Mission Impossible

By Marion Hume

Most concierges will point you in the right direction. Here are a few who will actually take you there:

o James Cheung At Hong Kong's Lanson Place, housed in a 26-story skyscraper, Cheung guides guests--free of charge or tip--on what he calls "a wow walk" designed to help them feel at ease in the buzzy Causeway Bay neighborhood. He points out affordable cafes for lunch, the fastest routes to Prada and Dior as well as Ying Kee Tea House, where guests can stock up on oolong blends to relieve jet lag. (There's a kettle in the room back at the hotel.) Cheung also times the hourlong walk to coincide with a touristy treat: the Jardine's gun's noon salute, dating back to the early days of the territory. 133 Leighton Road, Hong Kong; tel. + 852 3477 6888; concierge.lphk@lanson place.com

o Anne Raber The head concierge at Berlin's opulent Hotel de Rome, which opened in the fall of 2006, will happily lend a member of her team to escort guests to the grand foyer of the Staatsoper, since the celebrated opera house is just across the Bebelplatz from the hotel. As for the tough task of securing seats at sold-out performances, Raber managed that even when Russian soprano Anna Netrebko was singing the lead in Manon last month as well as reservations for supper afterward at Borchardt, Berlin's power restaurant. Behrenstrasse 37, 10117 Berlin; tel. + 49 30 460 60 91121; concierge.derome @roccofortehotels.com

o John Lewis He's the go-to guy at Kauri Cliffs, an American-owned luxury lodge in New Zealand's Bay of Islands region. On misty nights, Lewis has been known to drive to Kerikeri Airport (an hour away) and even Auckland (four hours away) to collect guests personally, so they wouldn't have to navigate the darkness on the "wrong" side of the road. An accomplished harpsichordist who performed around the world, Lewis loves the challenge--given the lodge's remote location--of persuading musicians to perform at guests' anniversary dinners. Matauri Bay, Northland, New Zealand; tel. + 64 9 407 0010; [email protected]

o Jerome Palacoeur For the head concierge at the Intercontinental Bora Bora resort--a former employee of the Paris Ritz, Le Crillon and Le Bristol--fulfilling guests' needs can be a challenge on a remote South Pacific island. "If a guest wants a Cuban cigar, he doesn't need to know you've anticipated his request by at least a month to get it through local customs," says Palacoeur, who lists among his triumphs securing a submarine for an underwater wedding in which the groom was a diver but the bride was not. "That was the deepest kiss I ever saw!" 156 98730, Bora Bora, French Polynesia; tel. + 689 607 630; jerome.palacoeur@ interconti.pf