Executives who are posted in Hong Kong face many problems that moving to a new place brings. For example where to buy an Octopus card? Or where is the best place to buy a quality suit? While secretaries and colleagues can help with some issues, other more personal needs such as what they should give their wives on their birthdays or how to make friends in Hong Kong need professional help. Four Seasons Place serviced apartments has a team of 'orientation specialists' - who are on call 24 hours a day - to help guests settle into the new environment comfortably. They can take guests shopping, dining and sightseeing. These can include Disneyland, Felix at The Peninsula or local food stalls, and even guide them through the MTR and minibus networks. They also organise social and cultural activities. One of the first members of the Four Seasons Place team was Etsuko Konjiki Bains, a Japanese who studied in Australia, worked in Jakarta, Bali, Melbourne and Hong Kong, and married an Englishman. Before joining Four Seasons Place, Mrs Bains worked as a SignatuRep at Sun Hung Kai's leasing arm Signature Homes, which developed the concept of an orientation specialist team. She transferred to Four Seasons Place, which is also under Sun Hung Kai, when the serviced apartments opened. Mrs Bains said she could empathise with guests because she felt disorientated, lost and confused when she came to Hong Kong. 'I didn't know where to go and what to do. I was a lost child. I spent most of the evenings eating cup noodles at home. It was the darkest period of my life,' she said. The feeling was not unique to Hong Kong. Mrs Bains said her experiences studying and working in different cities and cultures also helped her understand what it meant to be a stranger in a strange land. 'I want to help our guests so that they don't have to experience what I went through. 'We don't have instructions on how to serve, but it is just something that comes naturally from the heart.' That means taking an active part in her guests' lives. Mrs Bains said a girlfriend of one of her guests once asked her to organise a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend. On another occasion Mrs Bains shopped around Central with a guest's wife for a customised wedding anniversary gift. She even attended a dancing class with one of her guests. Sometimes there were even more challenging requests. Mrs Bains received a call from a guest at 2am. He had awoken with a severe craving for a particular French cheese. Mrs Bains rang the serviced apartment's restaurant staff and, together, they used their connections with restaurants and suppliers - but could not find that particular cheese. Mrs Bains eventually found a similar kind of cheese and that helped the guest go back to sleep. Mrs Bains' team helps solve guests' practical problems and deals with emotional ones too. One evening last December, one of Mrs Bains' guests called her colleague and said she needed someone to talk to. The guest had received a call from Paris informing her of the death of her mother. It was Christmas, all flights to Paris were full and the guest's husband was away. The guest was very upset and alone so Mrs Bains' colleague went up to her apartment, spent a couple of hours talking to her and comforted her. 'We want our guests to know that when they need us, we are there for them,' Mrs Bains said. 'Hong Kong can be a very lonely place, especially when the wife or husband is away. Many people don't want to share their emotions with their colleagues or secretaries. We can be their friends and help them to make friends.' Mrs Bains worked in the hotel industry for many years before joining Sun Hung Kai, but she said this job suited her better. 'My role when I worked in hotels was in customer service and it was limited because everything was so transient. 'I always thought [when guests ask how to get to places] that if only I could go along with them and help the guests get there [it would be better service]. I am very happy with my job now. Every day is so different. I get calls and e-mails from different people asking different things. And I go and solve their problems with them. The new people, new requests and new challenges I face every day keep me motivated. 'In hotels, people checked out before I had a chance to build close relationships with them. Here I can build strong bonds with tenants over months and years.' Mrs Bains said she had kept in touch with many of her guests who had now left Hong Kong. When she got married some months ago, many former guests sent her cards and gifts. Some of them also invited Mrs Bains out for coffee when they revisited Hong Kong. 'At the end of the day, there is no border between the client and the orientation specialist. We are all human beings and we all have feelings. I think of the tenants as members of my family,' she said.