Training

At your service

Guests require different levels of service and butlers are regarded as the key in delivering exceptional services to guests, which gives the hotel an edge over its competitors, reiterates Amit Ghosh

Butlers play an important role in a hotel as a large establishment that is increasingly regarded as a home away from home. Providing special service to guests, butlers are either floor-specific or wing-specific but not gender-specific. In big cities, lady butlers are quite common these days and hotels that feature Eva floors meant only for women guests post lady butlers on those floors.

Guests require different levels of service and butlers are the window for all their requirements. They are regarded as the key in delivering exceptional services to guests, which gives the hotel an edge over its competitors.

The role of a butler is complex; they perform all jobs (within legal and ethical limits) and operate in coordination with the front office and housekeeping. They are simultaneously attached to the F&B department. At times, they play the role of a manager and interact with guests. Their role is often of a personal assistant or a close companion and a confidant who is able to anticipate the needs of the guest and provide the same without being asked (personalised care).

This becomes even more relevant as hotels today have guest history data. With this, butlers can get information regarding the guests' preferences before they check-in and during their stay. This will give them confidence in handling guests.

Butlers operate on a central call system (pager with text) that is connected to the main control panel. When a guest presses the paging button kept in the room, butlers are expected to answer the call and be physically present near the guest as soon they are paged.

A butler should be energetic, honest, sincere, knowledgeable and well-groomed. The services provided by them could include:

• Welcome drink service
• Packing and unpacking (folding guests’ clothing)
• Gift-wrapping
• Small orders like Continental breakfast
• Tea coffee service
• Collecting and delivering guests' laundry
• Providing wireless Internet connectivity on guests' laptops
• Sewing and other repairs (with the help of laundry)
• Polishing shoes

Butlers are also required to know certain things like:

• Knowledge of the hotel (activities, system and procedures)
• Floor plan
• Different rooms and suites
• Room layout
• Mini bar procedures and items kept in it
• Different amenities and their placement
• DND procedure
• Personal mis-en-place
• Information regarding VIPs in the house, their arrivals and departures
• How to answer/acknowledge guest calls
• Maintaining personal hygiene and safety standards
• Shift handover/takeover and other responsibilities

Butlers are also expected to have extensive knowledge of the city with reference to location of airline offices, consulates, theatres, places of interest, sports activities and club rules, places of worship, dining establishment, tours outside the city and shopping areas (exotic selection and antiques available). Besides this, they should also be well versed in the procedure and systems for breakfast door knob menus, preparation of fruit baskets, placement of amenities in guest rooms and value add-ons for different guests/room categories.

In this age of tech savviness, butlers also need to have at least a working knowledge of handling laptops and WiFi connectivity and be informed about other business related topics like the daily exchange rate for international currencies.

Hotels are now hiring young personnel with a passion for guest services. They are investing time and money in them by giving them extensive training. By selecting these people, hotels are not offering just a job but helping them to find a career. They need to be trained carefully, given proper recognition and respect so that hotels can reduce the incidence of turnover amongst butlers.

Amit Ghosh is Senior Faculty, School of Hotel Management ITER, Bhubaneswar