What a lead host does
Our lead hosts are food-and-beverage service professionals, and that scope is deliberate. Breakfast setup and morning service — the table set before the household wakes, coffee and morning dishes served and cleared. Table preparation for every meal, indoors, poolside or in the garden, with glassware and tableware matched to anything from a family lunch to a celebration dinner.
Meal service — plated, family-style or buffet, courses timed with the kitchen, plates cleared between courses. Drinks service through the day, from morning coffee to pre-dinner aperitifs and wine at the table. Snacks and afternoon service brought out at the right moment. Coordination with the kitchen — the link between chef and table. And clearing and reset, so service areas are left tidy after every meal.
What a lead host does not do
Clear boundaries make for better service. A lead host is not a housekeeper — bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry and general cleaning belong to the property’s housekeeping; the host clears and resets service areas only. Not a driver or security. Not a property manager — maintenance, pool and yard care sit outside the role. Not a chef; the host serves while the chef cooks. And not a nanny or childcare provider.
If you are a villa owner or resident looking for permanent household staff — a manager, housekeeper or long-term placement — that is a different service, handled by our staffing silo, not this guest-facing stay service.
Butler or waiter — which do you need?
The short answer to our most common staffing question: a server serves a meal; a lead host runs your day. A server is table service for one meal or event — a dinner party, a reception — booked hourly, roughly one per ten guests. A lead host is continuous food-and-drink service across the day — breakfast setup, drinks all day, snacks, kitchen coordination, clearing — best for full stays, families and multi-meal days.
Rule of thumb: for one meal, hire servers. For a house that feels hosted from breakfast to nightcap, hire a lead host. For one big evening inside a longer stay, the usual pattern is a lead host across the stay plus extra servers for that night, quoted together.
How it works
Send your dates, island and area, guest count and how you plan to use the host; we reply with availability and a fixed written quote. We match a host whose experience fits your group — family stays, formal service or events — and brief them before arrival on wake-up times, dietary requirements, children’s preferences, drinks and the meal schedule.
On the day, they work in uniform, on time, to the agreed shift pattern; changes go through your coordinator, not across the table. On longer bookings we follow up, and anything short of the standard is fixed.
