Scheduled to
open in July 2001, The St. Regis Shanghai will be the pinnacle of
customized service and personalized attention. The hallmark of The St.
Regis Shanghai is that each guest experience is anticipated and
personalized through the legendary 24-hour Butler Service. The St. Regis
Shanghai will be the only hotel in Shanghai that provides
round-the-clock Butler Service/ Maitre D’Etage for all guests.
The St. Regis Shanghai is committed to seeking individuals who are
caring and detail-oriented with an extraordinary sense of flexibility to
ensure flawless attention to the demands of its international clientele.
In fact, The St. Regis experience combines the tactile, classic luxury
of the Old World with all the modern amenities of the New World, from
the latest technology to the most comprehensive business services. The
trademark 24-hour Butler Service is an example of how the hotel has
adapted the old to the new.
Butlers are no longer stuffy, formal gentlemen standing at attention
outside guests’ doors. This traditional position has been adapted to
modern times to serve more as a personal assistant, from helping to pack
or unpack luggage to troubleshooting computer problems, essentially
providing total business solutions for guests. Traditionally, the terms
butler and “Gentlemen’s Gentlemen” are interchangeable. However the
later term is outdated since the composition of St. Regis Butlers is a
good mix of both male and female associates.
Schooled in protocol and dedicated to the ideals of hospitality, all
Butlers are personally empowered to do whatever it takes to ensure a
guest’s comfort in the most discreet manner. The highly personalized
intimate nature of service and the lengths to which all associates go to
satisfy guests’ needs and desires will set the hotel apart from its
competitors.
All guests at The St. Regis Shanghai will be welcomed on arrival by
their own personal Butler who will help coordinate all aspects of their
stay. The French term, maitre d’etage, meaning “master of the floor” is
taken literally at The St. Regis because each Maitre D’Etage/ Butler
runs their own Guest Floor and is responsible for all needs of guests on
the Floor. Throughout the guest’s stay, the personal Butler will be the
primary contact attending to all guests’ needs. All a guest has to do is
to inform the Butler on their floor of their needs and he or she will
attend to them promptly.
St. Regis Butlers are considered entry-level managers and go through an
intense 3 months training, followed by at least 10 hours per week
ongoing on-the-job training. Besides English, all Butlers at St. Regis
are fluent in at least one other language. Their duties include :
- Creating, maintaining and building on detailed guest histories that
track every visit ( from their favorite room or preferred view, pillow
preference right down even to the side of the bed they sleep on ), on an
advanced guest information system. Our guest histories are handled with
the utmost privacy and discretion
- Conducting guests arrival meetings 24 hours in advance to anticipate
and prepare for all guests’ needs
- Preparing rooms for arrival according to guest history profiles
- Providing in-room check-in
- Reserving a guest’s favorite table at his or her preferred dining
venue
- Inspecting guestrooms to standards
- Familiarizing guests with room amenities upon arrival
- Providing complimentary tea or coffee at any time during the guest’s
stay
- Providing complimentary fresh fruits, with daily replenishment
- Offering light pressing of garments upon arrival
- Packing and unpacking services
- Arranging valet services 24 hours a day. This includes laundry,
pressing, dry cleaning, shoe shine services and apparel repair
The Butler may coordinate with other departments on guests’ behalf for
restaurant bookings, cultural, sporting or touring events,
transportation arrangements, room bookings, in-room entertainment as
well as private dining arrangements. St. Regis Butlers are also trained
to solve dilemmas small and large, from finding the correct adaptor,
accessing internet and personal e-mail, fixing in-room facsimile
glitches, setting up conference call from the room to troubleshooting
computer problems. Essentially, the Butler offers total business
solutions for all guests, to ensure their stay is the most gratifying
one.
The St. Regis Shanghai is managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Inc. The St. Regis consists of an exclusive collection of nine hotels
around the world, all named for the 1904 Beaux Arts landmark hotel in
New York City, which was built by Colonel John Jacob Astor. The
legendary flagship, The St. Regis New York, is consistently ranked as
one of the world’s finest. Other St. Regis hotels are located in Aspen,
Beijing, Monarch Beach, Los Angeles, Houston, Rome and Washington D.C.
Starwood is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world
with more than 725 properties in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at
its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands,
Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels
and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton,
Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation
Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high
quality vacation interval ownership resorts. |