The Metropolitan, London

Dan Miles, guest relations

Any famous guests?

I can't actually tell you much about the celebrities, but we target the film and music industries so we get a lot of actors and bands, mainly from the States. There are always paparazzi outside, especially during the weekends, but we don't have a problem with them. It's pointless starting a feud, so we say 'hello' but it's not worth giving them any information. They used to offer me incentives, but they know now that I'm not interested. They probably know more about who's staying than I do anyway. I spent four years as a photography student, but I could never do their job.

Any odd requests?

A guy wanted to waterski down the Thames, which I thought was very original. Unfortunately the river police didn't agree.

What about a day out?

The best things about this job are meeting people, and helping guests. If I have someone over from the States it's great to work out an itinerary with them before they arrive via email, and then sit down with them to go through it day by day. Information is so accessible these days that most people know all about the Eye and the Dome. Tate Modern is huge with Americans, and most people think it is amazing. A lot of people also like to go to Portobello Market on Saturday mornings, which they hear about by word of mouth. For trips outside the M25 we can arrange tour guides with private cars. They usually go to places like Eton, Windsor, Oxford or Bath.

What about a night out?

An important part of our job is going out to bars, clubs and restaurants. If you have genuine contacts with those people you can always help each other out. In terms of bars, at the moment everyone wants to go downstairs at Momo's, which is very difficult to arrange. We also send lots of people to Chinawhite. The most popular restaurant has always been The Ivy, which is also very difficult to get into. Nobu is on a par with it, and the food, a sort of Japanese - South American fusion, is incredible. If guests want to go clubbing I recommend Fabric, which always has a great line-up of DJs, and my favourite club, The End, which is just brilliant. There are several great shows currently in London, such as The Graduate, with Kathleen Turner, and Mamma Mia. I went to see The Lion King last night and it was real edge of the seat stuff!

The Metropolitan: 020 7447 1000

The Millennium Eye: 0870 500 0600

The Millennium Dome: 0870 606 2000

Tate Modern: 020 7887 8000

Fabric: 020 7490 0444

Robin Barton