Hanging on the phone, in connection with his “hunters” ready to tumble at the first alert, Gilles Pozzo is in charge. Head concierge – and conductor – at the Martinez, one of the mythical hotels on the Croisette where stars and other VIPs stay, he plays a key (golden) role in the well-oiled machinery of the Cannes Film Festival. Listening to all the requests, sometimes the most extravagant, of its five-star customers.
“A few years ago, a lady asked me: ‘Gilles, I have a yellow dress and, for fun, I would like to know if we can dye my dog yellow so that I can take him to school. evening,” he told 20 minutes. I addressed myself to whom it may concern. I didn’t want him to suffer from it and we were able to actually have him dyed. The result pleased the client so much (probably less so for animal rights activists) that the little ball of hair changed color “seven to eight times” during the fortnight.
During the festival “it’s 24 hours a day”
But not all janitor and staff duties are so…crazy. “We are the private secretaries, the extension of our clients. During the festival, no one has time for anything. Everyone runs after their schedule. We are here to help, to make things easier. It can be a matter of making purchases for example or even finding tables in restaurants, which have obviously been full for a long time”, smiles Gilles Pozzo, at the Martinez for thirty years now.
Nothing is mission impossible. And even if, each month of May, it’s always the same “intensity”. “It’s 24 hours a day,” he explains again, in the oven and at the mill. Near the valets to speed up the ballet of the limousines, he then sticks to the tails of the baggage handlers if suitcases are parked a little too long in the hotel lobby.
Stop, we must already move on. The phone vibrates. Again and again. “Yes, your delivery of caviar which is on the way. Don’t worry, we’re on time. The janitor hangs up and turns on his heels. We now have to go to the security post where a box of leather goods is waiting for urgent delivery to one of the suites. No round leather, Gilles Pozzo. He is always on the move.