Valet Parking, a Luxury

Valet parking

Valet parking is a parking service offered by some restaurants, stores, and other businesses particularly in North America. In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find parking on their own, customers' vehicles are parked for them by a person called a valet. This service either requires a fee to be paid by the customer or is offered free of

A valet is usually an employee of the establishment, or an employee of a third party valet service. When there is a fee it is usually either a flat amount or a fee based on how long the car is parked. It is customary in the USA to tip the valet who actually parks the car.

Valet parking is most often offered (and is most useful) in urban areas, where parking is scarce, though some upscale businesses offer valet parking as an optional service even though self-parking may be readily available. For example, in wealthy suburban areas like California's Silicon Valley, some hospitals (like Stanford University Medical Center) offer valet parking for the convenience of patients and their visitors. On the other hand, where parking is not scarce, such as on the Las Vegas Strip, it is offered as a convenience to patrons. Some hospitals, like the Yale-affiliated Greenwich Hospital (Connecticut) on Connecticut's Golden Coast, have such limited space for parking that the emergency room is valet parking only (to fit as many cars in as possible; Some cars come with an additional key known as a valet key that starts the ignition and opens the driver's side door but prevents the valet from gaining access to valuables that are located in the trunk or the glove box.

An advantage of valet parking is that it is possible to pack more cars into the same space, in what is generally known as "stack parking." The valet holds all the keys and can park the cars two or more deep, as he can move cars out of the way to free a blocked-in car.

Another type of stacking is called lane stacking. This is useful for events where guests arrive at around the same time, say for a wedding reception. The point of this procedure is to keep the lane (or lanes) of incoming traffic flowing forward so that guests are spared a long wait time for valet service. This is usually accomplished by designating one or two of the valets to be "stackers", who simply "push" each car up fifty feet or so and prepare it for a quick "take-away" for a returning valet to park. The process is then repeated until all cars are parked, utilizing as much lane space as possible, meanwhile keeping the lanes moving.

An additional advantage of valet parking, aside from stacking, is that valets can park cars closer and straighter than some customers may park. This will save them space in the parking lot or garage, and prevent the inconvenience of going to different floors by cramming everything in.

An efficient valet service will implement (or at least prepare) a system to handle the expected number of cars and guests. This may include, but is not limited to, any of the following: designated greeters, stackers, and parkers, a system for marking car locations, and sometimes even a shuttle service for valets at large venues in order to expedite car return times at the end of the event.

A raison d'être of valet parking is that it adds a touch of luxury. Many locations and events that provide valet parking provide extra touches such as bringing the car up front, having the doors opened for the guest, and perhaps cleaning and detailing of the vehicle