You can’t blame the guests if they greet Nilkanti Devlekar with a look of surprise — although a pleasant one — when she walks into a room bearing a tray or pushing a cart of food. They are, after all, only used to seeing male butlers doing the rounds in five-star hotels.

And Nilkanti who works at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai understands that. She points out, “Assumptions and perceptions will precede you in every job. You can’t let that affect you. But on the other hand, female guests are delighted to have us around. They’re probably more comfortable with the idea of other women serving them.”
Receiving funny or unusual requests, expectedly, is a part of the job she signed up for. Nilkanti recalls, “Once a guest arrived at the hotel and brought 40 bags of luggage with her. I realised that she needs a large area to unpack her bags as she wanted a dressing area in her suite. I got the interconnecting room vacant for her and turned that area into a dressing room. We placed banquet tables for her sunglasses, footwear, hair accessories, jewellery, etc. And it took me one full day to unpack the luggage which she brought for her stay at the hotel!”
The butler service always added a wow factor to the hotel, says Mehrnavaz Avari, F&B manager of The Taj Mahal Palace. She tells us that the butler programme started in the year 2000, and the female butler services were initiated in 2006. “A lot of women during the time were travelling across the globe. Hence, it made sense to include female butlers in the programme,” she says. The butler service was restricted to the club floor, though today it has been extended to all guests.
She tells us that the fact that it is a male-dominated industry does not deter women from entering it. “We are given the same duties and responsibilities as the men,” explains Nilkanti. Echoes Mehrnavaz, “The lady guests love my female butlers. Women naturally tend to be more caring, and hence it is easier for them to develop a rapport. Their ability to strike a conversation encourages the guests to feel secure.”
Being a woman doesn’t cut them any slack, in fact, it is hardly an excuse to be treated any differently, believes Mehrnavaz. “We needed women to have the same core competencies that would qualify a male butler to work with us. We need them to be naturally inclined towards customer satisfaction. We look for women who can handle the same amount of stress, since it does involve a lot of hardcore jobs, for example, pushing the trays. Once these issues are clarified, it is never any problem.”
A woman’s soft skills give them additional points. “We currently have four female butlers who only serve women. Being caring and hospitable is something that comes naturally to women. Personally, even I would prefer a lady butler serving me instead of a man.” Continues Mehrnavaz, “It is a lot about being a companion or a guide to women. If a lady guest is planning to buy, say a sari, it is about giving additional inputs about where she’d find the best in town. It is about the little tidbits that I don’t think men can ever compete with!”
The Oberoi at Mumbai is among the other hotels that have lady butler services. The female butlers are here to stay, clearly.