The white gloves may be gone and the iconic uniforms transformed with a more contemporary look, but butler service in hotels is alive and well. In fact, more luxury hotel brands are highlighting their new butler services as a point of differentiation. However, Starwood Hotels & Resort’s St. Regis brand has been providing butler service for more than 100 years, starting with in-room coffee and tea service upon arrival and continuing with a variety of traditional services during the course of a guest’s stay.
At the same time, St. Regis’ butler service is evolving with eButler service that makes assigned butlers accessible at any hour via the butler service desk’s email. And some of the butlers even admit to offering guests their cellphone numbers to become even more immediately accessible.
HOTELS recently spoke to Alexander Mattinson, head butler of The St. Regis Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, and the lead for the brand’s North American butler service training, to learn how the service is evolving.
British born and now a U.S. citizen, Mattinson worked for the Royal family at Buckingham Palace in various roles for over 10 years, acting as everything from carriage driver, store manager for the Royal Mews, and valet to the crown equerry. With his perfect posture and British accent in hand, he moved to and the St. Regis upon its 2009 opening.
Here is what Mattinson had to say about the evolution of the regal service.
HOTELS: What is happening with butler service during a transitional economy?
Alexander Mattinson: It feels as if things are now going back to the way it used to be. And more people are being given the opportunity to have this experience they have only read about. Now it is more within their grasp and they are enjoying it.
HOTELS: How is butler service changing?
Mattinson: It is changing more with technology and has made things even easier. St. Regis uses an email system called ebutler for guests to contact you via email. Before, you had to try to catch guests while they were in-house, or keep a close presence and remove yourself from other areas you might want to be. Now we have more freedom to move around and the ability to stay in touch. It has made life a lot easier.
HOTELS: How do you best combine hi-tech with a personal service like this?
Mattinson: Texting is not intrusive to today’s guest, and you are not ringing doorbells as much and potentially disrupting guests. I can stay in better contact with my guests, showing them I am thinking about their needs. Technology works and how it is incorporated makes the difference.
They are generally happy they can email as opposed to call, and it is received and answered within 30 minutes. People spend a lot of money for hotels and once the check in they often feel forgotten about. Now we can communicate and let them know they are being thought about.
HOTELS: How is butler service evolving?
Mattinson: It remains traditional, including basic valet and butler services. We are somewhat standardized so no matter what property a guest is at, the same services will make them feel more at home as opposed to having to adjust to how one property does some things differently. Everything above and beyond the basics we take as a great challenge. Yes, we get some odd requests every so often, but generally we do not really see anything too unusual.
HOTELS: What is the career path into butlering?
Mattinson: There are multiple ways to become a butler. But it also takes a frame of mind that you want to serve. The more you can learn the easier you can move into position, and you truly must know your surrounding area and your hotel.
HOTELS: What is the difference between good and bad butlering?
Mattinson: A bad butler is someone who greets guests and is not caring – more nonchalant and almost ignores everyone and has disregard for everything. You need to be a team player and realize it is not an individual game. We all work in the hotel symbiotically, understanding that what we do can effect colleagues. You have to be down-to-earth and pleasing, not one of the gossipers. You have to understand and related to guest’s needs without being too talkative. I just try to be friendly with everyone, which helps out with the overall work environ and complete last-minute job with the help of others.
HOTELS: Do you manage male guests differently than females?
Mattinson: We try to handle everyone the same. We must assess guests as soon as they arrive – see if they are low-key friendly or otherwise, and determine if they have experienced butler service before. We settle them in and relax them with what we do. We find out what their needs are and move on.
HOTELS: How do you manage the timing of your service?
Mattinson: Make sure you are paying attention and also set times to be present, and be five minutes early – just like in the military.