Best Places to Visit in San Francisco

Wolfe didn’t always know for sure that he would wind up in the hotel industry. As a young man right out of high school, he worked a brief stint on Wall Street, where he says he learned “how to dress and how to talk and how to behave.” While attending American University in Washington, D.C., Wolfe spent some time employed as an “office boy” in Sen. Robert Kennedy’s office. “I lived right next door to the Senate building, so I got 

Aside from being fluent in French and Spanish, Wolfe is proficient in Japanese and knows “a smattering” of Chinese and Italian. Picking up languages comes pretty naturally to him, he says. “I've always maintained that you could drop me out of an airplane anywhere in the world, and if you gave me a week, I'd be able to take you around and show you that place in the language of that country.” It’s a skill that comes in handy, as he regularly works with guests from all around the globe.

Tickets to a sold-out show? A reservation at the hottest restaurant in town? A celebrity’s request to have their M&Ms separated by color? Those are simple, says the man who prides himself on going above and beyond for his clients. Even the most unusual request he ever received barely made him bat an eye: A hotel guest once asked for a rare Ferrari GTO – a red one. Wolfe made a few calls and delivered it...for the price of $6 million. Mission accomplished.

The self-proclaimed car buff loves “old things” (which made the above Ferrari GTO request a lot easier for him to navigate). Wolfe’s pride and joy is a 1980 MGB Roadster, which he had to convince his wife would be “more fun” than a station wagon.  “The first time we took the car out,” he reminisces, “we barely got a couple of blocks before people came swarming over. That would not have happened in a station wagon.” His collection also includes a classic 1965 BMW motorcycle and a black 1980 Raleigh bicycle, “just like the bobbies in London used to ride.”

Aside from introducing the concept of the concierge to American hotels, Wolfe also pioneered the industry in Japan. During the 1980s, he spent five years at Tokyo’s luxurious Hotel New Otani as the country’s first concierge and Director of International Guest relations. It was at a fashion event at the hotel where he first spotted the woman he would marry, Takeko, who was there as a manager for a men’s clothing line. “I was just knocked out,” he remembers. Despite the language barrier and weeks spent trying to get her on the phone, she finally agreed to a first date. “From that day forward, we've never been apart,” he says. Meeting the love of your life? Just one more job perk for a man who lives to make people happy.