Making an entrance: the master of the Mandarin

Walking through the entrance and into the Mandarin Oriental's lobby, the first face you are likely to come across is a jovial-looking man named Giovanni Valenti.

The hotel is celebrating its half-century this year and he has been there for much of it.

The 69-year-old Florentine is neither an expatriate executive nor a live-in guest. He is chief concierge of the hotel in Central, a post that he says is not so much a job as a way of life.

Since 1979, Valenti has met, befriended, entertained and tended to a star-studded list that includes Princess Diana and former United States president Richard Nixon.

"For guests, I am more than just a concierge. I am also a priest, confidant, consultant, dispenser of information, and sometimes even a banker," says the quadrilingual man, who had been manager of the Mandarin Grill before taking up the post in 1983.

On top of managing a team of 72 and the hotel's 21-car fleet, Valenti describes helping countless men set the scene for marriage proposals, lending a ear to troubled guests, and "witnessing all the joys and sorrows" at the Connaught Road hotel.

He recalls sourcing 3,000 roses for a Japanese guest so he could propose to his sweetheart, and rushing to a hospital emergency room in the middle of the night to assist a European guest who could not speak English.