ADRIAN Johnson cannot wait to be a personal butler. He sees it as a natural progression in a tourism career already highlighted by excellent service. For the last three years he’s been a bartender at The Cliff Hotel in Negril’s West End.
“I’ve always provided good service; I just want to move to this high-end luxury service. I have a passion for it, you see,” Johnson tells the Jamaica Observer’s LetsTravelCaribbean.com.
He’s seated, wearing spotless white gloves, in one of the super-comfortable sofas in The Cliff’s posh Villa Four. Before being invited to sit for the interview, Johnson had kept an eye on the door, opening it to welcome each person that entered the luxurious villa. He was attentive to guests, offering and presenting bottled water that was well needed on a swelteringly hot day. He had made polite conversation during the walk from the lobby to the villa, striking just the right balance between warmth and professionalism.
The 42-year-old believes he’s finally found his niche in the tourism industry.
“This is my career. It’s a profession. And I do this with honour and love,” he says of being a butler.
He’s one of The Cliff’s 32 employees who earlier this month did a two-week course in butler training, provided by experts from Mastering Service Excellence. Johnson was among the 12 selected at the end.
Adrian Johnson opens the door to welcome guests to The Cliff Hotel’s well-appointed Villa 4. Personal butler in training Sophia Spence prepares a bottle of champagne for guests.
The course has built on a solid foundation of years of pride he takes in his work – he has the awards to prove it. In 2014 and 2015 he took home silver medals for Jamaica at the annual Taste of the Caribbean contest held in Miami. Also in those years he was named Jamaica’s bartender of the year. Then in 2019 he was among the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards nominees for bartender of the year. So far, his skills as a bartender have earned him more than 15 medals, certificates and trophies.
Now he intends to leave an even bigger mark in his new role as a personal butler.
“My idea of a butler is just [to] go above and beyond to please your customer,” he says. “Make sure that your customer is happy. The reward can be monetary but for me, it’s when you have guests leaving and they say, ‘Thank you, Adrian. You have made my stay and I can’t wait to see you next year.’ Man, such sweet words!”
To perform at his best he will rely on the skills learned during the training course. The biggest lesson learned, he said, was the importance of discipline.
“The next tier of luxury service has a lot to do with discipline. You have to be a disciplined individual. You have to learn how to hold your composure through whatever it is. You have the millennials now that are making [a lot of money] and they want this kind of service. I am here to provide for that demand,” Johnson said. “I was born ready!”
