BSHM21 (FUNDAMENTALS IN LODGING OPERATIONS)

Chapter 7: VALET SERVICE / BUTLER

SERVICE

Learning Objectives

At the end of this chapter, students are expected to:

• identify the roles of valet or butler;

• establish good communication standards;
• develop personality of a butler;
• demonstrate procedures in providing valet services to the guest
• comply to the standards in preparing guest luggage; and
• value the ethical standards for guest security and confidentiality

Discussion
Butler and valet are two domestic workers in a large household. Both these positions
were originally found in homes of noble and wealthy families. At present, butlers and valets
can be also found in hotels and similar establishments.

➢ Who is a Butler?

A butler is traditionally the chief manservant of a large household. He is in charge

of all other servants in the house. Butlers are usually male and are in charge of male
servants. They are usually in charge of the dining room, pantry and wine cellar.
Traditionally, butler was the most experienced worker in the household. Names such as
majordomo, house manager, staff manager, chief of staff, estate manager and head of
household staff are also used to refer to a butler. Responsibilities of a butler may change
depending on the employer’s lifestyle.

➢ Responsibilities of a Butler

• Supervising and training household staff

• Serving meals and drinks, answering the door and telephone, setting the table
and serving formal meals
• Taking care of the wine cellar, and the valuable possessions of the house (china,
crystal, etc.)
• Managing the household budget and organizing events
• Assisting with the family and household security measures
 In addition, butlers are expected to respect the privacy and confidentiality of the
employers and to remain invisible and available. Butler positions are typically live-in positions
and may even require travelling with the employer. Butlers may be also required to perform
valet duties and light housekeeping. Thus, they should be flexible in terms of tasks and
schedule.

➢ Who is a Valet?

A valet is traditionally a man’s male attendant who is responsible for his clothes and
appearance. Valets are typically responsible for the clothes, and personal belongings of the
employers and other minor details.

Valets are usually men. The rough female equivalent of valet is ladies’ maid. Valets
are traditionally employed by gentlemen belonging to noble or wealthy families. In grand
houses, the master of the house usually keeps a valet; if the family is very wealthy, the sons
of the master may also have their personal valets. However, in a small household, the butler
may double as the valet.

➢ Responsibilities of a Valet

• Storing and keeping inventory of clothing, jewellery and personal accessories

• Assisting in toiletries, dressing, and hair styling
• Packing and unpacking for travelling and serving light meals
• Doing light mending, pressing, polishing shoes, etc.
• Providing personal assistant to the employer

NOTE: It is also important to know that in the USA, valet refers to an employee who parks and
takes care of vehicles.
 Personality Needed by a Butler

Being a butler requires having a versatile set of skills. Stewarding, housekeeping,

attending to personal requests, being a valet and concierge and many similar services are
part and parcel of this historic profession. This is especially the case as butlers are referred to
as a gentleman’s gentleman.

1. Leadership

Professional butlers can be required to attend to hundreds and thousands of guests

regularly, or to just one or two and they need to do this with the same level of precision
and intimacy.

Naturally, it’s not always a one man paly and sometimes the role requires a
consistent team effort. But when it comes to a team, a leader is also a must. Therefore, if
you have the requisite leadership skills, it will be easier for you to climb the steps of career
success in a private household.

Leading means setting an example. Butlers need to follow fair practices, analyze
the outcome of a customer’s request, and maintain relationships. You must also have the
responsibility to manage, train and recruit experienced domestic staff, which again
demands the skills of leadership.

2. Excellent Communication

Communication is an inevitable part of the butler profession.

Meet and greet, taking orders, attending to personal requests with discretion
and other tasks all require sound and complex communication skills. No client likes to
have to repeat their request and even a small “err” or hesitation in response could be
considered rude and disrespectful. It is noted in the hospitality industry that effective
communication skills can solve half the problems.

Excellent communication skills will also help butlers to develop rapport with the
guests, solving their problems, and asking questions the right way. However, another
important part of communication is body language. A person’s posture, eye contact,
and mannerisms dictate how they are perceived by the guests before any verbal
communication takes place

3. Patience and Focus

As mentioned earlier, butlers have been referred to as a gentleman’s gentleman.

Patience is an important virtue as butlers cannot afford to lose their cool in any
situation. At the same time, focus will help you to take quick and decisive action. Together
these two skills lie at the core of the butler profession.

Now let’s consider some situations when these skills might come in handy.

• Dealing with a difficult customer

• Attending unusual personal requests
• Handling errors made by self or a colleague
 • Toning down an argumentative situation

4. Active Listening

There’s hardly a bigger embarrassment for a butler than bringing the wrong order.
And that’s just one example of why listening is an essential asset for this profession.

Active listening, however is a bit more than listening to a verbal dialogues. It also
includes reading non verbal cues like a lack of enthusiasm or agitation conveyed by a
customer.

To this end, you must practice and develop your listening skills. It is best to make
an attentive, open palm gesture, focus on the words of the customer, nod or repeat to
confirm that you understood it correctly, and you may even note down requests if there are
too many to remember. Subsequently, being an active listener will increase your efficiency,
accuracy and courtliness.

Also, never jump to conclusions. If you are unsure of the outcome of a request, and
understand their mood. If what they are saying is a result of a situation you are unaware of,
or if you are unsure whether they actually mean what they say or are being sarcastic,
always try to understand and clarify. In such situations, acknowledge and deliver the service
requested. And never forget to smile.

5. Diplomacy

Diplomacy is another indispensable skill for butlers to master.

Diplomacy is, in fact the key to becoming both assertive and persuasive at the same
time. Needless to say, butlers need this skill to convey information or deliver a service so that
no feeling or egos are hurt.

To develop this skill, you can start with practicing and improving your judgement of
people and circumstances. Be open – minded and attentive to what is happening around you.
Try and rephrase your sentences in your mind to make them sound more gentle and polite.
Once mastered, you can surely make people have your way, without the need for any force.

What Does Valet Attendant Do?

Many regards the valet as providing a combination of roles each with its demanding
level of personalized and individualized services. The various roles include:

➢ The many roles of a valet:

• Housekeeper - performing a range of services normally provided by room

attendants in other rooms.
• Confidant - being a trusted person whom the guest can confide in when they need to
talk or share an idea, experience, or opinion.
• Guide - informing the guest of what is available both within and outside the venue,
when it is available, how to get there and how to obtain entry, tickets, preferential
treatment.
 • Concierge - A front office staff member who operates the concierge desk,
providing advice, direction,and information to guests about all aspects of the
venue, the local area, products, services, facilities, and anything else the guest
wishes to know about while all valets work together with the concierge in a venue,
many valets often take the role of concierge for the guests they are looking after.
• Organizer - organizing activities including reservations, tickets to shows, entry
toevents, meetings with people, daily schedules, on behalf of and under the direction
ofthe guest
• Supervisor - overseeing the work of other people (venue employees and outside
workers) who provide products and service to the guest
• Guest relations - ensuring the guest has a pleasant stay in the venue, ensuring their
expectations are met, and dealing with any problems that arise during the stay.

A valet may indeed be all these and more. Exactly what a valet is or the services they
provide, depends greatly on the needs of the individual guest. There is a special
relationship between the valet and the concierge, especially the nature of the working
relationship between them that demands instant responses to guest needs, quick supply of
information, and general professional support. The valet must be able to respond
immediately and appropriately to the needs of individual guests who may all have widely
diverse demands. It is a tough position but, without doubt, an extremely worthwhile one.

The role of valet would generally be undertaken by experienced staff members

or other people with sound organizational and interpersonal skills. Depending on the
organizational structure of the venue, valet may be in Housekeeping, Front Office or
another appropriate department such as Finance or Sales and Marketing. The valet is always:

• A front of house member of staff - they are not “back of house‟ staff who work
behind the scenes.
• A guest contact staff member - as opposed to a manager or administration officer.
• A service provider - while they perform some liaison and supervision duties their
primary role is one of service provision.

➢ The Main Duties of a Valet

The main duties of a valet refer to the services they provide to their guests. The
nature and extent of these services will vary between guests with some guests
demanding constant attention and others requiring little in the way of valet service.
Services can include, but are not limited to:

• Valet runner - Professionally and confidentially communicating with the guest and
on behalf of the guest.
• Unpacking and storing guest luggage
• Preparing guest clothes and footwear ready for use
• Light pressing of garments as required or requested.
• Packing guest luggage for their departure
• Cleaning and polishing shoes as required or requested.
• Repairing, or organizing the repair of, clothes and other guest belongings
• Assisting the organization of guest needs and requests including wake up calls,
• newspapers, coffee, and tea.
• Monitoring the provision of establishment services to the guest both in room and
throughout the venue. This may include:
o Arranging and supervising the provision of room service for meals, snacks,
parties, and drinks
o Organization and implementation of functions for the guest in their room or a
function room at the venue
• Recording services that have been delivered for quality control and accounting
procedures.
• Preparing room before the guest arrives by providing various items such as fruit bowls,
complimentary gifts, bathrobes, chocolates, or flowers.
• Looking after guest laundry and dry cleaning needs on an ongoing basis for the
duration of their stay
• Organizing and processing secretarial duties upon request such as messages ,faxes,
packages, translation, postage, and use of the business facilities at the property.
• Arranging restaurant bookings, car hire, tours, specified purchases of gifts or other
items
• Organizing activities to meet guest needs such as arranging special functions in the
venue, booking local excursions and tours, and making reservations for the
theatre, shows, dining, and special events.
o Provision of local advice (the concierge‟ function) including:
o Suggestions for transport and sightseeing
o Options for tourism and leisure activities
o Acquisition of personal services
• Making, altering, or confirming travel arrangements. Before guest arrival the valet
must:
o Investigate background information and knowledge about guest
preferences and previous history with the establishment.
o Take action to ensure promises made to the guest are met when the guest
arrives.
• On guest departure the valet must:
o Record
o and process guest charges and accounts
o for billing and payment
o Assist in the maintenance of guest history files to provide relevant and up to
date information about the guest/VIP.
o De-brief with management- to identify lessons learned, determine changes
needing to be made to SOPs, and whether management needs to contact
the guest to make an apology

Standards in Preparing Guest Luggage

• As soon as a taxi (or any other transportation) stops in front of the hotel / porch, Bell
Personal or Door man should open the passenger door.
• Greet the guest: "Welcome to [Your hotel name], I am [your name] do you need some
help with your luggage?"
 o Help the guest to get out of the taxi (if needed).
o Take the luggage from the trunk (ensure with the guest that nothing is missing).
o Ask for guest name: "May I have your name Sir / Madam?"

• Tag the luggage.

• Escort or guide the guest to the reception area or to the reception floor.
• Inform the guest that you will be taking care of their luggage.
• If the reception is located on another area or floor then, Check the PMS and find out
what room has been allocated to the guest.
• Write down the room number on to the luggage tag.

• Check with the FO team if the check-in formality is completed.

• If the room is ready then place the luggage on the luggage rack in the room.
• If the room is not ready, then store the luggage in the store room on the
designated arrival shelve and update the Daily luggage register or log book with the
details.
• Escort the guest to the room if required and send the luggage by the staff elevator only.

➢ On Guest Departure:

• Collect the luggage from the guest room.

• Try to have a casual conversation with the guest on the way down: "Mr / Ms. [Guest
Name] I hope you enjoyed your stay with us. Would you need a taxi to airport?"
• If the guest ask the luggage to be stored, tag the luggage accordingly (guest name,
room number, date and time of collection) and get the guest signature on the - Long
term luggage request form.
• Store the luggage on the designated departure area.
• If the guest is leaving the Hotel immediately after completing the check-out procedure,
then bring the luggage to portico.
• If taxi is waiting then load the luggage to the taxi and request the guest to verify the
loaded luggage.
• Update the departure luggage movement on the Daily Luggage movement register or
log book.

➢ Luggage Storage Room:

• Luggage room should be always organized and neat.

• The luggage room is divided in 3 areas, arrival, departure, long term storage.
• Each luggage has to be tagged using luggage tag (Sl no, Guest name, date, room no,
guest’s signature and time of collection).
• A phone number or email address must be on the long term storage luggage form.
• Long term luggage storage register has to be completed and signed by the guest.
• Following questions need to be asked while keeping in Items for long storage:

a) Fragile Items

• Ask the guest if there are any fragile items in their suitcase,
• If yes, mark “Fragile” on the luggage tag.
b) Perishable

• For items who need to be kept cool (medication, food…) check with Food and
beverage kitchen.
• Record where the items are stored in the luggage register.
• For long term luggage storage ensure with the guest that there are no perishable items
inside the luggage.

➢ Security & Safety

• Always keep the luggage room closed and dry.

• Do not leave guests alone in the luggage room.
• Remind the guest to keep their valuable item with them (Jewellery, phone, wallet,
camera, Ipad etc.)
• Log down in the bell desk log book and also on errand card each luggage handling
done (Arrival, Departure, Stored) etc.

Standard for Guest Security and Confidentiality

1. Be Transparent

The more you communicate with hotel guests about your collection and use of
their information, the more trust they will place in you. You could do this through a
privacy policy page on your website or sign in your lobby.

2. Employee Training

Staff should be trained on the importance of protecting guest information

including the proper ways to collect and enter into the system. All employees should
be aware of your company’s privacy policy and should know what to do if a violation
occurs.

3. Restrict access to Sensitive Information

Hotels typically have a lot of employees and the more who have access to
guest’s personal information, the greater the risk. Access to computers or systems that
hold confidential information should be password protected. It’s recommended that
access is given only to those who absolutely need it. Oftentimes in the hotel industry,
low-level employees have a high turn over rate and should not be privy to sensitive
information.

4. Never Sell Information

Under no circumstances should you consider selling your guest’s information

to a third party. Not only can this cause your customers to lose trust in you, but the
information could also get in the hands of the wrong person and you could be liable.
5. Work with MPS

From helping you choose the right system to training your employees, a
managed service provider (MSP) will be directly responsible for maintaining IT security
at your hotel. An MSP will constantly monitor your network in order to identify issues
and will put the appropriate network, equipment, and procedures into place to prevent
breaches from happening in the first place. Take control of your hotel’s IT security.

References:

https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-butler-and-vs-valet/

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/rhubarb/skills-butler-career.html

https://studylib.net/doc/25482861/tle-housekeeping-9-q3-week-1

https://setupmyhotel.com/train-my-hotel-staff/how-to-define-sop-in-hotels/front-office-
sop/341-sop-bell-desk-guest-luggage-handling-procedure.html

https://www.warwickinc.com/blog/ways-to-protect-your-hotel-guests-information/

Prepared By:

Patricia Camille V. Malimban

Instructor I