Beiruting News

Going out in fancy dresses and high heels and men suited up for a party, you wouldn’t want to park far from the pub and walk all the distance, so you pull over at the front door, give your keys to a stranger, tip him, and have him park the car for you. If it is a Ferrari, he will drive away in it for a while then park it at the front door, but if it is an 80’s or 90’s model car, he will have it parked next to some dumpster around the corner. Valet Parking Service; is it a necessity or simply luxury?

Let us define the true need behind valet parking first, and then compare it to how it is serviced in Lebanon.

1. Convenience:

a.Avoid walking long distances; this is basically true if there are no parking lots anywhere around. However, if we take live examples from what is served in our country, half of the times, it will actually be parked in a parking lot not so far away from the place. Ironically, some venues have huge parking lots right in front of them, but still recruit valet attendants to take the car from you!! Imagine the abuse!

b.Handicapped drivers; well it is understandable that in this case the driver would need assistance, but I assume in a developed country, you would have parking lots very close to the front door designated for their use!

c.Bad Weather; now here’s the thing, you will be served comfort, but imagine the valet parking attendant jumping in and out of cars all wet…

2. Stack Parking:

a.One example of stack parking is packing as much cars as possible in a given space, as they can block in cars, and even park in the drive way. Now assume you have requested your car, and it was blocked by 4 or 5 cars, and since they want to serve you fast, imagine the chaos…

b.Stacking can also mean when all clients arrive at the same time, and the valet attendants attempt to organize traffic and keep the lanes flowing. The answer to that is; have you even been to Gemmayze?!

Valet attendants need to be knowledgeable in cars and highly responsible. They should drive the car properly and not park it on the side walk. They shouldn’t fight over who will drive the fancy cars and practice “need for speed” in race cars. They must have proper insurance and not keep the polish products on hold to cover up any scratches. Let us for once have something done professionally and efficiently and not have gangs take over, not to mention that some have set a minimum tariff, so it is no longer based on tipping! Have a system set to quantify the expected number of guests, and organize the human resources accordingly. Don’t reserve lots that are meant to be for public use, but reserve a suited place capable of fitting the expected number of guests. Hopefully that one day, I will ask for my car and not have to double check all the sides to make sure that all is in one piece.

By : Stephany B.