Basic Function of Valet and Specific Duties

MODULE CONTENT

I. SUBJECT:
 HOUSEKEEPING 220

II. QUARTER/SCHEDULE:
 Third Quarter

III. TOPIC/ LESSON:
 Housekeeping Organization- Function of a Valet Runner
 Basic roles of valet and butler service within the Philippine hospitality industry

IV. LEARNING COMPETENCIES:

 Identify the basic function and specific duties of valet runner.
 Discuss basic roles of valet and butler service within the Philippine hospitality

industry
V. INFORMATION SHEET:

Organizational Chart of the Housekeeping Department
(For large establishments)
EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER OR
HEOxeUcuStEivKe EHEouPsIeNkGeepMeAr NAGER

Room keeping supervisor Public Area Supervisor Linen & Laundry Supervisor

Room boy Houseman utility Linen Attendant
Chambermaid maintenance Laundry Attendant
Mini-bar Attendant
Pest Control Technician Valet Runner
Steam Presser/Ironer
Gardener/Grounds
Maintenance

VALET RUNNER

Basic Function: Responsible for the pickup and delivery of laundry items of guests also those
for house use
Specific Duties:
1. Picks up guests’ items for laundry and endorses them to sorter/marker for proper

classification
2. Checks laundry items for possible damages and immediately informs the guest about it.

Also indicate noted damages in the record.
3. Informs the sorter/marker about the special instructions of guests regarding the latter’s

laundry items.
4. Helps in sorting finished items that are ready for delivery.
5. Delivers processed guest’ laundry making reference to tag number and room number and

makes sure these items are delivered on time.
6. Coordinates with the room keeping supervisor for the delivery of all processed items when

guest are not in their rooms.
7. Informs the laundry office of his whereabouts in case there is any call for pick up and

immediate delivery.
8. Coordinates with Front Office/housekeeping regarding information on room changes to

avoid wrong delivery.
9. Performs other related duties as maybe assigned by his/her supervisor.

Basic Roles in Valet Service in the Philippine Hospitality Industry

Introduction:
Butler is a servant in a wealthy, large household and “Servant” is an older English term

for "Domestic Worker". A “Domestic Worker” is someone who works within the employer's
household and perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from
providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance,
known as “housekeeping”. Responsibilities may also include cooking, doing laundry and

ironing, food shopping and other household errands. Some domestic workers live within the
household where they work.

Valet or Varlet is a “French Term” which means ““male servants””. In Valet, the “T”
is being silent. As the Valet termed for “male servants” and its meaning is the “Housekeeper” is
for “Woman” who is in charge for caring for the entire house and its appearance.

In modern usage, the Hotel Valet/Butler is an employee who performs personal services
for guests making sure that everything is properly and efficiently attended.

 Butler is also known as “Personal Assistant of Guest” or (P.A.)
 Butler is usually in a Five Star Hotel or in a Big Hotel as part of their high and quality

service.
 Butler most likely to wear business attire or suit designed by establishment as their

uniform.

Butler Service is a personalized service given to guest who request for special service to
attend his needs.

Valet is also used for people performing specific services:

 Parking Valet - a service employee who parks cars for guests.

 Car Valet - an employee who is paid to clean people's cars professionally.

 Valet - a professional wrestling term for a person who accompanies a wrestler to the ring
- originally a beefy man but now usually a busty woman

HISTORY

Throughout history, the word “Butler” has been associated with service. The definition of
“Service” in the dictionary reads:

- Occupation or function of serving the State, an institution or an individual;

- Organization and personnel supplying some public demand;

- Contribution to the welfare of others.

Considering this definition, it may be said that the Butler is someone who provides
services. The fact that butlers used to serve their guests the butler’s whole life- put them in an
unparalleled position: they got to know their guest like no one else did, which allowed them to
anticipate their needs, ensuring that those needs were satisfied just as they had been requested,
guaranteeing the quality of the service provided and, therefore, the guest’s full satisfaction.

As the Hotel industry evolved, hotels not only adopted infrastructures never before
imagined but also developed and perfected the services available to their guests in order to make
them feel more comfortable and foster differentiation within the industry.

One of such newly developed services is the Hotel Butler. Which is the difference then
between this type of butler and the traditional butler?

As any business, Hotels are concerned with profitability. This is achieved through high
occupancy levels, which is a result of guest- loyalty. Guests loyalty is not simply a matter of
meeting the customers’ expectations, but of course exceeding them.

How can we possibly meet guests’ expectations if we don’t know what they are? How
can we exceed guests’ expectations regarding a particular service if we don’t know what they
expect from it?

Here is where the active role of the butler is vital. When the guest arrives, the butler must
establish the guest’s profile, be it through the information provided before the guest’s arrival or
through personal contact with the guest or a guest’s acquaintance. The Hotel Butler must have a
series of strategies that serve as tools to get to know the guest’s needs and as means to generate
service needs.

Daily personalized assistance, detailed observation, the capacity to analyze the guest’s
behavior are, among other, the tools that the butler resorts to on a daily basis to determine what
the possible needs of the guest are, to generate such needs, and to transform them into services
provided with the requested level of quality, showing the butler’s capacity to satisfy the guest’s
needs and exceeding the guests’ expectations in connection with them.

The modern Hotel Butler does not wait for the guest to make a request, but generates the
guest’s requests through suggestions, comments and a high capacity for implementation. The
Hotel butler is in charge of preparing a profile so that in-depth knowledge of the guest can be
achieved.

The Hotel Butler is the HOTEL’s best tool for providing personalized service, offering a
unique experience and an unforgettable stay that will make the guest want to return.

The Hotel Butler makes all the difference:

Even though some hotels have not set up a Butler Department, they however offer certain
services that are typical of such position, performed by a different kind of employee under a
different name, e.g.: valet, runner, assistant, bellboy, and so on.

The Basic Services Offered by a Hotel Butlers are:

 Laundry and ironing.

 Shoe shine.

 Packing and unpacking of guest luggage.

 In-room breakfast and beverages.

 And other personalized services

What are the different services offered by a Hotel Butler and those provided by any of the
other positions mentioned above?

 When the Butler is taking the tray to the room, the Hotel Butler must not only offering
breakfast or tea; he must also have an amount of information gathered beforehand that
makes it possible for him to know the guest in greater depth, thus being able to anticipate
the guest’s needs.

 When the Butler enters the room to collect the laundry, he also carries away with him an
interpretation of the guest’s immediate environment that contributes additional
information to the guest’s profile, enabling possible strategies concerning services that
guarantee the guest’s well-being and satisfaction.

 The Butler must have received training on service quality, service strategy creation,
preparation of a guest’s profile, stay satisfaction follow-up, management of complaints,
and so on, that allows him to offer a highly personalized service.

VI. REFERENCE
 www.wikihow.com
 Roldan, Amelia S. FRONT OFFICE PROCEDURES & GUEST RELATIONS
 COMPETENCY BASED LEARNING MATERIAL (CBLM)

EVALUATION: LESSON ____

Name: _______________________________________________ Date: ________________
Year & Section: _______________________________________ Score: ________________

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.
1. What are the basic services offered by a hotel butler?

2. What are other personalized services of a butler?

3. In a five-star hotel, what is the attire of a butler?

4. What are the roles of butler?