AllieGatorAde
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2024
- Messages
- 6
I agree about the contracted valet companies, they’re the worst! I’m guessing the use of them varies by city a lot since Boston’s got contractors. In SF when my husband worked at the Fairmont it was contracted - the valets are unionized there and it makes it a pain for the hotels to have their own department. They constantly had issues with the company. We’re in Phoenix now and all the 4-5* have a valet department of their own. But restaurants are all contractors here and my husband insists we Uber instead of valeting lol. So people know: if the valet had a generic uniform they’re probably an outside company (like white shirt/black bow tie); if they have something more like a Tower of Terror bellhop they’re hotel employees & the hotel definitely wants to hear about any issues you have so they can fix them!Unfortunately most places contract out valet, it's cheaper, especially liability wise. Unfortunately there is little accountability, unless you have a camera inside your car actually recording the valet, not much will happen. I was also a Director of Rooms at a 4.5 star hotel in a major city (got out 10 years ago!) and there was little they valet company would do. They might transfer a valet to a different location, but that's about it. It was usually the hotel who would take care of the guest. And we couldn't really terminate the contract as there really weren't any other companies in the area. I looked into it. We (the hotel) did not want the liability of having the valets as our employees.