Concierges Page from 2/1/2006

From Ric Alfrey, Concierge
   Hello! As many of you know, I joined the Concierge team in November and I just wanted to say thank you to all the owners that have made me feel so welcome. It has been fun getting to know all of you.
   I’ve lived in California for the past 10 years and I’m still amazed with its beauty and multitude of activities. I have much information about this great city that I want to share with all of you. Planning and arranging enjoyable activities that fit your agenda is a priority for us. One of my personal favorites is Crissy Field, with its great views and walking trails. The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz is your backdrop as you walk the bay shoreline. Fisherman’s Wharf is also just a short walk away, as are the shops and restaurants along Chestnut Street. I enjoy helping guests plan trips or make dinner arrangements, so please don’t hesitate to stop by the front desk if you need anything.
   I feel we have a great new team at San Francisco Suites and things can only get better!
   See you at the front desk!

Ric Alfrey, Concierge

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From Chris Morano, Chief Concierge
   Working at San Francisco Suites HAS changed my life! I am completely grateful for the constant outpouring of support shown to me on a daily basis by the owners and guests of the Suites, the Board of Directors and the Management and staff here. The last six months have brought so many noticeable and positive physical changes to the property (the restoration of the lobby carpet and elevator; the floor refinishing; the new blinds, paint and amenities in the Suites, etc.), and I am continually challenged and subsequently proud of the results of our labor here. It is a pleasure to come up the hill and go to work mornings at 7:00 AM. 
   Thanks to the support of the Board of Directors and the General Manager, Tony Holder, I took and passed the official California State Notary Public Examination. In July of this year, I will be able to offer Licensed Notary Public services to all owners and their guests, so the necessity of your having to “hunt down” a Notary for your legal needs is over, as you can now have your documents notarized at the Suites whenever I am on duty (I, of course, am willing to do this on my day off with proper notice).
   Also, in January of this year, I was invited to join the prestigious Northern California Concierge Association. Celebrating its 26th year, the NCCA is the oldest Concierge Association in the United States. I am the only city-share or timeshare Concierge to be admitted into this highly respected organization (membership is very restricted and coveted; the ethical standards are paramount to the integrity and sacred bond between guest and Concierge), and I am privileged and proud to join the 150 members representing the finest hotels in San Francisco, Sonoma, Napa, Monterey and Carmel. The current President of the organization is Mr. Tom Wolfe (Chief Concierge at the Nob Hill Fairmont), who is also the first Concierge in the country and a founding member of the International Concierge Organization, Les Clefs d’Or. 
   The mission statement of the NCCA is to enhance the profession of the Concierge through excellent mentoring and networking at monthly meetings and social events. The organization encourages sharing of information and knowledge and promotes working as a team in order to enhance the guest experience. 
   Our monthly meeting is always held at a different and wonderful venue, and presentations are made by a variety of visitors each week (professional golf classes, novel tours, new restaurants, wineries, arts and sports organizations, etc.). This knowledge of services for the benefit of guests is a welcome addition for any Concierge
   Most important, in my opinion, the members of the NCCA volunteer countless hours and raise thousands of dollars every year and return those funds to the local community (we recently donated $10,000 to the Tenderloin AIDS Research Center, manned the phone banks for the KQED pledge drive, held food and clothing drives for charity, participate annually in Christmas toy drives, tend City produce gardens, etc.). All of this has led to personal growth and discovery with regards to constant owner and guest satisfaction at the Suites: I believe that our Concierge staff is the finest available in the time-share industry.
   These remarkable opportunities certainly enable me to share my choices of some of the ever-changing best of San Francisco with you…
   Aziza has been a favorite Richmond District destination of mine for a few years, as it offers a novel, elegant and stylish dining experience. Chef/owner Mourad Lahlou is a leader in modernizing Moroccan cuisine and adapting eastern methods to a western-style yet exotic setting. His innovative cuisine combines artisinal products and organic market ingredients, intense flavors and stunning presentations, all combined with a progressive Californian influence. Aziza's impossibly gracious service and romantic ambience present fine dining at its best in a warm, sexy and intimate setting. The multi-arched main room, two additional pavilions and accompanying lounge have to be seen in person. If I contact the owner for you in advance, you will be guaranteed a most memorable experience. Aziza ($$) - 5800 Geary Boulevard at 22nd Avenue - www.aziza-sf.com
   So many of you RAVED about Teatro ZinZanni after my recommendation that it inspired me to find another “Only in SF” event for you. That would have to be dinner and entertainment at AsiaSF – a GREAT place to take visiting guests! Fabulous gender illusionists (over the top and often quite amusing) perform hourly and serve you superb California-Asian cuisine. With signature cocktails, a "Wine Spectator" award winning wine list and walls that change color, you have a feast for all your senses! Because of its popularity, securing a reservation at AsiaSF on the spur-of-the-moment is always difficult, but the owner is a long-time colleague of mine and that will certainly help to expedite your request.  AsiaSF ($$$) - 201 Ninth Street at Howard Street - www.asiasf.com 
   Laurent Manrique and Charles Condy of renowned restaurant Aqua recently opened C & L, an exceptional space that was once the venerable Charles Nob Hill, thankfully a mere five minute walk from the Suites! C & L is an upscale modern American steakhouse featuring a very novel dining concept: The menu represents eight U.S. cities with regards to the delicious selections: San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, Denver, Chicago, and Seattle. The room is club-like, lively, warm and sophisticated without being pretentious. C & L ($$$) - 1250 Jones Street at Clay Street - www.cl-steak.com 
   Like you, I have been to 100 Sunday brunches in 100 venues but nothing yet compares to the variety, quality and scenery offered on a Signature Yacht Sunday Champagne Brunch Cruise. The nearly three hour brunch is served buffet-style and features a variety of sweet and savory seasonal dishes in addition to classic American brunch fare: a chef’s carving station (featuring quite possibly the best Beef Wellington I have ever had), fresh sushi and seafood, a to-die-for dessert display, crepes, pancakes and waffles, and live music while the champagne flows endlessly! The cruise is offered roughly every other Sunday from March until the end of October. In addition, reservations are taken for two special cruises: July 4th (a Night on the Bay) and October 9th (Fleet Week). The views of the coastline are spectacular, and the price was a pleasant surprise to me - $59 for adults, $25 for children 12 and under, and children four and under are free.  Signature Yachts ($$) - Pier 9 at Broadway - www.signaturesf.com 
   As an alternative to seeing the sights of the City via the street, you will enjoy a one-hour excursion aboard the Red and White Fleet. I have worked out a special deal with the owner of the company to offer a significantly reduced fare to all the owners at the Suites and their guests, provided reservations are made through our Concierge Desk. There is nothing quite like seeing our beloved skyline from the Bay, and the tour under the Golden Gate Bridge and past Alcatraz Island is simply stunning. The free audio tour was surprisingly quite informative and entertaining. The company offers a very special two-hour sunset cruise as well, sailing Thursday through Saturday evenings – the views from the water of the sun setting beyond the Golden Gate and the skyline aglow in lights are breathtaking. Red and White Fleet Bay Cruise - Pier 43½ at Taylor Street - www.redandwhite.com 
   If you’re ever in need of a floral arrangement that goes above and beyond your expectations, you simply must use Natalini Flowers! The owner, Crispy, is an intriguing and clever woman who creates intricate floral masterpieces – excellent gifts for a loved one or the most eye-catching addition to your Suite. In Crispy’s capable and talented hands, even the seemingly predictable order of a dozen long-stemmed roses is presented to you as a work of art. This amazing San Francisco floral artisan happily provides same day order and delivery. Natalini Flowers - www.nataliniflowers.com
   Assemble a collection of bright, exciting, well thought out works of art (painting and sculpture) by established as well as emerging artists - people who are serious about what they do and craftsmen who are excited about their work – and you have the essence of Steel Gallery. Although they have the deepest respect for long-standing traditions, and those who established them, they believe there is a place in the art world for work that is accessible, both visually and financially, and that art need not only exist in museums. In the gallery’s opinion, art is work you admire, work that makes you happy upon every viewing and is, above all, something you love. The end result at this marvelous space, owned by the writer and art collector Danielle Steel, is joy to all who share in the process: Creator, viewer, and whoever joins the two together. Steel Gallery - 3524 Sacramento Street at Laurel Street - www.steelgalleryinc.com 
   Art for AIDS 2005 is San Francisco's premier art event benefiting one of the nation's leading service organizations, the UCSF AIDS Health Project. The 9th Annual auction will feature 600 sophisticated art patrons and buyers, 300 modern and contemporary art pieces for sale during an evening of silent and live auctions, community-minded sponsors, supportive media and San Francisco's finest purveyors of food and drink. Bringing together a creative community of artists, galleries, art donors and buyers, sponsors and media, Art for AIDS connects the art world, a community deeply aware of the epidemic’s toll, with one of the nation’s leading AIDS prevention and care organizations. Admission in advance or at the door, is only $25 and includes fabulous food from the best caterers in the Bay Area as well as a fine selection of libations. This is a
fun, once-a-year event for a great cause.
   You may view and place a bid on artwork in advance via the online gallery. Select a piece in which you're interested and select “bid on it!” to proceed to the bid form. Online bidding is open until July 11th. The high bidder the night of the event is the winner. New works are added daily, and viewing is available 24/7. All paintings and drawings are framed, except for works on canvas, which are stretched. To best exhibit each image online, artwork may be shown with or without framing. Dimensions of works on the Web site refer to the size of the work itself not including the frame. Art for AIDS – Friday, July 15th, 5:30pm to 9:00pm - Bonham’s & Butterfield's - 220 San Bruno Avenue at 15th Street - www.artforaids.org
   Lavay Smith is a long-time San Francisco resident as well as a Billboard Magazine top-ten charted songbird of the swing music revival set, a la Peggy Lee or Billie Holiday. Her band, the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, is comprised of her young pianist-husband Chris Siebert and several former members of the top legendary bands from the swing era (Basie, Ellington, Dorsey, etc.). Lavay has two exceptional albums in release and she tours Internationally. However, on occasional Monday nights, the Lavay Smith Trio performs at Enrico’s Sidewalk Café in North Beach at 504 Broadway at Kearny. Lavay is an exemplary human being and completely entertaining, and the audience members, mostly the professional swing dancers from the Metronome Ballroom, always jump out of seats to dance.  Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers and the Lavay Smith Trio - www.lavaysmith.com 
   When you're a young, world-traveled, post-graduate achiever-type who's not interested in corporate craziness or Internet IPOs, what do you do to keep the juices flowing? If you're Robert Hemphill, you rent a deserted 1,600-square-foot warehouse - one with 16-foot ceilings and a long, narrow hallway to the street (close to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Bookstore) as a great “off-Broadway” attraction. You deck the walls, floors, ceilings and windows with your vast collection of eye-catching oddities gleaned from the obscure villages and mystical marketplaces of six continents and it becomes The Dreaming Room.
   Robert has stuffed the space with exotic and ageless works of art from 45 countries. He has plunked down a 2,000-pound, 3-and-a-half-years in the making altar (replete with religious icons, mirrors, beads, buttons, bronze Buddhas, and buxom beauties) smack dab in the middle of the room. He displays intricately sculpted goddesses and textured terra-cotta temple pieces next to roughly hewn tribal masks bristling with teeth and bones. Look for knives and spearheads of Damascus steel, lavishly decorated Tibetan ceremonial skulls, two-millennia-old Roman glass jewelry, and the jewel-encrusted silver scimitars of a sultan’s bygone glory. The atmosphere is replete with lighting that provides just the right degree of spookiness and pulsating tribal music that rocks the joint. To capture the discerning eye, he’s positioned a few massive tribal art and antique furniture pieces in the entry hall.
   Robert is not only an eclectic collector, but also an international “connector” who brokers unusual items. A recent coup was gaining access to a supply of Central American hardwood that’s legally harvestable because the “forests” are underwater. Be sure to add your words to the guest book before you leave. You’ll enjoy its selection of comments from Holland, Mali, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Russia - you might even spot the scribblings of David Bowie, Robin Williams, Bono, Sting, Madonna, or Francis Ford Coppola, who are just a few of the curious who have wandered in off the street and visit often – for a lucky few, Hemphill will close the doors to let the reverent meditate pray at their leisure.
   Hours vary – usually Wednesday to Saturday from 7:00 PM until 11:00 PM, so have the Concierge Desk call first. The Dreaming Room is across the street from two DO-NOT-MISS destinations: Jazz at Pearl’s (the best live jazz club on the West Coast) and the legendary nightcap destination, Tosca Café. A stop here makes a visit to fabled North Beach complete. Items are available for purchase, and admission is free. The Dreaming Room - 245 Columbus Avenue at Broadway – (415) 788-7882.
   Contacting me regarding any of the above is easy. Simply call the Concierge Desk at (415) 433-9700 or send e-mail with “For Chris” in the subject line to FrontDesk@SFSuitesCSA.com .
   Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a returning guest to this exciting city, please allow me (or any member of our Concierge Staff) to help make your stay as memorable and enjoyable as possible. It is indeed a pleasure to be at your service.

Sincerely, Chris Morano, Chief Concierge

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