Confessions of the manager of the Ritz hotel in Madrid: "This is the art of seeing, hearing and keeping quiet"

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The Ritz has been his home for almost 24 years.

He is not the longest-serving employee of the iconic five-star hotel, but Borja Martín is one of the key figures in the temple of Madrid luxury.

The hotel's head concierge, with a team of 25 people in charge of him, is also the president of the Golden Keys in Spain, something like the global social network for

.

"If I could write a book...", says the man who manages today's Mandarin Oriental.

His profession sounds, to say the least, fictional.

He intrigues us.

What exactly do you do? The

carries out any request that the client has in the hotel or in the city.

They call us achievers, creators of experiences, and even psychologists because sometimes the client comes to chat.

In short, a lot of listening and a lot of seeing, hearing and keeping quiet.

That is one of our mottos.

What happens in an ultra-luxury hotel is that the client does not always want a coffee with milk.

Sometimes he appears at the reception with a protected parrot and says: "Send me to Brazil", as has happened to Martín.

Others what they are looking for is "a helicopter to go visit Granada", the last wish that the head of

has managed the afternoon that he sits down to chat with ELMUNDO.

The setting where he quotes us also lends itself to the novel.

It is the Pictura bar, one of Quique Dacosta's spaces to have a cocktail in the hotel.

Martín is dressed in a tailcoat designed by Jorge Vázquez with the insignia of the Golden Keys.

What kind of secret society is the Golden Keys? It's neither a sect nor a secret society [Laughs].

We are a professional association with 4,000 members worldwide.

There are times when only one

can't get some of the things they ask for.

You need to make use of other people's contacts.

That is the basis of our association.

And I assure you that if a client sees a concierge with the gold keys and another without, they go directly to the one with the keys because they understand what it means: quality, excellence and contacts.Tell me about a time when you have used that network.For example the time a client asked me for ten guayaberas from a tailor in Mexico City who had a one-year waiting list. Did he make it? Yes.

Thanks to the help of my counterpart in the city.

Had to pay extra money, of course.

And here in Spain, the other day a man who collected

.

She asked us for three.

We were looking all over the country.

In the end, he took one. Every day there are more luxury hotels (and their guests) in the capital.

Does the competition help you? Certainly.

The openings of luxury hotels put Madrid in the spotlight of the most select circles in the world.

We are looking at a traveler profile that has not come before and that has brutal purchasing power.

He is a client, yes, who wants exclusivity and unique experiences: to enter where no one else enters.For example, they want a visit to the Prado Museum for themselves.

Or that you close a boutique in the Salamanca neighborhood for him or, better yet, that you set up a

in the room. It will not always be possible... There are always alternatives.

Our pillar is that 'he doesn't, he doesn't exist'.

If someone asks you to have dinner at DiverXO on a Saturday night, you won't get it, but I have good contacts in other Michelin stars.

There may not be a box available at the opera, but I've managed to slip them backstage. What's the hardest thing to get? Some clients don't want a catered

, but the best places among the people.

In that case you have to go to ticket resale, which is a complicated world. And how can your team know everything? We have an expert in luxury boutiques.

Another in art and history of Madrid.

A football specialist... You have to be up to date to find out what exhibition you can see at CaixaForum or what is the latest restaurant to open in Jorge Juan.

For this reason, once a month I make reservations so that my team knows the restaurants and so on.

Then they make a report that they share with everyone.

If not, through contacts. What do you know about your clients before they arrive at the hotel? In this hotel we work hard on the Wow moment.

If we've seen on your social networks that you love petunias, why not welcome you to your suite with a centerpiece of petunias and a nice message?

It's not a matter of spending money.

You can leave five bottles of the best champagne in the room that don't even blink an eye.

But you put a photo of his horse and some cookies in the shape of horseshoes and I assure you that they give up.How many tie knots has he made?[Laughs] You can't even imagine.

Consider that today there is a profile of a client who wears shorts and a cap, but comes on his private plane.

What happens is that afterwards they have a gala dinner... It is also very, very common for them to ask you for advice on what shirt to wear. What is today's client most looking for? They ask for closeness.

They will own a thousand companies but they pat you on the shoulder.

And they feel like doing something fun that is outside the usual framework.

Wine tasting, yes, but under such a dome in such a building, and with a guy who plays the bongo. It sounds a bit exhausting... It depends on how much energy you have.

I have a lot.

I love it.

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