Source: ft.com by Carl Wilkinson
Butler service is a very British thing and the increasing interest in British lifestyle and traditions has contribute to the growing trend. It is not surprising to see more and more high-end luxury hotels are rushing into this butler service category.
But really, what is a butler service? It might be interesting and attractive to just put it on the hotel website, but when everyone of your competitors is offering the same thing, you better do it right (or maybe in hospitality term, exceeding the guests' expectations).
According to Thomas Ashley, one of four butlers who looks after guests in the 23 suites at London’s recently launched Bulgari Hotel, “the butlers will help with all aspects of your stay; arranging the room to suit a guest’s preferences prior to arrival; assisting with dietary requirements; unpacking on arrival and packing prior to departure; helping a guest choose an outfit; dressing; serving food and beverage in the suite and so on.”
The Lanesborough Hotel at Hyde Park Corner is a great example of a traditional british hotel providing butler service. When it opened in 1991 it was the first hotel in London to offer a full butler service and, in many ways, laid the foundations of the current trend.
Regardless of whether they are staying in the £415 per night deluxe queen room or the £15,000 per night Lanesborough Suite, all guests have 24-hour access to one of the 23-strong team of butlers stationed – for ease and speed of service – in a pantry on each floor.
“We see ourselves as internal concierges,” says Daniel Jordaan, the Lanesborough’s head butler. “We are the link between the guests and the rest of the hotel. It’s not in many hotels that you have someone who is on standby to come and assist you in the room. Room service has its role – they focus on food. Concierge has their specific role – they focus on external. We have our specific role – we focus on internal.”
Many hotels, however, are using "butler service" as a marketing pitch. By simply giving the name "butler" to the staff does not make the service any more superior (we already have room service and concierge). Andrew Loyd, who worked in the US as personal butler, draws a distinction between the professional private butler and some of those now being offered by hotels. “You can’t take some nice young guy, put him in a butler’s jacket, plonk him in a pantry and call him a butler,” he says. “It’s actually a very specific job. The hotels can call them what they want but, essentially, what they are offering are waiters.”
Butler service is a very British thing and the increasing interest in British lifestyle and traditions has contribute to the growing trend. It is not surprising to see more and more high-end luxury hotels are rushing into this butler service category.
But really, what is a butler service? It might be interesting and attractive to just put it on the hotel website, but when everyone of your competitors is offering the same thing, you better do it right (or maybe in hospitality term, exceeding the guests' expectations).
According to Thomas Ashley, one of four butlers who looks after guests in the 23 suites at London’s recently launched Bulgari Hotel, “the butlers will help with all aspects of your stay; arranging the room to suit a guest’s preferences prior to arrival; assisting with dietary requirements; unpacking on arrival and packing prior to departure; helping a guest choose an outfit; dressing; serving food and beverage in the suite and so on.”
The Lanesborough Hotel at Hyde Park Corner is a great example of a traditional british hotel providing butler service. When it opened in 1991 it was the first hotel in London to offer a full butler service and, in many ways, laid the foundations of the current trend.
Regardless of whether they are staying in the £415 per night deluxe queen room or the £15,000 per night Lanesborough Suite, all guests have 24-hour access to one of the 23-strong team of butlers stationed – for ease and speed of service – in a pantry on each floor.
“We see ourselves as internal concierges,” says Daniel Jordaan, the Lanesborough’s head butler. “We are the link between the guests and the rest of the hotel. It’s not in many hotels that you have someone who is on standby to come and assist you in the room. Room service has its role – they focus on food. Concierge has their specific role – they focus on external. We have our specific role – we focus on internal.”
Many hotels, however, are using "butler service" as a marketing pitch. By simply giving the name "butler" to the staff does not make the service any more superior (we already have room service and concierge). Andrew Loyd, who worked in the US as personal butler, draws a distinction between the professional private butler and some of those now being offered by hotels. “You can’t take some nice young guy, put him in a butler’s jacket, plonk him in a pantry and call him a butler,” he says. “It’s actually a very specific job. The hotels can call them what they want but, essentially, what they are offering are waiters.”
RSS Feed