Hospitality from the heart

MANILA, Philippines — Heads of state, government officials and business leaders from all over the world are once again in Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings that officially start tomorrow. Filipino hospitality will be on full display as all these VIPs must be taken care of. The hotels where they will be billeted are surely pulling out all the stops for their very important guests.

At the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, security and service are top priorities when VIPs come to stay. But for one particular staff member, every guest he attends to is a VVIP -- Very Very Important Person.

“We are encouraged to serve guests from the heart, to create emotion through service,” says Robert Viana on Sofitel Manila’s culture of service, which guides his manner of service as head butler to the hotel’s VIP guests.

Robert has been a butler at the hotel for 20 years, though he finished a degree in Nursing. “During our time, before the release of the board exam, it took 10 months before you see the result,” he says by way of explaining why he took on work as a casual waiter with Sofitel after graduating from college.

“I still had two sisters studying and our family’s canteen business was going down already,” he adds. A factory nearby had closed shop and the family canteen lost a significant amount of business. “I had to help my parents with tuition for my two sisters. I had to work two jobs – nurse in the morning and then a casual waiter at the banquet in the evening.”

After doing this for four years, the director of rooms at Sofitel asked if Robert would be interested in applying for the butler position and he thought, “Why not?” Robert admits, “I didn’t know anything about it,” but he was willing to undergo rigorous training.

Robert worked in the executive lounge for ten years learning the ropes until he was ready to serve the hotel’s most important guests. “I’m thankful to Sofitel because they trained me,” he says.

His background in nursing has come in handy in a skill he calls objective observation. “Just by looking at the guests, I can anticipate their needs.”

Aside from learning on the job, Robert was also sent to butler skills training seminars under renowned trainers Josephine Ive and Wayne Fitzharris where he learned everything from food service, checking the guests in, packing and unpacking their luggage and more.

However, what cannot be trained is one’s passion for service – something that sets Robert apart and makes him truly outstanding at his job. “Our main job as a butler is to take care of the guests’ needs before they arrive, during their stay and when the leave the hotel,” he says. His personal form of service has him emailing the hotel guests before they arrive to ask their preferences. When they arrive, everything is in place as requested.

“During their stay, we monitor them, we check on them. If they need anything, we’re the one who will be called,” Robert says on his duties as a butler.

Indeed, the VIP guests don’t hesitate to call. One guest did not want to see any bit of sunlight in her room, so Robert boarded up the windows. “Sometimes they will ask for something that’s not available in the hotel,” he says. Robert recalls one guest who badly wanted to smoke a shisha past midnight. Robert got a colleague to scour the area for one that they could borrow.

Another guest asked for four boxes of the famed Philippine mangoes. Robert and his team went out and bought the four boxes themselves and even wrapped each mango individually.

While having dinner, another guest asked Robert about a famous Filipino dish starting with the letter A. “Adobo,” Robert guessed. He immediately called the hotel’s chef to gather ingredients and come up to the suite to cook an authentic Filipino adobo. The guest even had her personal chef observe and take notes so that they could recreate the dish when they got back home.

Being at the beck and call of guests with discerning – and demanding – tastes can be challenging. Robert has to adjust his body clock to the guests – if they wake up early, so should he. If they party late, he stays up until they’re ready for bed.

Another time, as he was helping a guest pack his things after a trip, they realized that everything he bought on his shopping expeditions would not fit into his suitcase. The guest requested Robert to buy him a new suitcase, but not just any suitcase – an original Rimowa. It was 9 in the evening and Robert called the nearest Rimowa store saying “Don’t close, wait for me!”

After successfully accomplishing his mission, Robert got back to the hotel with the new luggage. The happy VIP then asked him, “Can you buy another one?”

The time Robert spends in service of VIP guests sometimes means sacrificing his time with family.

Robert was called in to work at 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day when a VIP couple arrived, celebrating their wedding anniversary. Every day that they were in the country, they asked Robert to take them somewhere new. So, he toured them around Manila, Corregidor, Villa Escudero, Taal and Tagaytay, much to the couple’s delight.

Another VIP guest checked in for 28 days and requested only one butler for her whole stay – the three butlers on the staff could not take shifts. Robert lived in the hotel for those 28 days. “I didn’t see my wife and daughter. I felt like I was abroad,” he recalls. And that was how he motivated himself: “Think that you’re in another country and you’re doing it for your family and Sofitel.”

Despite the challenges, Robert remains passionate about his job. He gets to know dignitaries, royalty and celebrities – people most of us only see on television. “I don’t have to pay thousands of pesos for a concert to see them in person,” Robert jokes. He doesn’t get to take any selfies, though – unless he’s caught photobombing a celebrity’s Snapchat post!

“I wish I could have a picture with them. It’s something that I could show my daughter,” he says.

Robert may not have photos to show, but he will definitely have the hearts of the VIPs that he serves – some who even ask for him by name whenever they return to the hotel.

Robert recalls one particular former dignitary who really appreciated his service. Upon checking out, the general manager walked him to his car. “He was looking around, then the GM called me,” says Robert. “I thought he had left something in the suite. I said, ‘Sir, did you forget anything in the room? I will run back. What is it?’ He said, ‘No, I am looking for you. I have to hug you and thank you for everything, my friend.’”

The next time the head of state returned to Sofitel, the first thing he asked for was his butler – his friend – Robert. “Those are stories that I always tell my daughter,” says Robert with obvious, and justifiable,  pride.

With all the VIP guests that he has served, there are two on Robert’s dream list that he says would really leave him starstruck. “I already served one of them,” he says, though he can’t divulge who it is. “The other one I already know will not stay here – the pope.” He did almost had the chance to serve Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to the country, but it did not push through because of security clearances.

“Many people ask me, ‘How come you’re still a butler?’” says Robert, looking back on the past 20 years. “I’m not after a higher post. Of course my family will be happy to see me as a manager, but for me, this is my mission. I know Sofitel trusts me with this.”

In fact, in everything he does, he keeps that in mind. “When you work, it’s not just for yourself. You are carrying the name of Sofitel, not just your own name,” he often tells younger hotel staff. “Create emotion through service. Serve from the heart.”