Ah, it's just like Upstairs, Downstairs! While Todd English is holding court with his new food hall down in the basement, the men in white gloves upstairs at The Plaza are getting ready to give you the business. That is, the hotel has just introduced its new Business Butler Package.

In a world of Foursquare and Twitter, and hotel technology that means we don't even have to talk to anyone if we don't want to, the idea of a butler is so quaint, isn't it? But, hell, if a man in a frock coat wants to run us a bath, plump our pillows and give our Louboutins a polish, we're not going to argue.

]]> MsRebecca 2010-06-23T09:55:56-05:00 40.7642878 -73.973007 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/5/7/163134/2015

You think this picnic looks posh? You aint seen nothing yet

How often have you been lugging round various bags containing food, shopping and whatnot, and wished that you were rich/celebby enough to have someone to carry it for you?

Well now, for an hour or two, you can do that. The Lanesborough’s new Butler Picnic experience will treat you like a richy for one lunchtime only.

From now until August, you can have a consultation with a butler about what kind of food you want for your picnic, then set it up in Hyde Park, serve it, and deal with the mess after you’ve done your worst. ]]> juliab 2010-05-07T16:31:34-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/7/20/131130/399

We’ve heard of room valets and private butler service at fancy resorts, but this is the first time we’ve heard of a Berry Butler. That is just the position that was created to celebrate “National Berry Month” in July, however, when the Loews Coronado teamed up with Driscoll’s Berries.

Every Friday and Saturday until August 1, the Berry Butler will be at the hotel greeting guests with fresh berries, teaching kids to make fresh smoothies, hosting berry tastings with Loews’ executive chef, Marc Ehrler, and conducting adult cocktail (and kids’ mocktail) classes with the hotel’s mixology team. ]]> EricRosen 2009-07-21T17:00:56-05:00 32.6311220 -117.13395 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/8/12/114410/066

While we are sure golden-boy Michael Phelps is safely ensconced in the Olympic village somewhere, far, far, far away from any distractions that could derail his eight golden medals quest, the International Olympic Committee is kicking it at the Raffles Beijing Hotel.

And they aren't shy about letting you know that either. In fact, there's a press release on this which says that Raffles recruited the best of its employees from around the world to serve at the hotel during the Olympics:

In preparation, Raffles Beijing, which has 100% occupancy during the Olympics, has undergone more than 1,500 hours of Pre-Olympic preparation training since March 2008.