Butler Salon or Butler Café?

IThe name alone decides nothing. Check six points before you book

To compare is not to rank two names, but to confirm one by one the conditions that the time you wish for requires. The words "butler salon" and "butler café" cannot tell you whether the space is exclusive, what role the butler plays, how food and drink are handled, or how long you may stay.

The six things to confirm first are: with whom you share the space, who serves you, where the food and drink come from, whether the space itself is to be enjoyed, how the time may be used, and the unit by which booking and pricing are set.

If you are considering a butler café, please check the details of its service in that establishment's own official guide. For those who wish for time in a Manor received by one party at a time, attended by a butler, we describe in detail what lies inside our own door.

What should be compared is not the name, but the time you wish to spend and the conditions prepared for it.

IIQueen's Butler is a Manor by appointment only, for one party at a time

One party at a time means that during your reservation the Manor is not shared with other guests; your butler prepares the space for you and your companions alone. Ordinary visits are for up to six. For one guest the quiet is protected; for two or more, conversation and the movement between seats are arranged, and the butler attends at a distance suited to the number.

Before the door opens, your butler checks the light and the seating in the dining room, the study and the fireplace room. On arrival, your coat and bags are taken and your mood for the day is asked. There is no neighbouring table to keep pace with: you may decide on the next room over tea, or go on reading the same book in the study.

Even for exclusive use, the Manor is never let unattended. A butler is always present, keeping watch over the door, the suit of armour, the longcase clock, the porcelain and the silver. Using a house alone without meeting anyone, and exclusive use with a butler in attendance, may seem alike but are quite different ways of spending the time.

Inside the door, for the one party who has reserved

Your butler is present from welcome to farewell, arranging the Manor and your time.

IIIA butler is not a job title for waiting on tables, but a role entrusted with the Manor and your time

A butler is one who places your wishes at the centre, anticipates the support you need, and yet never oversteps.

Both gentlemen and lady butlers are in residence. Beyond gender and age, each differs in the rhythm of conversation, the tone of voice and the skills at which they excel. We take your preferences at booking and confirm availability before replying. For those who wish to build a relationship with the same butler, there is the Buddy system of nomination.

The words "a true butler" are not used to disparage others. At our Manor they express that our butlers handle the Manor's treasures as members of the association, take responsibility for their judgement towards you, and carry a role that extends to butler contracts for service beyond the Manor.

"Throughout your stay, your butler remains at your side."

IVWe serve no meals; what you bring, your butler carries to the table

The difference at the table lies not in what you order, but in who provides the food and drink and which part the butler plays. Queen's Butler does not serve meals. You are welcome to bring your own food and drink, and your butler carries what you have brought into the setting of the table.

Your butler lays the porcelain and silver in the dining room, pours the tea and draws your chair. The Manor's tableware is not merely to be admired as decoration; it is a collection whose handling by a butler you may watch at close quarters.

If you require care over particular foods, please check the contents of what you bring yourself and tell us at booking how it should be handled. The Manor provides no meals, but if you have wishes about transferring food to our dishes or about service, these may be discussed in advance.

The table is where a butler's craft is savoured

What you bring, and the tea, are drawn into one occasion by the Manor's porcelain and silver, the drawing of the chair and the white-gloved hands.

VThe Manor itself changes its story with every room

The Manor is not a backdrop to a seat, but a stage on which the content of your stay may be chosen. The dining room holds an English yew table beneath a Maria Theresa chandelier; the study a 1980s English mahogany desk with a leather top and a black leather chair; the fireplace room a wine-red sofa.

Furnishings of differing periods and origins are layered in a space that values not being too perfectly matched. Writing a letter in the study, reading before the fire, taking tea in the dining room: with every change of room, your butler adjusts the light, the drink and the position of the chair, carrying your time on to the next scene.

At Queen's Butler, the Manor is never treated as a mere photographic backdrop. Your butler guards the armour and the silver, answers when asked about their provenance, and explains what may be touched and what the butler handles. To place yourself in an antique house and watch the craft of the butler who handles its treasures is the point of choosing the space.

VIThe time is built from your mood, not from the order of courses

Using the time means not following a fixed sequence, but choosing scenes of the Manor to suit your mood on the day. You may move to the study after the first cup of tea, continue the conversation in the fireplace room, or pause for a commemorative photograph along the way.

Visitors are received at ¥8,800 per hour (tax included), for stays of two to six hours. In a short stay, the door, the tea, the study and the farewell become a single scene. In a longer one, there is room to breathe between rooms, and even the hours of doing nothing at all are in your butler's keeping.

Overnight stays are for one guest only, thirteen hours from 8 pm to 9 am the following morning. No key is handed over; your butler keeps the door throughout. As with the daytime and evening hours, it is time to be composed with your butler.

VIIThe price is set by the hours your butler attends you, not by the number of dishes

Our approach to pricing is based not on the number of dishes, but on exclusive use of the Manor and the hours during which your butler attends you. Visitors pay by the hour; members pay in advance for a monthly allowance of hours and use them hour by hour. The price is never determined by what you eat.

For a first visit, we suggest coming as a visitor to see the Manor and the butler of the day for yourself. For those who wish to come regularly, there are four tiers from Bronze to Platinum, differing in allotted hours, priority booking, Buddy nomination and attendance beyond the Manor. Choose according to how often you wish to come and the relationship you seek.

Bookings are by appointment only; visitor bookings are taken from seven days ahead. Tell us your preferred date and time, the number of guests and how you wish to spend the time, and we confirm once the Manor and a butler are available. Please compare not only the price, but the unit of booking and the freedom of the time as well.

VIIIAlone, as a pair or as a party of up to six, the butler's position changes

The difference in numbers is that, in the same Manor, the flow of conversation and the butler's place change. For one guest, the butler waits a little apart so as not to interrupt reading or thought. When the bell rings, the butler comes, arranges what is needed and returns the quiet to you.

For two guests, tea is poured from a position that reaches both without interrupting the conversation. For several, the seating, the order in which drinks are brought and the moment for photographs are arranged. Ordinary visits are for up to six.

Whether you share a house with others or spend the time as the one party who has reserved changes the impression of the experience greatly. When choosing another establishment, checking its official guide for the possibility of shared seating, the unit of booking by number, and the range of seats and rooms open to you will make the difference from your wishes clear.

IXIt suits those who wish to decide how to spend the time at their own pace

A butler salon suits those who wish to move through the Manor at their own pace, unobserved by others, with the same butler in long attendance. It may be chosen by those who wish to spend time quietly alone, to mark a special day with friends, or to see the provenance of antiques and the craft of a butler at close quarters.

Conversely, if you wish chiefly to enjoy food and drink in a short time, it may be better to look for an establishment whose official guide matches that wish. What matters is not to book on the expectations of a name alone, but to confirm exclusivity, time, food and drink, the butler's role and the pricing in advance.

If you are unsure whether to choose Queen's Butler, tell us through an enquiry how you would like to spend the time. Your butler sets out what can be attended to in the Manor and what needs preparing, and proposes the time best suited to a first visit.