There are a lot of people who work at hotels in our town who get no recognition, but who perform valuable and interesting jobs. For a change of pace I thought I'd tell you about one such person in my column today.
If they ever rewrite the Oxford Dictionary, don't be surprised if you find the same two words to define passion and personality -- Valentino Crespo. This 50-year-old dynamo, who looks 10 years younger and has the energy of a 20-year-old, is Director of Butler Services at Caesars Palace, a position he has well earned since learning the art of serving at a very young age from his father in Puerto Rico.
"At age 10," says Valentino, "I had it in my blood. My father was a great server and my mother taught me how to cook a variety of dishes, including Japanese and Chinese, and how to set a table properly. And both of them taught me about service and told the most wonderful stories. I was enchanted." Today, Valentino oversees a staff of 30 who are responsible for the 70 elegant suites that Caesars offers to its high rollers and celebrities.
It is a demanding job, one that consumes 14 to 16 hours a day, often seven days a week.
But Valentino wouldn't have it any other way.
"I love my job and people. It brings great joy to me." He has been at it a very long time. "I got married when I was 16 and began working, making money. I went to school to study as a server and I worked in the worst and best places so I could see the difference between good and bad service. I learned about wine from the best sommeliers and spent six months traveling to learn things like how to best shine shoes, how to iron a shirt properly, how to cook tableside, everything that I could to make me better at my job."
But it is more than training that makes a good server, he says. "It's dedication, a love for what you do, a passion." And Valentino has all three in spades. When he left Puerto Rico, his first stop was Miami, then across the country to California where he worked at the top hotels from San Diego to Beverly Hills. But the real Hollywood, for Valentino, was Las Vegas. It had the glamour, the glitz, and the kind of properties and people that were a perfect fit for his unique services. Moving here in the early '90s, he landed a position at the Rio.
"To be successful as a butler, you need the backing of the hotel. They can't just give lip service to it. I wanted to prove that the service I provided was a viable, important service for its guests." He began by working almost 24 hours a day, for no extra money, to prove his worth. Valentino's name was soon being bandied about town amongst the better hotels and he was approached by Caesars Palace. "I had brought a new style of butler service to Las Vegas and this was appealing to them. I turned them down at first because I was very happy at the Rio and with Harrah's, who owned it."
But Caesars was not giving up and made Valentino an offer he couldn't refuse. "They were going to put me in charge of butler service and give me a three-year contract, which was unheard of for this position. So I made the move here in 2001 and I recently renewed my contract for another three years." Despite this prestigious position, Valentino never stops trying to improve himself, to learn new things. Knowledge, he says, builds confidence, something he doesn't lack. His passion and enthusiasm are unbridled.
"Guests can forgive you for a lot, but not if they see that you don't care about what you do. All of what I do comes from the heart. I love what I do and people see that. And I try to get my staff to convey that same message. There is a huge responsibility for butlers and especially the head butler, who has to make sure his staff operates at the highest standard. So it is of utmost important that you hire and train the best people. You can have the most beautiful, elegant property in the world, but if you don't have good people in all positions, it doesn't mean a thing. It's very difficult to hire that caliber of butler that I look for. First they need the experience. Then they have to learn my system."
Following that, it's making sure everyone knows how to do those things expected of a butler -- unpacking and steam cleaning the clothing before putting them away, cooking (including tableside), setting a table, shining shoes, making beds and mixing drinks, to name a few of their responsibilities.
When it comes to drinks, Valentino says, "You also have to know the difference between brandy and armagnac, between port and sherry. You also have to know the culture of each nationality so that you don't make a faux pas that could prove embarrassing or insulting. You'd be surprised at how much someone appreciates you knowing a few phrases in their language. And what's so important is to know where to get things 24 hours a day if requested."
As an example, Valentino once had a guest call him at 3:30 in the morning, telling him that he wanted to take a bath in goat's milk. "I had to go to a special store and buy gallons of goat milk. Then when I get it ready for him, he says it's not warm enough. I said, 'Okay, I'll get my mother-in-law to sit in there for a while to heat it up.' Fortunately, he thought that was very funny and laughed."
Another funny story he tells is the time a guest called from the bathroom, telling Valentino he needed to see him immediately as he was having trouble making a phone call. When Valentino arrived, the man was on the john doing his business. "He wanted me to make this call for him, so here I am, holding my nose and trying to talk to the hotel operator in a voice that sounded like Donald Duck. She kept asking me, 'Valentino, what's wrong with your voice? Why do you sound so funny'?"
Not all memorable moments are amusing, however. Valentino says he had one guest spit in his face and another throw a telephone at him. He dismisses it by saying, "You have to realize that some of these people have lost millions at the tables and are not very happy and you happen to be there for them to vent their anger. However, you have to learn to be able to stay calm and accept any type of behavior, unless someone's trying to kill you," he says laughing. "That's what makes a good butler. In cases like these, you try to relax the guest, try to take their mind off the loss."
But for every guest like that, there are literally thousands that praise Valentino and his staff. One was Oprah, who was so taken with Valentino she wanted to hire him as her personal butler. High praise indeed. Many are also very generous with tips and gifts, none of which Valentino accepts. "I say, 'Give it to my staff.' " Pretty generous, considering some tips have been as much as $25,000.
"A good butler will get people who have never met them before instantly like them. You can do this with a great personality and showing them how good you are at your job, whether it be cooking or shining shoes. Once you do that, and you do your job properly, you know they are going to have a great experience and that's what I want them to have during their stay at Caesars Palace."
Despite his long hours, he says he makes sure he spends time with his family, his wife of 34 years and his four children, two of whom are following in dad's footsteps. "You always have to make time for your family. My wife has been wonderful over the years, because she understands my love for my job and what that job entails."
He will soon be coming out with a book that has taken him four years to write. "Everyone was always after me to write a book, because of my experiences, so I finally started working on it a little more than four years ago. I'm just taking it slowly."
Good luck and I'll see you on the Strip. And don't forget to check out www.valleyblogs.com.
If you have a question or a Las Vegas experience you would like to share with my readers, please e-mail me at lennylv@cox.net. Please include your full name and the city or town where you live.
