The Kennedys greeting service personnel at 'The Butler'
The expert, with More than 20 years of experience in this branch, he is also founder of the **British Butlers Guild**. This organization, dedicated to promoting the ideals of traditional english butler and with staff from the same Buckingham Palace, graduate every year many of the best butlers based on the experiences and learning of Seddon-Holland himself.
The Englishman, who began his career after serving in the British Army , started in the lowest position of a mansion in rural England , and after eight years of hard work, he was promoted to head steward . Since then, Anthony has worked for the most influential people in the world in the United States, in Middle Eastern countries and in Russia, and now it has arrived in Palma de Mallorca with the aim of train the members of the new luxury hotel IBEROSTAR Grand Hotel Portals Nous.
Anthony Seddon-Holland, genius and figure in the world of stewardship
His knowledge, acquired in part thanks to a family of three generations of professional butlers , have even been transferred to the staff of the best casinos in Las Vegas. "My working life has been very complete. : I have lived and worked all over the world . Since I started the British Butlers Guild in 2007, what has fascinated me most is having formed butlers of several of the best hotels on the planet , including the Ritz and the London Claridge. We were also asked to train the regional directors of the hotels owned by the Chinese Government; are the only foreign company that has offered its services to the Ministry of Finance of this republic ", he explains proudly.
And it turns out that, for the world of the most luxurious stewardship, you must be English or, at a minimum, you must have been educated in Great Britain , because this is the country with greatest tradition in the profession. Nevertheless, the first butlers were born in ancient greece , where they were the person in charge of serving alcoholic beverages -especially wine-. The position evolved, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries, when the mayordomo he went from being just another servant to becoming the most important service figure in an aristocratic household.
After World War II, however, changing societal attitudes and labor shortages led to the demise of stewardship . It has been for the last thirty years, and especially during the last decade, when the figure has resurfaced thanks to the "new rich" of emerging countries. In fact, The International Butler Academy collects an interesting fact: The International Guild of Professional Butlers estimates that, today, there are about a million professional butlers worldwide , and is also responsible for breaking down myths.
Wouldn't you ever imagine a butler working here? Well they will!
Thus, consider that British butlers are most famous for television and literary iconography, and suggest that it was the French who invented the concept, while the americans created the modern butler , the one we know today -closer, by the way, personal assistant who answers emails than from the immaculate servant in uniform and white gloves.
The school also explains that most butlers work in the United States and the Middle East , and hence they have begun to graduate as well women for the first time in history , because in Islamic culture a man cannot have that kind of contact with them. Likewise, in places as emblematic as Buckingham Palace they began to recruit women in 2004.
In its long numbering of data, which does not include the salary of this guild -it is said that around $100,000 a year -, it is also mentioned that the most successful professionals are the Swiss and that the best service is in the far east . oh! And they consider that the best school in the world is in the Netherlands , but of course... that's where yours is!
The service staff of 'Downtown Abbey' have managed to bring English butlers back into fashion
However, despite this string, Seddon-Holland remains firm: " The formation of the traditional British butler instils the greatest commitment to the service of highest standing , devotion to duty, discretion and honesty ", he details. And in fact, it is this last characteristic that more highlights in them when we ask him to describe the most important value that this service member must possess.
Otherwise, his role is not too similar to that of the fiction n, according to the Dutch school. "The butler in real life tries to be discreet and not intrusive, friendly but not familiar, elegant and precise in the execution of duty. The fictional butler, however, is usually exuberant and has become a traditional artifact of fiction. In works of little artistic value and melodramas, these characters provide comic relief with wry commentary or providing clues about the perpetrators of the crimes, and are often portrayed as beings much more intelligent than their superiors ", they illustrate.
Nevertheless, some fictional characters can give us an approximation n quite accurate of the role of a butler, like the one played by **Alan Bates in Gosford Park**, because, according to The International Butler Academy, he was trained in detail by Arthur Inch, a royal butler with great experience. The same thing happens with **Anthony Hopkins' character in The Remains of the Day**
If you're looking for a believable butler, wear 'Gosford Park'
But going back to the characteristics of the perfect butler: there are others that are also very important, we would say basic, such as know how to anticipate the wishes of the client. But how can that be achieved? the length of stay in a hotel ?: "The butlers of the IBEROSTAR Grand Hotel Portals Nous will go through rigorous training that will teach them how to use every sense in your body and every cell in your brain to gather information about guests . The key to achieving a good stewardship service is be proactive , not reactive, as happens in other services", explains the professional.
Without a doubt, such a quality will be necessary to carry out everything that is expected of them. "The butlers of the IBEROSTAR will be the "one stop shop" for customers , that they will be able to trust these experts to organize and coordinate any aspect of services offered during the stay: pick up at the airport, check in, unpacking luggage , the ordering of clothes, room service, the choice of restaurants, the reservation of excursions... Even preparing the bath , turning down the bed before going to sleep and everything related to cleaning and caring for clothes. Butlers will be available to deal with any requirement or request of the guest ", specifies Anthony. Of course, this also includes things as "mundane" as getting your laptop to connect to Wi-Fi: a butler is a kind of super man (or woman): he has to know how to handle literally everything.
The perfect butler is as classic as Anthony Hopkins in 'The Remains of the Day'...
...And as versatile as the Alfred from the last installments of 'Batman'