Best Travel Experience Ever, Is Sandals Butler Service Worth it?

Just ask anyone that has had Personal Butler Service at Sandals? Once you have experienced vacation with a butler, its really hard to imagine NOT having a butler on vacation. It's where luxury meets exceptional hospitality! Many are interested, but may be a little skeptical at first. Some say "I don't need a butler? I'm not high maintenance". While this is true, none of us really NEED a butler, but if there is any way I can help my clients experience the butler service, I am so happy. I too was apprehensive at first about having a butler and then once we made the decision choose the suite with butler service, I was almost embarrassed to let Nicola (our first butler) do things for me. Then I learned what an honor it is for the staff to become a Butler. They sincerely LOVE their jobs and will do everything in their power to make your stay as special and as perfect as possible.

When clients contact me about planning their trip, I try to share my experiences with a butler to see if that is something they would enjoy. We determine what they are comfortable spending and if there is any way the budget will allow a butler, I highly recommend it. Ten years ago we were planning our first visit to Sandals and we had dreamed of visiting St. Lucia for quite a while. However, after looking at what options fit our budget, we opted to visit Jamaica with a butler as opposed to St. Lucia without a butler. As much as I hated not seeing St. Lucia ten years ago, I still think its the best decision we ever made, never before or since then have I felt so pampered --It's not something most of us experience too many times (until we return to Sandals). While the Sandals website provides a short list of the butler perks, it is only a starting point, it only scratches the surface. I can never fully explain how awesome the butler service can be, because they take the que from the client. Their goal is to anticipate your every need and then EXCEED it. As a Sandals specialist, it makes my job SOOOO much easier because I feel relieved once my clients are in the hands of the butler, I know everything will be just perfect. Almost every client that has selected a suite with personal butler service comes back from vacation bragging that "their butler was the best ever". In fact I typically hear more about the butler than the excursions. I have also noticed that clients that experienced butler service usually have their friends calling me without days of their return. I think they really connect with the local hospitality through the butlers, and island people have such beautiful souls filled with gratitude and service.

Curious about how to get the most value of butler service at Sandals? Here are a few important things . . .

Work with a travel professional. Your travel professional will communicate your preferences the butler prior to your arrival. When you arrive, your travel professional will already have double checked that your suite is confirmed and your butler will have already double checked that it is prepared per your preferences: Club Sandals Lounge keys, His and Hers plush robes with bed slippers, 24 hour room service, In-suite bar stocked daily with Mondavi wines, spirits, sodas, juices, and water, fine Egyptian cotton linens and pillow menu including feather down pillows, coffeemaker with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and free wifi in room.

The butler knows your expected time of arrival and will be waiting for you in the lobby with lemongrass-scented hand towels to refresh you from your flight. Listed below are just a few of the things he enhances your arrival:

Welcome cocktails and culinary treats
Escorts you to your suite for check-in in the privacy of your suite and coordinates your luggage handling
Provides you with resort and room orientation
Reviews your personal preferences communicated through your travel professional
Supplies a cell phone to reach him during your stay
Offers to unpack your luggage
Press your first night's clothes complimentary

During Your Stay

Butler makes your dinner reservations, cabana rentals, spa treatments and any other activities you have added to your stay.
Reserves your chair at the beach or pool and serves your favorite drinks while you relax
Serves your lunch at the beach or pool
Confirms your room is serviced while you are away and ensures it is kept in perfect order
Ensures your table is arranged at the restaurants of your choice and escorts you to your table with preferential seating, skipping all lines
Per your request, arranges a perfect romantic dinner for two in the privacy of your suite or patio. They can order from any resort restaurant menu for dining in-suite.
Shine/clean shoes for dinner
Tend to your wardrobe
Collect and return all laundry
Leaves amenities in your room between meals (per the preferences provided by your travel professional or things he hears you mention during your stay)
Ensures your bed is turned down and that you have anything you need for the night.

Before your Departure

Provides you with check out details
Offers to pack for your departure
Ensures your bags are brought to the departure area
Escorts you to the butler lounge to process check out
Escorts you to your transportation and bids you farewell (i promise you will want to take them home with you, I know I did)

A few other tips your Sandals specialist can help you decide:

For the same price as an entry level butler suite at one resort, you can stay in one of the top butler suite at another
The higher the category of room, the bigger the room and better the view (usually)
Some rooms have a private plunge pool or tranquility outdoor tub

Loosen Up:

They will make it abundantly clear that they are at your beck and call, but who can wrap their head around that, right? Remember, this is his job and you are depriving him of what he loves to do. Making the most of your butler experience may include asking him for your favorite drink while you are on the beach, or saving your chair at beach or pool or reserving your table at your favorite restaurant, etc. The more you allow him to get to know you and learn about him and his life on the island, the more you will enjoy your stay. Imagine your surprise when you return from dinner to find this? He mentioned that he heard you mention your feet hurt.
What to Expect?

Ask your travel professional what to expect. Think about how much you hate to pack and unpack, take advantage of his offer. I usually recommend that you unpack a few personal items and leave the rest for him to unpack while you are exploring the resort. Or another idea would be to pack your personal items in a carry on which you unpack and ask the butler to unpack the other bags when they arrive. Here's a little hint, my butler unpacked and packed WAY better than I did.

Remember, the only way they know what you want is if you speak up.

Nothing makes you feel more special than a personal note on your pillow from your butlers reminding you "Love is All You Need".

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True VIP Travel Experience is . . . anything you want is at the press of a button.

It's OK to so No. Butler service is not for everyone and that is okay. For those that are not comfortable with the idea, the concierge service at Club Sandals may be the right fit for you. Club Sandals is a quiet lounge offering snacks and drinks and free wifi, tvs and even kindles to borrow.

As you know Sandals has a strict no tipping rule. However, butlers and spa attendants are the only Sandals employees that are able to accept tips from guests. If your butler does an outstanding job enhancing your stay, consider leaving them a tip to show your gratitude. If you aren't sure how to tip them, ask your travel professional.

So is butler service worth every penny? For me it is, but you are the only one that can decide for yourself. The one thing I tell my clients is if you aren't afraid to use your butler service, it is worth every single penny and much, much more!! In my very humble opinion, once you try the butler service, its almost impossible to go back!

Email me tammy@viptravelexperience.com, I would love to help you plan the vacation of a lifetime? Together we can create the best vacation experience for YOU. It's a big world out there -- we hope you EXPERIENCE it.

Best Travel Experience Ever, Is Sandals Butler Service Worth it?

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