5 Things: Being a butler in the People's Republic

Having a butler is all the rage in China. No doubt fueled by the global popularity of Downtown Abbey, having a gentleman’s personal gentleman is de rigueur for the fashionable fuerdai.

Last year saw the opening of the Middle Kingdom’s first permanent, accredited butler academy, an offshoot of the International Butler Academy, in Chengdu.

In fact, Sichuan’s capital has become a hotbed of valet services, with most high-end hotels providing butler service. So, for this week’s 5 Things, we spoke to St. Regis Chengdu’s George Edward, Head Butler, for insight into the art of service in the People’s Republic.

Butlers are team players

We (at St. Regis Chengdu) have 30 butlers, including the butler service desk attendees, the floor butlers and private dining butlers.

It’s like we’re working as a team, any given butler may be working the butler service desk, private dining or acting as a floor butler. Also our butlers do the room service. 

If one of our butlers is busy on their floor, they call the butler service desk and butlers go there to help them. Our service experience is a team effort.

News flash: Butlers can double as chauffeurs

When staying at St. Regis Chengdu, we ask our guests if they have a transportation request, because some of the guests are first timers to the city. That is a key part of the pre-arrival process. After that, if a VIP guest requests transportation, we will send a butler to pick them up.

Don’t like unpacking? There’s a butler for that

We also provide an unpacking service on arrival, so guests don’t have to worry about unpacking their luggage. Guests who visit here tend to bring a lot of luggage, generally because they plan to travel around.

We get a lot of unpacking service requests in Chengdu, even compared to Sanya. Business travelers like the unpacking service due to the amount of luggage they’re bringing with them. Prior to departure we also offer departure assistance, aka - repacking your luggage.

Comprehensive training required

We have two weeks of classroom training, in which potential butlers are taught about the product we offer - the normal day to day things. Without that knowledge, people won’t trust you. After that, we will train them for another week for signature services, like packing, unpacking and shoe shining.

Then, on week three, we will pair them with a buddy butler to work a floor together (one senior butler will stay on the floor with them).

After that, on the fourth week, they can be alone – although they start their shifts with a buddy butler. It’s a one month training process.

Everyday we do at least 30 minutes of training to help prevent complaints. This training may cover a new product or service concept, or something basic like shaking hands or speaking politely with different nationalities. For example, how to speak politely with an Arabic guest may be totally different than speaking with an Asian guest.

There is a big difference between Chinese clientele and Western clientele

Westerners and Chinese are very different. Foreigners in general tend to be less demanding and more polite. For example, they have sympathy for the Chinese staff and if something isn’t understood – Westerners will work really hard to explain it. 

In contrast, Chinese guests tend to be very judgmental and full of complaints – always looking for compensation. In situations where foreign guests will accept an apology, Chinese guests want something – they are really demanding. They are nice guests, but their demands are pretty high. 

//  To see more from our 5 Things series, click here.