Butler on a budget: travellers can live a life of luxury without breaking the bank
A unique butler service for backpackers has launched, allowing those travelling on a budget to be able to enjoy luxuries normally reserved for the rich and famous.
Guests staying at Edinburgh’s Art Roch Hostel - which is being dubbed Scotland’s first ‘poshtel’ - will be offered the chance to be pampered and preened without breaking the bank.
Travellers can ditch their rucksacks and tents and be waited on hand and foot instead, by a hunky 6ft 1in servant – who also happens to be a male model – who offers services such as breakfast in bed and shoe-shining.
They will even get the chance to pick whether their butler wears the traditional upstairs, downstairs-style outfit, or a t-shirt and kilt combo, to carry out his duties.
Guests staying in the hostel’s honeymoon suite and executive, which cost from just £50 a night, will get the chance to call on the services of butler Sebastian Gainsburgh if they take a fancy to the idea of being waited on hand and foot.
Sebastian - who was trained by professional butler who has served in large hotels in both Britain and the USA - will unpack bags, turn down bedclothes and even act as a tour guide for discerning guests, to make their stay memorable.
“Butlering might have disappeared from even some of the best hotels but people really appreciate the personal touch,” he explained. “It’s all about working with people which I really enjoy. I consider myself smooth rather than stuffy. You can still have a lot of fun even when you’re wearing this uniform.”
Manuela Canchini, VisitScotland’s regional director, added: “The quirky idea of providing a butler service in a hostel is a perfect example of how a visit to Edinburgh and Scotland can have a unique and surprising element, which is the focus of our latest domestic campaign 'urprise Yourself'."
Find out more about the Art Roch Hostel from the website www.artrochhostel.com
