I hate it. Especially cuz i drive a manual, i dont trust those fools with my car.
I hate going to places that only have valet parking.

 

Me too. And what I hate even more is you're expected to tip them!! They should be tipping me for letting them drive my car.

 

Haha i worked as a valet for a few months after highschool and all I can say is DON'T VALET your Z! If its just a regular family car big deal, but I would never valet a sports car. I remember my first day the guy I was working with said 'I have a headache I'm taking the 911 to the 7-11' and he drove off in a customer's Porsche 911. And wouldn't you know it 2 minutes later a customer comes out and hands me the stub....which just happened to be for the Porsche so I waited downstairs in the parking garage for about 5 minutes until the jackass came back from 7-11.

 

last time i had my Z valet parked at the club they parked it near the front next to the other sports cars that were 2x the price of the Z.

 

There was a great valet thread a few months ago where someone said (paraphrasing) "When I worked as a valet, the guys used to do hot laps and burnouts around the parking lot with vettes and porches"......ever since then, I dont like to Valet either.

 

i never valet. even at places that are "valet only" i always find a way to park myself...which usually just ends up in giving them a couple bucks, which i think is worth it so they don't screw with my car. a couple of my friends cars have been screwed up by valets so i never trust them.

 

i want to be a valet for a little bit this summer

 

I never valet my car, to many horror stories.

 

heh actually even though i never valet my car im trying to get a night job as a valet at a nice restaurant or something during the summer. lots of nice cars, and good tips. i definitely wouldn't screw with anyone's car though.

 

I work as a valet at an expensive hotel in San Diego. I've worked at several other hotels, restaurants, and even private parties. I would say that time of day and place really affect whether or not you should valet. Its actually quite common sense when you think about it. First, I personally don't even park when I am going to return past about 11 at night. Second, if a place is busy that is actually good in terms of valet if you have a nice car. Try to make sure there is a manager there also. This means that they won't have the time/ ability to leave their posts and fool around with your car. Third, if you can try to offer valets money just to park your car on the curb or a designated "VIP" spot. This is a win- win situation because you get the protection, probably pay less than you would, and they get all that money for tips instead of going to the company. But in reality don't valet your car at valets that are just off the curb downtown, with something like only 1-3 valets and a lot far away. Make sure the lot is within eyeshot and the valet drive isn't just a curb. I know I make it sound complicated but basically I only valet my car at select times and won't let anyone I'm in the car with do otherwise. Valets are for the most part just punk kids like me and it doesn't take much to get hired. However, I've never heard of them driving a car to a store. That sounds a little ridiculous. Oh and JDub most valet companies make their valets go through comprehensive driving tests with manuals. I personally have driven probably over a hundred different manuals and would have to say that the Z is one of the easiest. I would have to say the hardest are the older Porsches. So don't worry about them being able to drive the car, just worry about them driving off with it. Lol. Hope this all helps.

 

You saved the faces of valets everywhere. I still will not do it. If I did are you saying tip first?

 

I am a Valet Supervisor @ hotel here in Orlando. Location is the biggest factor on what kind of valet service your going to get. If your @ a 4 or 5 star hotel there's less of a chance there going to do something stupid in your car. Believe me when I say it's not worth it to them to mess with your car..

This is the only way I valet. I have no problem giving the guy $20 and saying leave it up top. People ask me to do it all the time.

 

Man you guys are scaring me. I am going to a wedding on Friday and there is vallet parking, I don't want those guy to touch my Z and if they put a scratch on it then I will be kicking some as@.

 

I'm also a valet supervisor at a 4 star hotel in irvine ca. @ most hotels that i've seen or that our company works at, there is a doorman that is in charge of the driveway. these guys or gals are employees that have earned the right to be a doorman through accually wanting to take care of your car while you are gone(funny to most of you guys here i know) they, in most cases, have 2 to 10 VIP stalls that they keep the cars in close proximity to the door. If you must valet and you want to make sure that your car is taken care of i would SUGGEST that you work a deal out with the doorman. Sometimes it doesn't take $$ but a good attitude and a calm manner. But IF you must be an a$$ about your car(LOL) money always works. Not to say that the other employees will mess up your car but its more for a peace of mind for some. Oh and at all valet parking places they are covered with an insurance policy that covers damage to cars in an unforseen accident that might happen. I hope this helps and i do understand that most people don't like to valet their and won't do it but its not as bad as people think. I also know that i bad egg ruins the rest, and with all those news programs that showcase poor valet services, the good places get lost. rant over.

 

I'm glad to see someone gets it too. what hotel do you work at.

 

Marriott World Center, little over 2,000 rooms. I used to be @ the Hard Rock Hotel and Protofino Bay over @ Universal. Our company uses a ramp supervisor (which I am) that takes care of checking people in and out of valet. Kinda like the doorman of the valet company.

 

See I work at the Omni Hotel and did at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The thing with San Diego is that basically everything is run by either Sunset or Ace parking. So these two hotels are high 4 stars and can be 400 dollars a night but Ace parking can assign ghetto guys that only want to be valets to mess around. I personally work mornings at the hotel because I make more money but the night guys usually have nothing to do, no manager, and I have seen them plenty of times messing with cars. So I mean I guess it does all depend. When I stated before that you can get them to park it in a special place or keep it up front if it has a large drive, I basically meant working it out with the doorman, but at our hotels we share those tips. Even though we drive it and watch it we have to share tips.

Tell me, as valets have you learned to hate doormen? I seriously think they are quite possibly the shadiest characters that I have encountered in any business. At my hotels if they even open a door or put one bag in they want half of the tip and if we watch the cars/ park them up on the curb they still want half of the tip just because the customer came to them, even though they don't do anything. Working at hotels you see the craziest things, all the innerworkings. Prostitution (Yes its prevalent at the more expensive hotels), Stealing, Valets driving crazy, dinging doors, and doormen, valets, and bellboys all stealing from the company and each other. Its a really lame situation but what else can a 19 year old college student do where I make an average of 50 in tips in 6 hours and get minimum wage on top of that. I think I'm averaging 13-16 dollars an hour, so pretty decent amount of money for running around and driving cars. Oh by the way, I don't participate in any of these activities for various reasons; morals, fear, etc... Not all valets are bad though, just a couple of them that make a bad name for everyone as well as making those that intend to valet having a viable fear of valeting their car.

 

Would never consider valet-ing it. Only VIP-ing it.

I got a crazy friend that work in ******* Palms here in Kissimmee/ORL, and all he used to look for is joyriding a sports car. Until he got CAUGHT! Learned his lesson and learned mine.

 

I hate the thought of someone in car that I don't know...kinda like someone alone roaming around my apt...it is part of my personal space....I never valet, always choose to park it myself.