I had regular guests who would call me before they came into town for assistance, and also refer me to their friends. Management within the hotel called on me for their clients as well as recommendations for themselves. I earned many of the coveted Marriott “Teifel awards” for excellence in customer service (you only get those when a guest sends praises directly to the executives).

I really loved that job and going out in San Diego, and when you love what you do, you will become good at it.  Because I went out often I was able to offer first hand knowledge of local attractions and events and make appropriate restaurant and club recommendations to our hotel guests (and to my friends and family).

(This is the only photo I could find – Halloween at the Marriott Hotel & Marina Concierge Desk somewhere around 1996/1997, I’m on the left.)

That was back before the internet was what it is now, you absolutely had to be hands on, there was simply no other way to get the information. I continue to get requests from friends and family, I guess they still think of me as their personal concierge. Though I would love to say that I still have first-hand, up-to-date knowledge, it’s nearly impossible to see and do everything here in San Diego these days, even when you live here.

So here’s my short list of online resources, I hope you find them useful:

Open Table
Online reservations for restaurants. I use this site to make reservations whenever I can. You earn points for each reservation (that you actually go to). They accumulate into “dining awards”, which are essentially gift certificates for more eating out! The site has descriptions of the restaurants, links to their sites, approximate price (similar to Zagat) and a search that makes it easy to see who has tables available and at what times. (Do I ever wish I had THIS when I was a concierge!)

Yelp
I have mixed emotions over the usefulness of this site. Sometimes you have to wade through a lot of crap to get an intelligent opinion and the site gives crappy results via the search sometimes. When you get a good reviewer though, it can be very helpful.

Sign On San Deigo
This site is run by the San Diego Union Tribune. Especially helpful for finding activities and events, they have reviews of restaurants and bars, with reader reviews too. There are good sections on recreation and the arts as well.

MappyHour
A map showing pubs, bars & lounges with their happy hour information! It’s not just for San Diego, but we’ve got a fairly participatory group of people in SD, so there is some good info there.

Arts Tix
Want to get same-day half-price tickets to theater, events & attractions? This is a really great resource if you are open to seeing what they have available.

Healthy Dining Finder
Ever think, “I’d like to go out, but where can I go that’s got some healthy choices?” While this site is not specific to San Diego, if you put in a local address the list of restaurants with nutritional information is quite large. They make specific recommendations on which meals to order.

Eventful
A relative new comer, and based in San Diego, but again, not all about just San Diego. I don’t really use this site to search for stuff – I’ve signed up for emails in which they let me know what events are going on in my area. It could be very useful to you if you have a strong social networking crowd that uses it, because you’re personal events can go on the site as well.

Gaslamp.org
All stuff in the Gaslamp (downtown San Diego) all the time.

San Diego Reader
Free local newspaper/magazine with an online version. Great for finding local events, info on restaurants and local happy hours. Also has discount coupons for restaurants!

The easiest way to find out what’s going on in San Diego? As my mother used to say “Go outside and play!”.

Seriously, there is ALWAYS something fun happening in San Diego!