What’s Butler Service Like in a Hotel or on a Cruise?

Staying in luxury hotels, especially the ones known as “The Grand Dames,” you might be given the services of a butler if you book a suite or return as a “valued guest.”

Butlers in a luxury hotel or on a cruise will act, in essence, as a floor supervisor, usually covering a single floor and making sure that the hotel’s services – such as housekeeping, food, and beverage – are delivered timely. Butlers also ensure the quality of the service you receive.

Butlers are usually available to guests at the top hotels in Europe – in London, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Milan, Torino, Zurich, Geneva, Istanbul, etc., as well as premier hotels in Asia.

The Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, The Peninsula in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and the Imperial in Tokyo are legendary for their service efficiency and will offer butler service in their top rooms and suites.

It’s important to remember that while in Europe, most luxury hotels offer a 1 to 1 guest to staff ratio. Many hotels in Asia, however, offer as high a ratio as 3 to 1 –three staff for every single guest. Some of the more luxurious cruise lines, such as Cunard and Uniworld River Cruises, also have butlers for their better staterooms.

In the 1980s and 1990s while I was doing marketing work for The Leading Hotels of the World, I stayed in at least a couple dozen of their top-rated hotels throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

I vividly remember my suite’s butler presenting me with a variety of aromatic, designer soaps on a silver platter at the Peninsula in Honk Kong. Returning to my Claridge’s suite in London after a long day of building soundtracks at the Abbey Road Studio, my butler delivered a platter of savory appetizers and a nice bottle of cold champagne within seconds of my return for the night.

At the Hotel de la Paix in Geneva, the butler unpacked for me and had my suit and shirt pressed so that I could speak at a conference the afternoon of my arrival. At the Hotel du Rhone, there was fresh fruit waiting for me on arrival, and my shoes were shined to a high gloss while I was sleeping after an overnight flight from New York and four hours of business meetings.

During my stays at the Hyde Park in London, I arrived to a bowl of ripe fresh fruit in my room, and there was always a plate of miniature pastries on my suite’s desk in the afternoon. Also, the pods for the suite’s coffee machine were replenished every day, and fresh bottles of water were placed next to the coffeemaker in every hotel I stayed.

In Bangkok, the butler delivered bilingual business cards and stationery printed with my information. At Reid’s Hotel in Madeira, after the butler found out during a casual conversation that I like chocolate as a pick-me-up, a silver tray was delivered every afternoon with a good-sized chocolate bar. 

Even most top hotels not affiliated with The Leading Hotels offer similar butler services, such as the Stanley & Livingston Hotel near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and the Bristol in Geneva. The Bristol is officially rated as a 4-star property, but it definitely delivers 5-star level services. Have you ever had butler service at a hotel or on a cruise? If so, leave a comment about your experience.