Dr. HFH

Prob for me, M0hamed. I want to deal with the person actually taking care of my request. I don't need an intermediary.

m0hamed

Well then you would specifically need to call or go down and see the concierge as the Butler is the first person to answer the phone at StR.

Dr. HFH

Interesting. What happens when you telephone the Concierge Desk. You get the butler?

RogerD408

It's called outsourcing, done all the time. Just make sure you provide a concise description of what you want and let the butler handle it. After all, that's what the concierge is going to do, call someone to setup your request. Yes, the fewer layers the less chance of something going wrong, but we're not talking about something intricate. If so, doing yourself is the wise choice.

m0hamed

I recall there is one main button for butler service. No room service or specific departments. The butler answers all calls. There may or may not have been a button for concierge but I know that even if there was we spoke to the butler.

At our last StR stay the butler came to our room to book our Universal Studios tickets because we wanted front of line passes and these were only available on the Japanese site.

For special reservations, be it for sold out Opera tickets or restaurant reservations the relationship will be between the hotel and supplier so it really doesn't matter who fulfills the request.

LuisHK

Till this date I still don't have a very clear idea what a butler can really do for me.
I won't want him to pack my stuff, make my tea, open my drapes....

Maybe other than arranging things locally such as booking tickets I otherwise can't do...

I don't feel any sort of extra personalized service from StR. Sometimes I don't even see him on the entire stay.

redanman

Tipping annoys me. I don't use cash for anything. It is a full-fledged nuisance to tip.

NYC is the worst place for tipping in the world, everyone has his hand out, plus NYC is full of people who $hit $100 bills.

Extra service people slow you down. My wife sometimes wants to stay at the St. R in NYC. Ugh.

I don't use the butler, pretentious rot. Disagree, call me cheap, I'm actually practical and efficient.

Concorde28

Just spent two weeks in Italy with butler service in Rome and Florence. I find that the StR butler service to be very helpful and useful, even more so outside the USA. In both locations, we saw our butler assisting in other areas of the hotel and we were greeted by name. If I pressed the phone button for butler service and was given the concierge, I just asked for the butler to contact me directly.

After a day of touring, it is nice to return to the room and have a pot of coffee or tea and cookies brought to the room by the butler. As for tipping, I just use the standard 20% of what the service would normally cost. For other services, such as returning laundry, shoe shining or suit pressing, I just use a few euros in coins. It did get a bit crazy at the Firenze StR check-in when the hotel manager brought us to our suite, joined by two bellman for the bags, and then the butler. The service is outstanding as well as the complimentary bottles of champagne.

damon88

We really, really love our morning coffee. We like to drink it when we first wake up. In European hotels they almost never have an in room coffee maker. Vs the crazy room service price for a pot, we have resorted to buying a coffee maker on a few stays ( at the Pulitzer for instance)

The French press coffee the butler brings on demand is the big winner for butler service for us. The free pressings are another huge positive. And we've been lucky enough to have some wonderful butlers who have made suggestions that added to our stay.

Packing & Unpacking? No thanks. But we definitely find value in the butler.

jaejaez

I find myself torn when thinking about butler service.

A part of me wants it more standardized. Even within the same brand of StR, different properties’ butlers do different things. For example, at StR Singapore getting a cup of latte is complimentary whereas for the exact same thing you need to pay at the StR Abu Dhabi. Some offer shoe shine and washing and pressing services (Italian StRs) while others only provide pressing while still others provide pressing but only two pieces per stay etc. I have had a butler in StR Bali arrange for a lovely picnic by the gardens (I paid for the food and champs but the romantic set-up of the picnic under a gorgeous tree was complimentary) whereas when I asked for the same thing at the StR Saadiyat I was told that they “don’t really arrange such things” but can help link me up with catering companies that can potentially help me. I even had one occasion when the butler offered to iron my morning newspaper on a daily basis (Imperial Vienna) which I thought was really cool but when I asked about the same service at the Grosvenor House he thought I was joking (…… which I kind of was.. I don’t need my paper ironed… but I guess the point still stands ). And then of course there are some really odd instances where I do not even get to see my butler at all (certain Sheraton Towers with “butler service” come to mind), or when everything the butler does end up being charged without warning (some ITC hotels charged me for butlers delivering things – pls don’t get me started on this one). This lack of consistency adds complexity to my stays and occasional frustrations as I don’t always know what I am entitled to get.

But another part of me actually prefers the flexibility that each hotel has with what level of service its butlers provide. We all know that when benefits become a standardized product they are likely to promise the minimum and in most cases provide just that. I agree that for some hotels this standardization will mark an improvement in their offerings… (especially those hotels that tout their non-existent butler services) while for others that empower their butlers to go above and beyond, I feel this will dilute their offerings and end up having the butlers operate as per some rigid SOP manual. This will likely mean that exceptional butler services I have had in the past will likely be denied. By and large hotel butlers are there to ‘personalize’ or ‘customize’ your stay to suit your individual needs… and this by its very nature is difficult to ‘standardize’ as everybody’s needs are as unique as their individualities. Butlers are meant to capture that and tailor the stay accordingly (at least in the perfect world) and for this reason perhaps standardization is not a good thing for those hotels that get it right.

So I am not decided on this – in the meantime I make it a habit to meet my butler when I check-in to have a short chat about what he/she can provide and what of those are complimentary. Yes I am always told the same story of “with anything you need you can call me” but probing a bit further will usually give me a good sense of what to expect.

My favorite butler service to date has been at the St Regis Rome (by the legendary Marie-France).

ceamus1

I have wondered what the standard for pressing is...

Is it two items per stay per person or two items per day per person?

This link seems to indicate it is per day...
http://stregisbutlerservice.com/services.php

This link also seems to apply to all properties - perhaps a lurker can confirm?

I find this, along with the morning coffee, to be amongst the top advantages of having a butler.

Starwood Lurker IV

Hi ceamus1,

As the description of the service says, it is two garments per person per day that may be pressed complimentary.

Further I can confirm that the services you find under the link, are available at all St. Regis hotels worldwide.

Please feel free to let us know, if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Alice Kons
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

ceamus1

Thanks Alice!

silver-tls

I recently asked the butler for hot water for tea and they said I should just use the kettle in the room as that is what it is there for.

Dr. HFH

IMO that's not an unreasonable response. You asked for hot water, not a pot/cup of tea.