Quietly taking care of business

Anita Williams has distinguished herself as one of the premier butlers at the Emirates Palace, where discretion is the last word in serving guests.

Anita Williams has been a butler at Emirates Palace for over four years.

Most women would boast uncontrollably about the time they went on a shopping trip with Christina Aguilera, unpacked Tony Blair's personal belongings or looked after Justin Timberlake for a few days.

For Anita Williams, a butler at the Emirates Palace, it's all in a day's work. Discretion is fundamental to the Abu Dhabi landmark hotel's treatment of all its guests, high-profile or otherwise. Quiet, demure and delicately built, Ms Williams is one of Emirates Palace's most prized butlers. She joined the staff four years ago as part of the pre-opening team from Bangalore, where she was born and raised.

For the previous five years, she had worked there for another Kempinski hotel, the Leela Palace. She jumped at the opportunity to work at the high-profile luxury hotel project in the Gulf. "Of course, my family miss me but they are very proud of me and my job," she says. Before coming to the Emirates she had never left India, where she was raised by an aunt after her mother passed away when she was a young child.

"I began my career in India as a housekeeping room attendant," she says. Ms Williams joined the Leela Palace through a chance meeting with that hotel's executive housekeeper at the tailoring shop where she was working. The executive had come in to select staff uniforms ahead of the hotel's opening and offered to train Ms Williams to work there. Right away, she realised she most enjoyed the one-on-one experiences. "When I started to work it was very interesting, especially the guest contact," she says.

After a year, she was promoted and put in charge of room linen and uniforms, and later became housekeeping supervisor. After Ms Williams had worked at the Leela for five years, staff were given the opportunity to transfer to the new US$3 billion (Dh11.01bn) Emirates Palace. "I just attended the interview and they gave first priority to people who had worked in the Leela Palace." The Emirates Palace prides itself on its extremely high service standards. Its butlers are a key part of this, offering even more of the personal service its guests expect.

The opulent hotel has even dedicated "information technology" butlers, who will help guests with any computer-related problems, available around the clock, seven days a week. In general, Palace butlers are expected to organise restaurant and car bookings, unpack suitcases and ensure that all the guest's personal preferences are met during their stay. The hotel has more than 1,800 staff members, including about 60 full-time butlers.

The hotel also offers what it calls the world's most expensive tailor-made suite holiday, at a cost of $1 million, including first-class return flights for two guests, an all inclusive week's stay at Emirates Palace, day trips in a private jet to Iran, the Dead Sea in Jordan and Bahrain, as well as a chauffeur-driven luxury car at the guests' disposal. Every Palace guest is entitled to their own personal butler on request. The hotel has attracted a number of political and celebrity figures including the Dalai Lama, George Bush Jr and Sr, Sir Elton John and Bon Jovi. Since the hotel hosts several big-name concerts each year, the performers invariably are guests as well.

"Anita is our number one butler in terms of special stars and guests," says Janet Abrahams, the executive director of sales and marketing. Ms Williams is frequently assigned a lot of the "difficult" guests, due to her patient nature, Ms Abrahams adds. "She doesn't lose her temper and she's too sweet for anyone to get angry with her." Ms Williams says some guests are far more demanding than others and a number of them will provide a long list of very specific preferences for their stay, such as the fragrance of air freshener they would like used in the room, the colour of flowers they want, favourite fruits to have on hand, or an exact room temperature.

"That is where we can impress the guests, preparing the guest's room with all his preferences" and making sure all of their needs are met. Other guests are different. Ms Williams has been the hotel's personal butler to Tony Blair during his three stays on business trips in his capacity as Middle East envoy. "He's a very humble person," she says. "If the staff did not see him, he would always say 'hello' first."

She adds Mr Blair was one of the less demanding guests. "He is very quiet." Ms Williams has also looked after Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state to former US president George W Bush, and Queen Rania of Jordan. The role of personal butler is certainly not without its perks, one of which is an impressive collection of autographed photos of celebrity guests, and other mementos. Justin Timberlake presented her with one of his signature black Trilby hats he had worn on stage. "He was one of the first celebrities I looked after," she says. "It was a privilege. I was also looking after all his costumes which were going to be used for the show as well."

Shakira, the Colombian singer, gave Ms Williams the pearl necklace she had worn during her concert at Emirates Palace on New Year's Eve. "She was very nice. I cannot forget the concert because it was on my birthday." Ms Williams often accompanies guests who are not familiar with the area on days out. She says that the day after Aguilera's concert in Abu Dhabi in October last year, she went with the singer and her son to the Corniche beach, park and the Marina Mall.

"They don't want everyone entering their room," Ms Williams says. "They want to get to know one person, and that makes it easier for them." Since Palace butlers are on call 24 hours a day, Ms Williams often stays in the room next door to guests to be able to respond to their requests promptly. Even in her free time, Ms Williams still loves to serve others, and says that her favourite pastime is cooking and inviting friends over for dinner.

For now in her career, Ms Williams says she has no plans to do anything else. "I'm still loving my work here and being with the other butlers," she says. "At Emirates Palace there is a lot of recognition. At the moment there is no plan for me. I'm very comfortable here. "Being a butler is very prestigious and not all hotels provide the real butler service. I'm really proud of my job." [e-mail]