International

To handle hangovers, a concierge

NEW ORLEANS, JAN. 1. In a New Orleans hotel, visitors who put back too many beers and hurricanes have a remedy to help them shake off that dreaded New Year's hangover: Sara, the Recovery Concierge.

Name your poison, Sara Baker has the medicine: Ginger-root tea and a po-boy roll breakfast for the mildly hung over, pain killers and caffeine for those who really got sloshed the night before. There are potions, bath salts and steamed water to rehydrate the weary — along with sage advice on how to recuperate.

"There are two standbys that I never fail to fall back onto. The triple T — Tylenol, tea and toast — and Cafe Du Monde," she says, her hotel bustling with New Year's traffic. "I'm here to help people handle the excesses of New Orleans."

Ms. Baker is in charge of the Loews New Orleans Hotel's hangover concierge programme, which is spelled out in a booklet in every room. It is for guests who overindulge: booze, pralines, dripping jambalaya and steaks, among other temptations.

At the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a make-your-own-Bloody Mary bar is offered at the spa, butlers are summoned to draw baths by dialling zero and full-body massages are on order for tired and drained guests.

— AP

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