Travel: At Your Service

The typical butler is no longer a tuxedo-clad gentleman who does everything from answer the door to assist with personal grooming. These days, butlers are becoming more specialized, as top hotels hire them to provide such niche services as drawing baths, serving frozen snacks and supplying technological support.

At the El Dorado Maroma in Riviera Maya, Mexico, beach butlers supply guests with tanning products, reading material, water vaporizers and towels (karismahotels .com; $677 per night).

The Personal In-Loft Spa Butler at the MGM Grand's Skylofts hotel in Las Vegas sets each room's lighting, aromatherapy and sound systems, while the Dream Butler guarantees a good night's sleep with a selection of pillows, herbal teas and soothing music (skyloftsmgm grand.com; $510 per night).

At the Hotel Monasterio in Cuzco, Peru, bath butlers fill tubs to guests' specifications, drawing from a menu that includes candles, aromatic salts, rose petals and bubbles; they also offer champagne, chocolates and cigars (monasterio.orient-express .com; $495 per night).

When the tropical sun gets too intense, the Sorbet Butler at Rosewood's Jumby Bay Resort on the Caribbean island of Antigua (jumbybayresort.com; $775 per night) will bring refreshing scoops of flavored ice. Now, if only the sticky-finger butler would bring a damp cloth.

© 2008