insider's guide to valet parking
TRANSCRIPT
The Lexus E S
INSIDER’S GUIDE TO
T H E L I N G O • T H E F I V E CO M M O N PA R K I N G P E R SO N A L I T I E S
P RO P E R T I P P I N G I N P O L I T E SO C I E T Y • PA R K I N G D O ’s A N D D O N ’ Ts
T H E I N S I D E S CO O P O N PA R K I N G I N M A J O R U. S . C I T I E S
G E T T I N G T H E C H E R RY S PAC E U P F RO N T
VALET PARKING
It’s a moment mixed with satisfaction, personal
pride and, let’s face it, more than a little nervous
anticipation. You’re behind the wheel of the new
car when suddenly the fi rst critical test presents it-
self with fi ve innocent little words: Pull Forward for
Valet Parking.
Scenes from a hundred Hollywood movies
fl ash through your head. Guys like Sinatra made it
look so easy, tossing their keys to the valet. They also
got the primo spots, of course. But what about now?
What about you? What strikes the fancy of today’s
valets? Or more to the point, what on earth will they
think of your new car?
Let’s return to that question in a moment.
First, a quick primer. Valet parking today is no longer
just for red carpets, restaurants and country clubs.
As greater convenience becomes a factor in our in-
creasingly active lives, the car attendant is now on hand
at airports, health clubs, hair salons, sporting events,
doctors’ offi ces, even grocery stores and cinemas.
YOU’VE ARRIVED
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
T H E L I N G OBEN JI A hundred bucks. The grand-daddy of gratuities.
HIKER A valet.
HOLY ROL L ER As in window roller; a stinky car.
IG OT A valet’s dibs on a hot ride (“I got the new ES.”).
JEWEL CASE The premier parking spot (“Yo! Keep the Lexus in the Jewel Case.”).
KIDLOCK A slowdown caused by diaper changes and lost toys.
MANAGER’S SPECIAL (a.k.a. Manny Spector) Overrules an Igot.
PTP Promise to pay notation (and a
Valet speak
decoded
legal IOU) on tickets from cashless customers.
PULL The act of retrieving a claim ticket.
PULPIT The podium where the head valet ministers to customers.
WALK AROUND Inspecting an arriving car for preexisting dings and dents.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
According to the National Parking Association, an
estimated 200,000 men and women currently work
as parking attendants in the United States. That’s a
lot of red bow ties!
As the practice of using valet services grows,
so do drivers’ expectations. “Nobody, especially an
owner of a luxury vehicle, wants to pull up and give
his or her car to just anyone,” says Martin Stein, the
National Parking Association’s executive director. “You
expect a level of comfort knowing you’ll be taken care
of. You want your car back exactly the way you left it.”
The good news is mishaps are extremely
rare. “Most valets are exceptional drivers, because all
they do is drive cars all day,” says John Van Horn,
editor and publisher of Parking Today, an industry
trade magazine. “They also assume a ton of risk by
taking possession of your automobile, and the last
thing they want is an expensive claim.”
Still, we wanted to discover fi rsthand what
happens once a car disappears into “Valet Land.”
What are the insider secrets valets don’t share with
anyone? Are there parking do’s and don’ts that savvy
drivers need to know? Then there’s the most loaded
question of all: Who gets the coveted spots up front
and why?
Fortunately, we did much of our research
behind the wheel of the new Lexus ES 350, and while
you’ll need to read on to see exactly what happened,
let’s just say Ol’ Blue Eyes couldn’t have done it
better himself.
Way to make an entrance, baby!
GREAT MOMENTS IN VALET HISTORY
1898First public parking garage opens in Boston.
Livery stables across the eastern United States are converted into automobile lots as stable hands evolve into car valets.
1 905
1 926Carhops from The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles park celebrity coupes and roadsters in vacant lots near Hollywood and Vine. The invention of the Cobb Salad is an afterthought.
1 935The parking meter is patented. Fortunately for valets, the device can’t smile or open car doors.
Broadway playwright Wilson Mizner arrives at a premiere in a broken-down jalopy. “What shall I do with it?” the valet reportedly asks with thinly veiled contempt. “Keep it ,” Mizner says, and disappears into the theater.
1 930
1 957 San Francisco Airport introduces first airport valet parking service.
Future film star Bill Paxton works briefly as a valet at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
1 974
A Manhattan parking attendant wins $149 million in a Mega Millions drawing, making him the largest-ever single-jackpot winner in New York. At the time, he has 78 cents in his bank account.
2004
2006 The 2007 Lexus ES 350 improves valet job satis-faction across America.
Herb Citrin Parking Concessions opens at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Valets wear military uniforms without in-signia, and an industry standard — not to mention a fashion statement — is born.
1 94 6
2002 The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, unveils a $6.2 million robotic parking garage that allocates spaces and retrieves vehicles with an automated system straight out of the future.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
The freedom to park one’s car with con-
fi dence is one of those unalienable rights
we often take for granted in America. But
with so many parking options – long-term,
short-term, metered, loading-only, VIP
– it’s often a relief to turn that task over to
a professional. What follows is an inside
peek at valet parking from coast-to-coast,
with straightforward counsel from the
attendants themselves. Be advised, how-
ever, all automobiles are not created equal.
Lexus drivers still enjoy royal treatment
even in the most democratic societies.
PA R K I N G A R O U N D
THE COUNTRY
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
NEW YORK
MIAMI
LOS ANGELES
CHICAGO
Hang onto all those tired clichés
about the Windy City. Not one of
them holds a blown-out candle to
the reality of working the valet stand
at The Drake Hotel in Chicago in
mid-February.
“There are gusty days when
the corner of Walton and Michigan
feels like the coldest spot on earth,”
says Ulyses Varela, one of 25 park-
ing attendants at the landmark 1920
hotel. “Personally, I love it. It makes
you run faster.”
The Chicago valet scene is
a world unto itself. A blustery one,
at times, and blazingly hot at others.
But it’s also rich with unexpected re-
wards. Yes, there are days when die-
hard attendants like Varela are out
with scrapers and hairdryers clearing
ice from customers’ cars. “It’s times
like those,” he says, “when I really
appreciate the cars with heated driv-
ers’ seats.” But more often, the job
is an excuse to savor Chi-town’s fa-
mously down-to-earth personality.
“We see it all – and I mean
everything,” laughs Everette Yoakum,
who’s been parking cars 16 of his
35 years. He now oversees 1,000
spaces as garage manager for the
Hyatt Regency Chicago. “Mostly, it’s
‘Welcome back, sir. Great to see you
again.’ But our drivers have found
A TIP
FROM THE
VALET
“They call it the valet
key for a reason, so
use it,” says Ben Akbary,
president of L .A.’s
Quality Parking
Services. “We’ll take
responsibility for your
car, but you’re re-
sponsible for locking
things away safely.”
• T I P N O 1 •
Th e Key to Happiness
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
“ W I T H W E AT H E R L I K E T H I S , YO U C A N ’ T R E A L LY B E H A L F - WAY A B O U T
PA R K I N G C A R S . Y O U E I T H E R H AV E T H E C A L L I N G O R YO U D O N ’ T .”
S p ot li g h t On
CHICAGOS p ot li g h t On
CHICAGO
Chicago in Winter
Daytime: 22˚ Night: 8˚
snakes in cars, cars so dirty you can’t squeeze inside,
and once or twice a year, someone will almost forget
the baby is asleep in the backseat. Our valets make
sure everybody – and everything – remains safe and
sound.”
That includes the vehicles, of course. And
spend enough time working a busy establishment in
the Loop, and you’ll drive every ride known to man.
At a farming convention a few years back, extra-long,
many-wheeled machines – including a tractor or two
– motored into the Hyatt lot. “The average park-
ing space is eight feet long,” says Hector Moreno,
another Hyatt veteran. “Some of that equipment
required three times that much space.”
Good thing Chicago valets are famous
for their Midwestern can-do attitude. “It’s not just
about parking cars,” says Dan Buescher of System
Parking, one of the city’s oldest parking companies.
“We have valets fi xing fl ats, topping off gas. One of
our guys spent four hours tracking down the owner
of a lost wallet.”
Perhaps System’s most famous opera-
tion is at the space-agey twin structures known as
Marina City. The cylindrical complex has 15 fl oors
of parking, with valets accessing vehicles via a chain-
and-pulley “manlift” hidden from customers. The
building was immortalized in a 1980 movie in which
the villain loses control of his car and drives off the
garage into the Chicago River.
Lexus owners needn’t worry about some-
thing like that happening to their cars. Back at the
Drake, Varela insists Chicago valets are a cut above.
“With weather like this,” he says, the wind picking
up again, “you can’t really be half-way about parking
cars. You either have the calling or you don’t.”
Now there’s a cliché we can all live with.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Fig. 1: System Parking and Service Station, Chicago, Circa 1930s
Many are the ways to valet in L.A. In a
city where what you drive is as signifi cant
as who’s fi nancing your movie or the yoga
studio where you practice your asanas,
the parking attendant is an omnipresent
fi gure on the famously sprawling cityscape.
At supermarkets and movie theaters,
concert venues and even churches, the
tossing of the keys is an everyday event
for many Angelenos.
21st Century Valet
Drivers who valet park at the fabulously refurbished Century City mall in Los Angeles get pocket pagers in exchange for their keys. And since this is L.A., thevehicles in waiting may have the complete spa treatment (detailing, Fluid checks and other services), while shop-pers and moviegoers go about their mall activities. Then, with a press of the pager button, the vehicle is ready for the driver in about Five minutes. Soon we’ll be hearing, “Have your valet call my valet.”
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
6am - 2pm 3pm - 10pm
S p ot li g h t On
LOS ANGELESS p ot li g h t On
LOS ANGELES
F R A N K S I N AT R A WA S T H E M OS T G E N E R O U S . W H E N P E O P L E W E R E T I P P I N G A D O L L A R TO P S , H E WA S T I P P I N G $20. O N E N I G H T H E C A M E I N A N D S A I D TO T H E H E A D G U Y , ‘H OW M A N Y F E L L A S A R E W O R K I N G H E R E TO N I G H T ? ’ H E S A I D , ‘ F O U R , M R . S I N AT R A ,’ A N D F R A N K H A N D E D H I M F O U R $1 00 B I L LS .”
“RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC
“You give us your
car. We get it back
to you safely.”
A C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H
HERB CITRINF A T H E R O F V A L E T P A R K I N G
Valet parking may not have started here (nobody knows for certain
where the fi rst car jockey took the wheel), but the undisputed father of
valet as we know it – the smiles, the uniforms, the white-glove service – is
L.A.’s Herb Citrin, 83, who started his parking company 60 years ago
with three employees at Lawry’s The Prime Rib on La Cienega Boulevard.
Valet Parking Service would eventually grow to 1,500 employees with
operations in nearly a dozen cities across America, but Citrin, who sat
for a chat with Lexus recently, insists the basic idea still hasn’t changed:
“You give us your car. We get it back to you safely.”
How did you f irst become a car-parking superhero?
My father parked cars back in the ’30s. A month shy of my 16th birthday,
I started helping him out. Honestly, it’s the only thing I ever thought
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Sixty Years
of Service
Left: Fig. 2:
Citrin, far left, in 1948
at Lawry’s The Prime
Rib in Los Angeles.
Right: Fig. 3:
Fast forward a ways.
Citrin continues to
consult for Valet
Parking Service, the
company he founded
in 1946.
The worst was in August 1965. Marina del Rey was just
built, and there was a popular Polynesian restaurant
there. One of our valets forgot to set the brake on a
vintage 1937 Zephyr in what kids used to call ‘cherry
condition.’ It rolled down an incline and ended up in
15 feet of seawater.
What’s your favorite valet story?
For many years, we worked the Academy Awards®,
and a number of years ago I decided to go as a
guest. I pull up with my wife and see about 60 or
70 valets, all of whom immediately recognize me
and wave and start surrounding the car, opening
my door, patting me on the back. My wife, mean-
while, is still in the car. She looks out at me getting
all the fuss and says, ‘Hey, what am I? Chopped
liver?’ I still laugh about that.
W O R D S of H E R B
What makes a great valet?
“Enthusiasm, grace
under pressure and
attention to detail.
Knowing the names
of your regular
customers is one thing.
Knowing the names
of their grandkids,
now THAT’S service.”
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
seriously about doing. For a minute, I worked at a
jewelry store; that is, until I realized I could make
more in one night parking cars than I could in two
weeks at the store.
What was the state of valet parking back then?
In a word, appalling. Valets didn’t know how to
greet people. They might open the car door, or
they might not. They might look neat, but usually
they didn’t. After coming out of the service in ’45,
I thought customers deserve better than turning
over their cars to some guy in a dirty white smock.
My fi rst order of business was to put valets in
brand-new uniforms personalized with the name
of Lawry’s restaurant, our fi rst account. We became
part of the establishment, and the Hollywood
establishment, no less.
Is i t true what they say? The bigger the star, the bigger
the car, the bigger the t ipper?
Not by a long shot. But Frank Sinatra was the most
generous. When people were tipping a dollar tops,
he was tipping $20. One night he came in and said
to the head guy, ‘How many fellas are working here
tonight?’ He said, ‘Four, Mr. Sinatra,’ and Frank
handed him four $100 bills.
What makes a great valet?
Enthusiasm, grace under pressure and attention
to detail. Knowing the names of your regular
customers is one thing. Knowing the names of
their grandkids, now that’s service.
Did you ever lose a car?
Over the years, everything has happened at least once.
You’ll need to stay up late – very late
– to experience the wonders of valet
parking in Miami.
“In most cities everything’s
dead by 11 p.m., 12 a.m. or 2 a.m.
at the latest,” says Jerry South,
who runs Towne Park, the city’s
premier valet service. “In Miami,
people start heading out at 10:30
p.m. or 11 p.m. You’ll fi nd as
many valets on the overnight shift
as the day shift. We might have
eight or 10 valets at a location at
4 a.m., 5 a.m. or 6 a.m.”
This goes to show, the
tropical heat doesn’t slow the traf-
fi c in a city as famous for its club
lines as its tan lines. Not surpris-
ingly, making an entrance at one
of the trendier hot spots – say,
Nobu or the Mandarin Oriental
Hotel’s Azul restaurant – is some-
thing of an art form. “Everybody’s
a celebrity here,” South says with a
smile. “Everybody wants their car
up front.”
The trick for valets is
to make split-second decisions
about whose vehicles go where.
Here’s where a little inside-the-
valet-world knowledge can serve
the driver. It’s not necessarily
the biggest or most tricked-out
car that gets the showcase spot.
TIP NO 2
KNOW YOUR
VEHICLE
Pay special attention as
the car makes its
way into Valet Land,
and when you first get
it back. The quicker you
notice a ding or dent,
the smoother your
claims processing
will be.
A TIP FROM THE
VALET
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
S p ot li g h t On
MIAMIMiami Valet Shifts
“E V E RY B O DY ’ S A C E L E B R I T Y H E R E . E V E RY B O DY WA N T S T H E I R C A R U P F R O N T .”“E V E RY B O DY ’ S A C E L E B R I T Y H E R E . E V E RY B O DY WA N T S T H E I R C A R U P F R O N T .”
10am - 3pm 5pm - 6am
VALET VIEWH O W TO S P OT F I V E C O M M O N PA R K I N G P E R S O N A L I T I E S
TH E NEATNIKIsn’t above using a
car cover while valet parking at an ATM.
TH E GADGET GEEK
Employs voice-activated GPS navigation system, HomeLink® transceiver and full-color backup
camera to locate missing remote-entry access key.
TH E STARLETSmitten with flip-down visor-shade mirrors as
well as power-adjustable outside mirrors, not to mention auto-dimming
outside mirrors. Heck, she loves anything with a
reflective surface!
TH E ROCK’N’ROLLERWith premium surround sound, a 6-disc, in-dash, DVD/CD auto-changer and an auxiliary jack for
an iPod® – good luck getting this headbanger
out of the car!
TH E MACDADDIEST
DADDYHas personally
tested all rear seating positions in the
child restraint seat. Uses rear-seat
armrest as diaper changing station.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
“With 400 or 500 cars coming in a night,
we don’t blink at ‘one-of-a-kind’ cars,” says
Sergio Hernandez, the head valet at the
Mandarin Oriental. “What we like to see are
well-maintained cars and drivers who are
genuinely considerate people.”
Hernandez says valets like cars that
project an air of urbane sophistication. Sleek
lines, radiant design elements, you know, that
ES 350 look. “Some classic Cuban music on a
great sound system doesn’t hurt either,” he says,
though he’s quick to add the stereo goes off the
moment the car enters the garage.
Being generous also ups your odds. A
recent national poll of valet attendants found
that Miami drivers are the handsomest tippers
in America. Five- and ten-dollar tips are typical,
but the sky is the limit for exemplary service. “I’ve
seen $500 exchange hands at some places,” South
says. “But that’s the tip of a lifetime.”
One thing that sets Miami valets
apart is the dedication. The best attendants are
full-time pros, not dabblers waiting for their
big break in some other fi eld. That’s partly why
valet has become a way of life for the city. From
South Beach to Coconut Grove, neighborhood
delis to the fi nest boutique hotels, there’s bound
to be a uniformed parking jockey waiting to whisk
your wheels to safety. “A city like Miami, it’s fast,
it’s happening, it’s go, go, go,” South says. “Valets
know that what you drive says a lot about how you
respond to that energy.”
Just wait till they feast their eyes on that
glorious new machine of yours.
Curbside parking in the Big Apple? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Not in a city with offi cial street signs that warn,
“Don’t even THINK of parking here!” and “No
Parking, No Standing, No Stopping, No Kidding!”
Parking in Manhattan inevitably means
valeting it, and like all things New York, the valet
scene here is faster, bolder and brasher than just
about anyplace else.
“On your ‘average’ night in midtown,
we might have two Broadway openings, a major
convention in town, a huge fashion event and
a game at Madison Square Garden, and a good
percentage of those people will be looking for
places to park,” says Hector Chevalier, a vice
president for Central Parking System, which
manages 442 parking facilities in the city, including
both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium and the
valet concession at hotels like the Waldorf-Astoria.
This translates to 150,000 parking slots, of which
80 percent are valet.
And since all those drivers want their cars
in and out in a New York minute, Chevalier and
other masters of the Manhattan parking universe
work miracles behind the scenes: Century-old
stables are repurposed as high-tech auto barns.
Hydraulic lifts hoist and stack cars fi ve and six
high. Valets race on foot or scooter through
oncoming traffi c to distant garages.
“The big parking challenge in New York
is fi nding open space, and there’s less and less of
that every day,” says Dennis Cunning, who started
parking cars 15 years ago at Lincoln Center and
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Other
Cities
New York
City
S p ot li g h t On
NEW YORKS p ot li g h t On
NEW YORK
A New York Minute
“ I ’ V E S E E N A TA I LO R F R O M A B U I L D I N G G I V E A VA L E T A $1 , 2 0 0 S U I T F O R LO O K I N G A F T E R H I S C A R .”“ I ’ V E S E E N A TA I LO R F R O M A B U I L D I N G G I V E A VA L E T A $1 , 2 0 0 S U I T F O R LO O K I N G A F T E R H I S C A R .”
to have some luxuries, and with so many vehicles
in motion, ES drivers can rest easy knowing that
there are more than 100 onboard sensors available
to monitor such things as wheel speed, steering
angle and even the proximity of an adjacent car –
so your valet can keep the focus on returning the
car safely.
“New York parking is tough, but it’s also
exciting,” says Chevalier, who still carries the fi rst
dollar tip he made parking cars at the Fulton Fish
Market 22 years ago. “Everybody from the mother
of three on a shopping spree to the biggest VIPs on
the planet needs parking at one point or another,
and we take great pride knowing they’ve given us
the responsibility of taking care of their cars.”
But don’t even THINK of parking with-
out getting that claim ticket!
TIP N O 4
SPARE THE CHANGE
One of th e oldest tricks is tipping
with change and letting a few
coins fall to th e floor. It’s a
less-than-dignified way of s h owing
th e world what a great tipper you are.
Express your gratitude only with th e
crispest of paper currency. Th ink of it
as good karma for your car.
A T I P F R O M T H E V A L E T
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
is now a leading parking industry consultant.
“That’s why New York City parking is at such
a premium.”
A premium indeed. Many people pay more
for parking in Manhattan than people in other
cities pay for housing – upwards of $1,000 a month
at top-end locations. Naturally, the best valet
attendants are rewarded accordingly. “I’ve seen a
tailor from a building give a valet a $1,200 suit for
looking after his car,” says Cunning. “Or an atten-
dant will hand wash a top customer’s car all year for
free knowing he’ll get $10,000 at Christmas.”
Not that New Yorkers don’t love a parking
bargain, which explains why the early-bird parking
special – in by 6 a.m., out by 6 p.m. – is as much
an institution as the Coney Island hot dog and free
Met concerts in Central Park. Then again, it’s nice
A TIP FROM THE VALET
Recognize Service Wh en You See It
If you see a valet
going th e extra mile, say,
cleaning a winds h ield or
just really h ustling,
it’s nice to compensate th em.
People forget that
in 1960 valets were getting
a buck a car. Well, we’re
not in 1960 anymore.
T I P NO
3
The fi rst one is defi nitely the most
nerve-racking.
A fashionably dressed
businessman pulls up to the po-
dium and eagerly trades his gleam-
ing automobile for a little paper
ticket. There’s barely time to thank
him – behind his gorgeous vehicle
is another and another and … and
… HELP!!
Welcome to my debut as
a valet parking attendant. To un-
derstand the ins and outs of the
parking scene, I’ve joined the
O N T H E J O B
VALET FOR A DAYJournalist David Hochman spends a day as an “undercover” valet
ranks of L.A.’s fi nest car jock-
eys at a posh shopping center in
Brentwood, a tony section of the
city. The lunchtime rush is un-
derway, and already I’ve forgotten
everything I learned at my morn-
ing training session. Do I open
the passenger door fi rst or the
driver’s side? Can I adjust the seat
if the customer is seven-feet tall?
And what if I get lost in the ninth
circle of Valet Land?
The fact is, valet park-
ing isn’t as easy as it looks, mainly
Fig. 5:
The Cobb Salad
A mere footnote in the
history of the Brown Derby
in comparison to the real
news of the venue: the birth
of the valet stand.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Fig. 4: The Brown Derby, Beverly Hills, Circa 1945
IN
VALET
HISTORY
GREAT MOMENTS
T I P • O • R A M A !
Nothing makes a valet
happier than being treated
with dignity and respect.
While attendants don’t need
a college degree to do
what they do, they are
safe-guarding a sizable
investment of yours,
and they take that
responsibility seriously.
Valets love that new-car smell as much
as you do, so make it last by maintaining your car inside as well as outside.
The new ES helps its owners keep that
“new-car smell” with an onboard clean air
dust and pollen filter.
“Hey, wasn’t my iPod® right
here?” With convenient and
abundant stowage features in
the new ES, from the roomy
center console to the extra-
wide, ocean-deep trunk
cabin, there’s no reason for
surprises when your car comes
back from parking.
TIP N O 5
VALETS ARE PEOPLE, TOO
TIP N O 7
SCENTS ANDSENSIBILITY
TIP N O 6
STASH YOUR CASH ( A N D OT H E R F L A S H )
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
because making it look effortless is the whole
point. A guest should never need to touch the door
handle, never wait around for a claim ticket, never
feel anything but 100 percent confi dent turning
the keys over to you and never ever wonder, “Where
the heck is my car?”
“This one’s yours,” the unruffl ed garage
manager tells me as a silver SUV slows to a halt.
Inside my head, I repeat the valet’s mantra: Smile,
open door, greet, give ticket, rinse, repeat. And
with that, the car is mine. This one has an expen-
sive-looking orchid perched precariously on the
passenger’s seat. Navigating down the ramps, I
recover a memory from high school driver’s ed class
about keeping the hands at “ten” and “two” on the
steering wheel. Miraculously, automobile and exotic
fl ower survive.
Much of the day is a blur of bucket seats
and concrete stairwells. One car is more expensive
than the house I grew up in. Another hasn’t seen
a car wash since the disco era. My favorites have
features that make the job a cinch: keyless ignition,
electroluminescent dashboard lighting, and, joy of
joys, a backup camera.
At the end of my day, I spot a luxurious
sedan idling near the podium. Ah, the long sleek
lines! The luscious curves! The forward-leaning L
fronting the handsome grille! An ES! An ES!
“Is that the ’07?” the head valet asks, sotto voce.
“Uh huh,” I say.
“Sweet,” he says, his face fi nally breaking into
a smile. “This baby stays right up front with us.”
You should have seen the look he gave me
when I told him it was mine.
The cost of parking clearly isn’t what
it used to be. In the early 1930s,
rates were 15 cents for the fi rst
hour, 25 cents for up to 12 hours
and $10 for the entire month.
Today, the median daily parking
rate in America is approaching
$15, and the median monthly rate
is just shy of $150, according to
Colliers International’s 2005
North America Parking Rate Survey.
PARKING PRICEST H E N A N D N O W
The survey also ranks the most ex-
pensive districts to park for the day
as No. 1 Manhattan, No. 2 Honolulu,
No. 3 San Francisco, No. 4 Boston
and No. 5 Los Angeles.
N OWTH EN
TI P N O 8
WHAT TO G IVETipping is personal, but here’s a guide from the
National Parking Association. Give a minimum of two to five dollars above the valet fee. For exemplary service,
tip $10. Keeping your car up front is worth $20 or more, depending on the
venue and timing.
A TIP FROM THE VALET
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Fig. 6: Academy Awards, Los Angeles, 1958
IN
VALET
HISTORY
GREAT MOMENTS
One-touch starting. How cool is that?!
Supple leather-trimmed seats with a natural feel are a welcome relief after a long jog through the lot.
Heated and ventilated front seats.
Remote-control power mirrors, puddle lamps and – holy moly! – a backup camera. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sonar-assisted parking? You’re right! This must be a dream.
Water-repellent glass, rain-sensing wipers and integrated foglamps keep a dark and rainy night in check.
THE VALET’S DREAMH O W TO M A K E YO U R FAVO R I T E VA L E T R E S T E A S Y
Headlamps that swivel to light more of the road around a curve! This is one smart car.
Advanced ThinsulateTM sound absorption. So that’s why it’s so quiet in here.
Even the steering wheel feels luxurious.
Electroluminescent gauges are so 21st century.
A 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat! Bluetooth®
technology that provides voice-activated dialing by name or number! The Mark Levinson® Premium Surround Sound Audio System with 300 watts at 0.1% THD of enveloping, concert-quality sound! I know I’m not supposed to touch, but …!
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Valet parking is a science of numbers.
The fewer minutes it takes to safely
park and retrieve the most vehicles,
the more happy customers a business
will have. It’s also a ritual that most of
us go through from time to time, if
not regularly.
INSIDE AMERICA’S VALET PARKING HABITSA L E X U S S U R V E Y
Lexus wondered how
drivers feel about this transaction
which puts one of their biggest in-
vestments – their cars – in the hands
of complete strangers for hours or
days at a time. So the automaker
commissioned Kelton Research to
survey more than 1,000 Americans
about their valet parking habits and
concerns, from how much custom-
ers tip to what their biggest valet
parking worries are.
On average, 61 percent
of Americans use valet parking, with
Northeasterners relying on it the
most (only 27 percent of them say
they never use a valet).
Fig. 7: Northeasterners Rely
on valets most.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
What’s the biggest fear about valets? That they take
the nicest cars out for joyrides (64 percent think
it’s at least a possibility). One in two surveyed also
worries the car will be returned damaged. Then
there’s “car shame,” that nagging feeling that the
valet is judging one’s vehicle.
64%fear
joyrides
36%don’t
Fig. 11: The joyride
quotient
Fig. 12: Many people suffer
from car shame
Fig. 13: The solution:
The Lexus ES 350
Interestingly, women are twice as prone to
suffer from it as men, just as drivers who are
unmarried are twice as likely to be embarrassed
by their car as married customers. Fortunately,
there’s a 100 percent solution for car shame.
It’s the Lexus ES 350.
T h e L e x u s E S I n s i d e r ’s G u i d e t o Va l e t P a r k i n g
Overall, Americans tip valets an average of $3 per
vehicle – and 73 percent are confi dent that when
they tip, they are tipping the right person the right
amount. Good service defi nitely counts in this
exchange of cash for car. The valet’s friendliness and
politeness are by far the biggest factors infl uencing
how large a tip a customer leaves, followed by how
bad the weather is – 75 percent say inclement weather
increases the gratuity.Surprisingly, speed isn’t as much of a factor in
customer satisfaction. Americans are willing to wait
up to an average of nine minutes for the valet to
return their cars before becoming impatient! But
the younger the driver, the more impatient – nearly
half of those ages 18 to 34 will only wait one to fi ve
minutes before getting restless.Figs. 8 & 9: Friendly valet,
bad weather = bigger tips
Fig. 10: The patience quotient
O v a l i a n t v a l e t t u x , T h e g l a m m e s t o f s e r v i c e t o g s .
A v e s t m e n t f o r m a l a n d f o r g i v i n g ,G r a c e f u l e v e n o n a j o g .
B l a c k a n d w h i t e o r c r i m s o n r e d , A b o w t i e f o r g o o d m e a s u r e .
F o r d a p p e r c h a r i o t e e r s w e l l - b r e d , W e e n t r u s t t o t h e m o u r t r e a s u r e .
F r o m c o a s t t o c o a s t a n d c u r b t o c u r b ,To w a r d g a l l a n t r y i t s k e w s .
A u n i f o r m t h a t ’ s b u i l t t o s e r v eN o b l e p e n g u i n s i n r u n n i n g s h o e s .
ODE UPON A VALET TUX
P OETRY CORNER
HAPPY PARKING