Got to say something. The butler service is poor, and needs to be pointed out to management. They hired an army of butlers to do what Damian single-handily did!.... for YEARS That guy was "the LeBron James of butlers." Very few of the new crew of butlers are outstanding. Many of them seem to disappear a few days after you arrive. Seems YOU become invisible. Unless of course you are forking over tips upon greetings each encounter. I understand another butler was recently fired. We have been 5 times since re-opening and almost every butler we have had, in the last 9 months has been fired. Some trips we had to use acquaintances or friends' butlers instead of ours. And I very rarely see a butler after 7p.m. Back in the day Luis would start after Damian went home at 5 p.m. and Luis would stay till 11:00. It was fabulous and everyone was happy. In fact the best butler we had since the opening, was Damian. They called him in on Opening Day and he aided in helping sort out the issues for a few days! It seems to me that members' should have a team of dedicated butlers and tower guests should have a different crew of butlers. It seems there is confusion about many things and chaos is the by-product for most guests. We need Damian back or at least to run some training courses to get this situation improved. It seems constant turnover and none of them ever get really good. And Damian if you are reading this WE NEED YOU AND YOUR MAGIC BACK! You are missed!
I do wonder how many butlers they have working at once. They definitely are trying to do too much at once and/or are forgetful and/or are unorganized and so on. In october and April we had Alex (formerly known as Alejandro but apparently he got tired of people singing the song to him Also in April we had Ivan. And in August we never saw the butler and a bell boy filled in for him after we tipped him $60 to give us a tour. I feel like Alex had the style of running around like crazy to make himself look busy and frantic instead of actually getting things done. He would check in with me repeatedly so not the same problem as above but clearly it was just an attempt to get more tips and then he wouldn’t do the original request we talked about 20 times already. Was annoying. We actually loved Ivan. Took a little more time to listen and did get things done. But yeah they clearly need better organization and management and direction.
Luis and Damian were both great. I have been a couple time since the re-opening and never really seen my butler at all.
Our Butler as so bad, he actually left before we even had a room. We had to go to the front desk and try and get a room ourselves. Ridiculous.
I am not sure that assigning a dedicated butler to each is person is the solution. Here are my thoughts: 1) I suspect (admittedly without any data other than reading lots of posts on the topic) that the number one thing butlers are asked to do is make restaurant reservations. My understanding is that currently reservations can only be made on the day of and can be made either via the butler or at the hostess desk in front of the buffet. Why not go back (pre reno) to allowing a) reservations 3 days in advance (for all guests) and b) premier members to make reservations at the premier check in desk? Simple and sure seems less labor intensive then the current system. 2) Instead of a dedicated butler (maybe with the exception of the master suites and penthouses) why not have the butlers be available in the lobby with a desk that can be called from your room and/or a number from your cell phone. Need a butler, stop by the lobby and/or call the desk. That way, the work load is split up between all the butlers on duty, meaning everyone should get better service as there is no dependency on one person. Seems to me that they have tried to add a new benefit (very commendable) but that instead of getting lots of kudos the current system is causing complaints. Definitely needs some management attention.
We had Armando the last time and he was great. Upon meeting him he had us download the whatsap ap so we had a direct line to him, and we will use that when we return in Oct again. He made all our reservations, we saw him at least once in the morning and the afternoon. He assisted us with our room crawl shots with mixers and liquor. Our last night there the wife got food poisoning (her bad) and he came up to our room and hung out with us for over an hour just talking about our trip, his family, TTR, etc. His wife even called asking where he was as he was supposed to have left a couple hours ago. Our first time in Oct the butler showed up for our check-in, at that was it, so I get everyone's frustration. We will contact Armando a week ahead of time and ask for him upon arrival all the time. This appears to be what is supposed to be happening with your butlers, but not sure all the butlers know that.
Ummm. ...members are entitled to other services than Tower Guests. Streamlined butler teams would abet more efficient service. And butlers do a Lil more than make reservations. Hell Norma did those. I never asked Damian for a reservation in my life.
We were not restricted to day of reservations with the butler. Not sure if this was bc we had a master/penthouse??? But they did mess up the times a couple times. Maybe that was bc they handle 1 day at a time typically, not sure. We also asked for cups for beer pong, no luck. At Desire they went out to get them. Asked for Jell-O shots and brought jello. That was successful, kind of, they were runny. But not sure if that was a Mexico heat thing or they didn’t prepare enough in advance. At Desire they were done right. And we got rolling papers at Desire successfully via the butler. Didn’t try at TTR. He offered to save chairs the first two times but we declined. This time everything was going wrong with him so we said ok, but then he was no where to be found in the morning. The poop guy made room for us with new chairs on the end near the stairs. Asked for grilled shrimp to be sent one night. Said he needed to check w restaurant. Said they could do it. But then they never came. Said he would help us with setting up a penthouse party. Wanted to come at 6 for a 9 pm party. We rushed back to the room and he and the people to set up the bar didn’t show. Called at 7 and they said oh they changed the plan to setting up at 9 right at the start of the party. Yeah thinking about all the misses has me frustrated again. Why did it have to be so difficult?
@marshe - are you saying that the butlers provide different services to members then they do to non-member tower guests?
Yes of course members have different entitlements...which is where the confusion creeps in. Members have spelled out contracts and SWAG features and obviously some have addendums added on their contract. To constantly run up-stairs to complain to Premier about an undelivered entitlement, only to waste time and ultimately have someone direct the butler to take care of it after you have previously informed the butler to take care of it and/or verify that your claim is legit and everything stalls or doesn't happen, is very frustrating. And is wasting your relaxaion time. And even then the Butler may be delinquent I delivering said service or item just out of spite (one butler since fired comes to mind) But that same butler has been tending to tower guests all the while, during the dispute or failure or refusal to address a members need. .... is a problem! Members should not have to formally complain upstairs to get what is written in their contracts and that Damian used to already know and already addressed before your arrival. Damian And Norma would have everything taken care of before you got your bracelet. The butlers today walk you to your room like a bell boy and ask if you need anything. If you do....it'seems 50/50 if you ever receive it. Simple things like a remote for the TV....or a repair to the room that they have just opened for you. Man!! Damian treated all of us like we were staying at The Four Seasons with a rolodex card on each of us, stored in his head about our needs and requests. The next time you checked in, he would continue to expand his memory card about all members. Guy was amazing. Told premier for years that Damian was Gold and Norma. They have dozens of people to do the work those 2 did alone, and the service is in general pathetic These butlers now generally only care about tips. And I think tower guests are more likely to tip than a contracted member. Silo streamline the butlers, for members and tower and it would improve
