Afternoon tea on a three-tier stand, with a butler waiting at your side

The Salon — Experience

How to Spend Your Time at The Salon

Eleven ways to pass the hours at the Manor

Queen's Butler — Definition

About How to Spend Your Time at The Salon

The experiences of The Salon are the ways in which you may spend your time at the Manor with your butler. The Salon is for women only. Male companions may not enter the Manor, even as an escort.

A day at the salon

Even on a first visit, your butler guides you from the door to your departure

The 120-inch screen lowered in the fireplace room, with a guest watching a film from the sofa

When you book, we ask what you would like from the day

At The Salon of Queen's Butler, beyond the date, time and number of guests, we ask what you have in mind: a quiet rest, tea taken slowly, or a keepsake photograph.

Your butler waits for you inside the entrance

At the appointed hour we open the door and receive you with a bow. After taking your belongings and coat, we lead you to the seat that suits your plans for the day.

Walking through the Manor, you choose where to settle

The dining room, the fireplace room, the study and the bedroom each hold a different kind of quiet.

The day begins with the first cup

Your butler brews the tea and brings the cup to your hand. Whether you wish to talk or to turn the pages alone, your butler judges the right distance.

Combine the eleven experiences as you please

You may savour a single scene in depth, or move through the Manor from tea to the dining table to the theatre.

Inside the house

Within the Manor, six experiences from tea to attentive care

A butler opening the double doors to welcome a guest

The Butler's Welcome

Your butler receives you at the entrance and takes your belongings and coat. For as long as you are in the Manor, your butler remains in the house, attending to the doors, chairs and lights.

A butler carrying the three-tier stand to the table

Afternoon Tea

Your butler brews the tea and brings the three-tier stand. Watch at close quarters as the silver tea service and porcelain are handled, and ask about anything you wish to know as it happens.

A butler attending at a table laid with silver

III

At the Dining Table

At a table laid with silver cutlery, your butler attends to your place. The scene begins as the doors of the dining room open and the chairs are drawn out according to the number of guests.

A woman reading on the sofa in the fireplace room

Relaxation

On the sofa before the fire, in the leather chair of the study, or on the 19th-century French bed. Your butler arranges a rug and the lighting, and judges the distance between the moments you wish to talk and the moments you wish for quiet.

The fireplace and rococo sofa in the fireplace room

The Theatre

In the fireplace room, a 120-inch motorised screen rises quietly from the floor. Your butler dims the lights and brings your drink.

The Butler's Attentive Care

Head care, attention to the shoulders, foot care, reading aloud, and companionship in conversation. We adapt to whether you wish to close your eyes in quiet, to hear a voice, or to be listened to.

Beyond and after dark

Five further experiences, from outings to the hours of the night

VII

An Outing with Your Butler

For stays of four hours or more, your butler accompanies you to the waterfront of the Tokyo Waterfront City or on a shopping trip. Time spent out counts towards your stay, and you return no later than one hour before it ends.

A butler handling garments at the wardrobe

VIII

Laundry

After a long outing or in the midst of a business trip, your butler attends to the laundering of your clothes. Using the building's shared drum washing machine, we dry them and return them to you.

A goodnight tea set by the bedside by the butler

An Overnight Stay

From 8 pm until 9 am the following morning, one guest may spend the night. Your butler arranges the passage from evening to morning across the fireplace room, the study and the bed.

A table laid with porcelain plates and silver cutlery

A Cookery Lesson with Your Butler

Time in which you cook for yourself, side by side with your butler.

A woman being photographed in the dining room

Commemorative Photographs

Your butler takes keepsake photographs against the scenes of the Manor: the dining room, the study, the fireplace room and the bedroom. Together we find the spot where the light and furnishings look their best.

How to choose

On days when you cannot decide, your butler composes the day from your purpose and mood

Choosing how to spend your time at Queen's Butler means settling on one thing you wish to do and leaving what comes before and after to your butler. If afternoon tea is the centre, you might first walk through the Manor and end with a book before the fire. If the theatre is the centre, the table is laid before the screening, and afterwards the lights are brought back gently to let the mood linger.

On your own, you can divide the hours finely between conversation and quiet. As a pair, you might begin by admiring the porcelain in the display cabinet and the butler's hands at work; among friends, you might give longer to the table and to photographs. For up to six guests, your butler considers a place and a route through the house in which no one feels crowded.

The Manor is by appointment only and reserved exclusively for one party at a time. While you are in the Manor, your butler is in the house too. Both men and women serve as our butlers, and any preference as to gender may be discussed before booking.

About The Salon

A butler leading the way along the gallery of the Manor

Time

Choose the length of your stay by the number of scenes you wish to savour

The dining room, with its yew table and chairs beneath the chandelier

Stay	Suggested combination	Visitor rate (tax included)
2 hours	Afternoon tea and relaxation, or photographs: one scene, taken slowly	¥17,600 (incl. tax)
4 hours	Afternoon tea, the dining table and the theatre in sequence. Outings from four hours upwards	¥35,200 (incl. tax)
5 hours	Several rooms of the Manor, combined with laundry or attentive care	¥44,000 (incl. tax)
6 hours	A full daytime or evening slot, moving between the Manor and an outing	¥52,800 (incl. tax)
Overnight stay	A fixed 13 hours from 8 pm to 9 am. One guest only	¥102,000 (incl. tax)

Choosing your time is not a matter of filling the schedule but of leaving room between scenes. Visitors are welcome at ¥8,800 per hour (tax included), for stays of two to six hours.

A butler arranging the silver in the dining room

Compare

Alone, as a pair or up to six, the distance your butler keeps changes

On your own	Conversation with your butler, or the quiet of doing nothing at all, at intervals of your own choosing. Moving between the study, the fireplace room and the bedroom, we arrange a place for you each time your mood changes.
As a pair	We centre the day on scenes that become shared memories: facing each other at the table, watching the theatre side by side, the porcelain in the cabinet and the butler's movements. Your butler never interrupts, approaching only when needed.
Three to six	With the dining room at the heart, we arrange a route through which everyone enjoys the same scenes. At tea, at the table and for photographs, we attend to each guest in turn, and check that nothing is left behind when moving on.
Rainy days	Within the Manor alone you may move between tea, reading, the table, the theatre and photographs. Your butler takes wet coats and umbrellas, and rearranges the hours if an outing is set aside.
The turn of the seasons	Your butler adjusts the fire, the rugs, the curtains and the temperature of your drinks. Rather than presuming how the season should be spent, we ask first how you feel and what you wish for that day.

What your butler arranges at the Manor

Your butler attends you throughout, from the welcome at the entrance to seeing you off outside the door
The lights, seating, silver, porcelain, rugs, study, fireplace room and bedroom are arranged to suit how you spend your time
Both men and women serve as our butlers; any preference as to gender may be discussed before booking
The Manor is never hired out unattended; while you are in the house, your butler is there too
Chauffeured pick-up to and from five locations including Tokyo Teleport Station (included with plans; availability confirmed at booking)

What we do not offer at the Manor

The Manor does not provide meals. You are welcome to bring your own food and drink
We do not accept requests beyond the duties of a butler, or any that would compromise a butler's dignity
Please refrain from moving the furnishings of the Manor without your butler's guidance

Butler's view

Your butler reads your wishes from your movements before they are spoken

A butler's watchfulness is a matter of observing so that, without hurrying you, what is needed is ready one step ahead. If your hand pauses on the cup, the next pot is not rushed; if you open a book in the study, footsteps recede; if your gaze lifts before the fire, we ask about the rug and the lighting.

Queen's Butler is run by the Japan Butler Association. The butlers who serve at the Manor give equal weight to protecting the furnishings and to protecting your time. The silver and porcelain are handled by your butler, and when you wish to hold them we gently show you how. Rather than piling up explanations, we demonstrate at a distance from which you can watch our hands.

Service does not mean speaking without pause. Withdrawing to the anteroom and keeping the quiet until the silver bell rings is also part of a butler's hospitality.

First Visit

A white-gloved woman butler quietly pouring tea into a cup

QCan I book without deciding how I will spend the time?

Yes. At The Salon of Queen's Butler we welcome you even if nothing has been decided. Your butler asks whether it is a day for quiet rest or for exploring the Manor, and suggests an order to suit your mood on the day.

QMay I come on my own?

Yes, you are welcome to spend the time at leisure on your own. Tell us as you go how much time you would like for talking with your butler, for reading in the study, or for doing nothing at all before the fire.

QHow many friends may I bring?

Up to six guests may come together. From the third guest onwards there is an additional charge, so please let us know the number when you book.

QWhat should I wear?

There is no dress code. Please come in clothes in which you can move comfortably through the Manor. Outfits and accessories for photographs can be left with your butler and brought out when the moment comes.

QMay I bring food and drink?

Yes, you are welcome to bring your own food and drink. The Manor does not provide meals. Please let us know when you book what you intend to bring.

QCan I still enjoy the Manor on a rainy day?

Yes, several experiences can be combined within the Manor alone. Your butler takes umbrellas and wet coats, and we are happy to replace an outing with tea or the theatre indoors.