Every week we’ll introduce you to a talented concierge from one of our hotel partners to give you their top 10 insider tips.
This week we meet Jordan Inoke, Concierge at the InterContinental Fiji Gold Resort & Spa. Jordan has worked at InterContinental Golf Resort & Spa since the resort opened five years ago. Starting off as a bar tender he naturally has the gift of the gab and loves interacting with guests. After being a butler he joined the Concierge team one year ago and loves it.
One of my favourite things about the hotel is:
Coming to work each day facing the most spectacular view that is also rated as Fiji best beach, the renowned Natadola Beach.
One of the things I love most about my job is:
Anticipating every guest need and giving my upmost best to get the job done. Meeting people from all over the world who have come to Fiji for the first time and sharing a place of wonder with them. I love sharing parts of my life and home with them.
One of my favourite memories as a concierge is:
A wedding proposal I helped with. A very nervous potential groom asked for my help in setting up a beachside cabana as a proposal setting. After dinner they took a walk down to the beach and happened upon a cabana I’d set up with plush cushions, candles, pillows. He proposed, she accepted and out I came with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. She was incredibly delighted and even he was surprised at the amount of effort we’d put into the set up and how spectacular it looked. He said, “It made my job easy!”
It was a memorable experience for them and really fulfilling for me.
The question I’m most regularly asked is:
About the weather. Like everywhere we have our good and not so good days but there’s always something to do throughout the year. Even if the weather is not ideal I say, “I can always put in a special request with the Sun God”.
The most common item people leave behind at the hotel is:
Kids toys and books. If we can’t return them to guests theses are donated to the local Malomalo primary school. Many guests have actually been on one of our “In The Know tours” arranged by the resort and have visited the school and find joy in purposely leaving donations behind.
One of the strangest questions I’ve ever been asked is:
If we have free condoms. Nice to know how much our guests are enjoying themselves!
The activity/attraction/tour I encourage all our guests to do while here is:
There are two great and different tours each visitor has to do. Of course the school tour – it’s a great insight into how the children go to school with a big smile on their face, even though they don’t have the advantages of children from overseas. The other is visiting a local village which gives guests a very unique understanding on how people live, how close families are and how the barter system stills thrives in Fiji. It’s a completely different way of life than how many visitors live.
Don’t leave without eating or drinking:
Start an evening off at Kama at sunset where each evening we put on a sunset show with local entertainers from tribal drumming to fire ceremony….if you haven’t tried Kama you haven’t been to Fiji! Move on to Sanasana restaurant, especially on Thursday nights where we have food cooked in an earth oven called a “lovo”. The taste is completely different than anything cooked in a normal oven.
On my days off you would find me:
Taking out my wife and daughter for a picnic at one of Fiji’s fantastic beaches.
I recommend that keen shoppers visit:
Jacks handicraft because it has all the souvenirs that any visitor would want to take back home and its Fiji made.
