollers, razors, and, funny enough, earplugs. Every hotel varies, but I’ve even loaned out bowties and cuff links!” Show less

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Meet Sarah Dandashy of Ask A Concierge, the newest contributor to PeterGreenberg.com. Considered a leading concierge around the world, she has worked at some of the most prestigious hotels, including The London West Hollywood, Four Seasons Washington DC, and The Peninsula and L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills. A graduate of Georgetown University with a degree in Foreign Service, she has lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; London, England; Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, DC; and New York City. She is… Show more

Meet Sarah Dandashy of Ask A Concierge, the newest contributor to PeterGreenberg.com. Considered a leading concierge around the world, she has worked at some of the most prestigious hotels, including The London West Hollywood, Four Seasons Washington DC, and The Peninsula and L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills. A graduate of Georgetown University with a degree in Foreign Service, she has lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; London, England; Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, DC; and New York City. She is currently based in Los Angeles, and has also traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.... Show less

“The standard world of hospitality is you have a hotel and a concierge desk,” said Sarah Dandashy, a hotel concierge who’s crafted a social media following with her popular Youtube series and website, Ask a Concierge, where she delivers L.A.-based advice for locals and visitors alike. Her Airbnb Trips tour, “Speed Dial,” is a two-day food and drink immersion that costs $139 per person. “I wanted to break that and go beyond that. When I was approached by Airbnb in regard to this it just seemed… Show more

“The standard world of hospitality is you have a hotel and a concierge desk,” said Sarah Dandashy, a hotel concierge who’s crafted a social media following with her popular Youtube series and website, Ask a Concierge, where she delivers L.A.-based advice for locals and visitors alike. Her Airbnb Trips tour, “Speed Dial,” is a two-day food and drink immersion that costs $139 per person. “I wanted to break that and go beyond that. When I was approached by Airbnb in regard to this it just seemed like such a perfect fit because I have such a strong background in hospitality.”

Dandashy, who works as a luxury hotel concierge in Los Angeles, said that she views Airbnb as being instrumental in “increasing the travel pie, so to speak” and she hopes that, through her work with Airbnb Trips, she’s opening up hoteliers’ eyes about the possibilities of adding more value and experiences to the traditional hotel stay.

“It’s also interesting to see how hotels are hopping on the bandwagon and thinking about how to add experiences or adding value to the regular hotel experience, which I think is great,” she said. “It’s so beneficial because it’s pushing people outside of their comfort zone and getting them to think outside the box.” Show less

Sarah Dandashy is an award-winning concierge based in Los Angeles (she was once named the world’s best young concierge) so naturally she knows what it takes to be the perfect liaison between a guest and a city.

“But can you pull a rabbit out of your hat?”
Asking a concierge to purchase lingerie for a girlfriend (how romantic) or to help decide on a permanent tattoo design both seem like perfectly reasonable requests to leave in the hands of a complete stranger, right? Well, those requests are a walk in the park for the staff at The London West Hollywood, compared to the time a guest requested “a private magic show in his room for an anniversary.” And this guest wasn’t looking for amateur hour, he… Show more

“But can you pull a rabbit out of your hat?”
Asking a concierge to purchase lingerie for a girlfriend (how romantic) or to help decide on a permanent tattoo design both seem like perfectly reasonable requests to leave in the hands of a complete stranger, right? Well, those requests are a walk in the park for the staff at The London West Hollywood, compared to the time a guest requested “a private magic show in his room for an anniversary.” And this guest wasn’t looking for amateur hour, he wanted David Copperfield-caliber, disappearing acts. Sarah Dandashy, the hotel’s Head of Concierge, started vetting magicians, watching videos and pulled a few tricks up her own sleeve to have a first-class magician, a bunny, and a dove appear in the guest’s room. Voila!
-- As told by Sarah Dandashy, Head of Concierge at The London West Hollywood since 2011 Show less

A concierge from the Mandarin Oriental in London, for example, recently reached out to Sarah Dandashy, a fellow Les Clefs d’Or society member in Los Angeles, to ask her for help in securing two extremely hard-to-get tickets to a taping of The Big Bang Theory in Burbank, California.

These two VIP guests were not even headed to Dandashy’s hotel, The London West Hollywood; she knew before she took on the request that they were going to be staying at a private residence in Los Angeles. But… Show more

A concierge from the Mandarin Oriental in London, for example, recently reached out to Sarah Dandashy, a fellow Les Clefs d’Or society member in Los Angeles, to ask her for help in securing two extremely hard-to-get tickets to a taping of The Big Bang Theory in Burbank, California.

These two VIP guests were not even headed to Dandashy’s hotel, The London West Hollywood; she knew before she took on the request that they were going to be staying at a private residence in Los Angeles. But Dandashy still invested more than a week of effort — totaling about 30 phone calls and emails — to get the tickets, reaching out to various producers, production assistants and ticket brokers, as no seats were available through normal means.

“Our motto is ‘In Service Through Friendship,’ ” Dandashy says, while working at her concierge desk in Los Angeles. “These are more than just colleagues who are asking for help — these are friends. If I help my friend get something done, it makes all of us look better.” Show less