i love my job

Meet the Fairmont Copley

Plaza Concierge Team By Nancy Dewar

When Joe Fallon, longtime concierge at the luxurious Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel in Boston, heads to work from the South Shore, greetings abound when he arrives at the Back Bay train station; but not for Joe! Local commuters can be heard saying, “Hi Cori.” “Oh, there’s Cori.” “Have a great day, Cori!” Cori is the hotel’s beloved Canine Ambassador and has an ever-growing fan base around the city and on Instagram! “Not many know my name, but they all know Cori,” Joe said with a chuckle.

The hotel’s first Canine Ambassador was Catie Copley, a black Lab from the Guide Dog Foundation who joined the staff in 2004 after the hotel’s general manager had attended a conference where a hotel salesperson brought a dog to work. Seeing the positive affect the dog had on the staff and guests, he told his team about it, and said, “Let’s do this too!” Joe Fallon joined the hotel about 17 years ago and said the final selling point in accepting the job was when he was asked to be Catie’s dog-Dad. “I thought to myself…I guess I have to take this job, as I’ve never been offered a job that included a dog!”

Catie became so well known and loved that two children’s books have been written about her. She was with Joe day and night…at the hotel and back home swimming in the ocean when they weren’t working. She crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in 2017, and the city of Boston declared June 23rd “Catie Copley Day.” Joe choked up a bit when he spoke about her. “She was diagnosed with spleen cancer and given a year to live. Dana Farber frequently held conferences at the hotel, and a group of their lovely ladies suggested talking to their top spleen doctor. He meticulously went through her records and wrote down his recommendations. Angell Memorial followed them, and Catie lived another 2 ½ years.”

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“People often look at our dogs like they are celebrities, but they’re really just normal dogs that have a cool job!” And it’s obvious that Joe loves his job too. “Often I don’t feel like I work for a hotel. I work for a dog!”

Photo by Zack Deus Photography

Joe & Cori Photo by Zack Deus Photography A second Canine Ambassador joined the hotel (and concierge team) alongside Catie in 2013; another black Lab adopted from the Animal Rescue League of Boston named Carly Copley. She retired in 2019 and died shortly after. “I spread their ashes in the ocean near my home. Both had a sendoff party and many local friends attended. Everyone loved Catie and Carly…and now Cori is the newest love.”

Catie Copley was not only a greeter in the hotel’s magnificent 5,000 square foot lobby, but she also played the role of a therapy dog at times. The Boston Marathon ends close to Fairmont Copley Plaza, and Catie ended up comforting many after the 2013 bombing. Joe explained, “We urged people to come into the hotel. Kids were upset. Everyone was upset. We read Catie’s books to the kids, and Catie’s presence really helped calm people down.” Now Cori presides over the event and is doing a wonderful job filling her predecessor’s paws…with the marathon and on every other level. This year she was named the “Official Dog of the Boston Marathon.”

I asked Joe what it’s like to be the dog-Dad of the hotel. Any fun stories? He said that Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman were often guests and big dog lovers. “They’d call me on their way up from Connecticut and ask… is Catie going to be there? I rarely let her into guests’ rooms as I didn’t want her to have too many treats, but they were an exception. She always got to go into their room!” “Actress Bernadette Peters also stayed here when performing in Boston because of Catie. She loves dogs and started the annual star-studded NYC adoption event, Broadway Barks, with Mary Tyler Moore,” Joe added.

The Copley Plaza Hotel opened in 1912 and is truly one of the grand dames of American hotels. I laughed when I heard that the 30,000 square foot ball room, an elegant venue for weddings and more, periodically becomes somewhat of an indoor dog park. “On rainy days, we let Cori and other hotel dog guests chase Smurf balls up there!” Though pricey, this iconic hotel is worth visiting to see the architectural splendor, book a dog friendly “Furiend Package” overnight stay (as pups are welcome) or just stop in to meet Cori Copley and her dad Joe Fallon! Joe and the concierge team stock a biscuit jar with treats from Polkadog Bakery, complimentary for all dogs who visit.

Cori loves her “job” at Fairmont Copley Plaza. Though raised as a guide dog trainee, the Guide Dog Foundation decided that she was better suited for a career in hospitality, and they were doggone right! Joe expounded, “We never learn why guide dogs don’t make it. In Cori’s case she made a career change to work in a beautiful hotel. People often look at our dogs like they are celebrities, but they’re really just normal dogs that have a cool job!” And it’s obvious that Joe loves his job too. “Often I don’t feel like I work for a hotel. I work for a dog!”

Cori’s Instagram: @CoriCopley (www.fairmont-copley-plaza.com/) (www.guidedog.org/) (www.arlboston.org/)