Luxury hotel concierge reveals the most outlandish and common requests of VIP guests who pay up to $25,000 a night

• I shadowed a concierge in charge of high-paying guests at the Four Seasons in downtown New York.
• She shared the most common and outlandish requests of high-profile guests staying at the hotel.

After five years of working at the Four Seasons in downtown New York, 27-year-old Guest Relations Manager Jessica Waddy stepped into a brand-new position specifically created so the hotel could better cater to the needs of its high-profile guests.

VIPs staying at the hotel range from famous actors to top business executives, with some paying over $25,000 a night for the hotel's luxurious penthouse suites.

"They pay more for one night than my rent, so they deserve all the attention we can give them," Waddy told Insider as she described the most common and outlandish requests she's received over the years.

The needs of high-profile guests are listed on a "rider," a document that's typically multiple pages long and attached to their hospitality contract.

Common requests include nabbing reservations at fully-booked restaurants, booking tickets to sold-out Broadway shows, arranging hair and makeup appointments, as well as orchestrating discreet transportation in and out of the hotel, Waddy said.

Most celebrities also submit their food, beverage, and room temperature preferences on their rider, she added.

"Some people have their own bed sheets that make them feel like they're at home so we keep them here," Waddy told Insider, noting that others prefer the hotel sheets to be washed with a specific brand of detergent.

Waddy's seen her fair share of wild demands throughout her years in the hospitality business, including one guest who always requires a "command room" separate from his bedroom. There, his team preps for the day ahead and stores a spare of every item listed on his rider so "he never has to wait" if he needs something, she explained.

Another VIP once requested all the furniture be removed from an extra room at 10 p.m. the night before check-in so they could convert the space into a giant wardrobe, Waddy said. A guest who frequently stays at the hotel once requested a specialized toilet seat and La-Z-Boy reclining chair for her room post-surgery.

One guest staying at the hotel's penthouse suite said he would only play Xbox on an 85-inch television — 10 inches smaller than the hotel's flat screens. The result was a wild goose chase through Staten Island and Queens to purchase two brand-new screens before his arrival.

"Our director had to get his car and go to two different stores so this guest could play his Xbox on the TV that he wanted," Waddy recalled. "We had to squish them into his car with one of our sales interns in the back."

Working at a luxury hotel in a city like New York where everything is seemingly at your fingertips, is both a "blessing and a curse," she said, as "people expect every request to be fulfilled" despite challenges such as supply shortages.

"Just because we're in New York doesn't mean we have an abundance of things that are sold out everywhere," she told Insider.

Do you work at a luxury hotel? Share your story by emailing this reporter at htowey@insider.com