Insider Info

The list of celebrities who have stayed at John Tomko's Pittsburgh hotel is long and impressive. And Tomko has met almost everybody on it. He was a door attendant (otherwise known as a doorman) at the hotel for several decades.

He met crooner Tony Bennett and made small talk with Terry Bradshaw, the quarterback who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships in the 1970s.

He also met all the U.S. presidents since Dwight Eisenhower held the Oval Office in the 1950s. How many people can say that?

"He just about knows everybody who walks into this place," says Mike Dougherty. He is the director of front office operations at the hotel.

Dougherty says he first heard about Tomko from cab drivers when he was working at a different hotel. "I didn't know who it was," he says. "About a year after, I came [to the hotel] and got to meet John. He is truly the best doorman in downtown Pittsburgh."

So what makes him so good? "He has the ability to turn a bad situation into a good one," says Dougherty. "He always has a joke for someone."

One time Tomko noticed a car circling aimlessly around the hotel driveway. "He kept going around the block four, five, six times," Tomko recalls.

Tomko approached the driver, an elderly man in his 70s, and asked him what was going on. "'What are you doing? Are you trying to make us dizzy?'"

The man smiled and told Tomko that he was waiting for the bus that was coming from the airport. So Tomko found him a parking space. "And five minutes later the bus came in, and he was all happy."

A guest noticed this and commended Tomko in a letter to his manager. Others have also noticed his service. Andy Russell, a former star with the Pittsburgh Steelers, gave him an autographed copy of his book about his NFL career.

"It was really nice," Tomko says. "It makes you feel good if somebody of that stature remembers you."

"He has built quite a relationship with our guests," says Dougherty. And part of that relationship is to keep their secrets and protect their privacy.

Tomko says it is not common for journalists and photographers to ask him whether so-and-so is staying at the hotel and with whom. But it happens, and when it does, he will politely tell the questioner that he does not know.

Dianne Scott, meanwhile, has to field such questions all the time. That's because the club where she works in Austin, Texas, is a popular hang-out spot for actors like Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp and Sandra Bullock.

Members of the media constantly ask her to alert them when one of these actors comes in. But Scott, whose job is to welcome band members and VIPs at the club's back door, never does because the reputation of the club depends on it.

The stars do not come to be harassed by media types. They come to chill out, she says. And the club would lose its appeal if they had to deal with pesky reporters and paparazzi all the time.

Scott became a doorperson for two reasons. One, she knew a lot of the bands and media people from her previous career as a promoter. And two, she likes to work with people.

"This [job] is my social life," she says.

But it is still a job, and in many ways it is different from what Tomko does.

Tomko works at a luxury hotel for the refined and regal. Scott works at a nightclub where it may get rough and rambunctious. And when this happens, she has to use whatever means necessary, including force, to keep the club atmosphere safe and pleasant.

This aspect of the job has discouraged many bar and club owners from hiring female door attendants like Scott, and she understands that.

"However, I found that in most cases women command a little more respect," she says. That's because women tend to approach a situation with more patience, tact and diplomacy. And those are the traits you should have if you want to become a good door attendant.

But you must also stand your ground at certain moments, and Scott stood hers when a famous musician demanded she let him into the club even though that would have broken event rules.

Scott says he asked her if she knew who he was. "Yes, I do," she told him. "But I'm still not going to let you in."

Tomko also has to deal with upset guests. He says that sometimes he gets blamed when a cab does not arrive fast enough, but there is only so much he can do in such circumstances. You can certainly not talk back to the person who is complaining. "The customer is a customer," he says. "You sort of bite your tongue sometimes."

And if you can show that you are willing to help regardless of the circumstances, guests will notice your effort. "If you are sincere, people will appreciate it," says Tomko.

"We determine how that guest's stay will be and just from there, it has its rewards," says Rick Dickison. He is a doorman. One year, he won an award for excellence in customer service from the local visitors bureau.

The job can also have more tangible rewards. Hourly wages for doormen are low, but they can earn a lot through tips.

A few years ago, the manager of Tomko's hotel went down to the local Cadillac dealer. He ran into Tomko, who was also shopping for a new car. And it was Tomko who drove away with the bigger and better set of wheels.

But doormen still suffer from an image problem. Some think of them as unskilled service workers who lack the necessary ambition and skills to do anything else. Tomko doesn't buy this, and he says he has no regrets about his career choice.

"I will never be a millionaire, but... it has put the kids through school," he says. "I'm still in the first house that I bought, a little six-room ranch with a nice backyard. I'm tickled pink."