We're delighted that one of the great British institutions beloved of travelers in days past – the butler – is back. London's super-posh Savoy Hotel, opened after a $150m refurb, has been trialing the service, which lets guests arriving at one of the hotel's suites be greeted by a rank of perfectly turned out butling men and women.
And the service has been so successful, say reports, that a version of the service will be rolled out to all rooms within the year.
Even more reassuring is that according to the hotel's more senior butler, Sean Davoren, discretion is the key to his profession, and guests' requests, so long as they are legal, will be heard without your butler "batting an eyelid". He is scathing about the sort of behaviour evinced by the late Princess Di's personal butler, Paul Burrell, who made public some very personal information in the years after her death.
Among the more bizarre demands thus far? Well, Davoren will not, of course, go into details, but says he was asked “to track down a particular type of milk that is very good for the older man who has a younger wife, apparently.
“It comes from Africa from an animal with stripes. That was quite challenging.”
When pressed about the wild goat’s milk, he merely said: “The milk cost £3.50 [$4.75], but I had to send a chauffeur, who cost £650 [$925], to Wales to collect it.”
Pictured is, of course, "The Singing Butler" by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano. We can't guarantee The Savoy's butlers will do this for you...
