Valet parking system fast becoming a fixture in capital

By Riyadi

JAKARTA (JP): Taking a girlfriend or boyfriend to a plaza by car on the weekend is mostly a pleasurable occasion. But this can turn sour as soon as you reach the overcrowded parking lot.

But at certain places like Pondok Indah Mall one need not bother looking for a parking space for their well-loved cars. Attendants wait happily to park your car in a save and proper place.

"It is not a good idea for a gentleman to take out his girlfriend, and have to drive all around the parking lots. That gives valet parking a distinct value," said Lukito Sutanto, the founder of Le Gong Valet Parking Service.

Valet parking used to be synonymous with flashy hotels and celebrity parties. But lately it has been democratized. Some high-rise buildings, cafes, meeting halls and plazas offer valet parking.

Even a house party could boast a valet, said Lukito, who started his valet parking business four years ago.

"Rather than letting your guests wander around looking for an empty space for themselves, why don't you ask a valet service to do all those things?" he said.

Valet fees for a house party can be negotiated, he said. The host could either cover all costs or cover only a portion of it. In the case of the latter, Le Gong would request tips from the guests.

The most traditional valet parking, that is at hotels, is usually a free service. Mandarin Oriental Hotel, for instance, is one star-rated hotel in the city which provides free valet parking.

The Mandarin offers a unique valet parking service. Despite its limited parking spaces, this hotel does not charge guests anything for using its valet parking. However, guests who park their own cars are charged the normal hourly parking fee by Secure Parking, which manages parking spaces at the hotel.

Here, visitors obviously benefit from valet parking.

Mandarin front office manager Maman Lingga said the hotel does not charge for valet parking because those who use the service are mostly VIPs. "Nevertheless, we treat all guests the same, in terms of valet parking."

Maman said there were normally two valet attendants on one shift. But when there is a function at the hotel, he could deploy up to five parking attendants.

To be an attendant, Maman said, one must first of all have a driver's license, know how to drive various types of cars and be able to communicate in English.

Some hotels, however, charge their guests for valet parking. Grand Hyatt Hotel, for instance, charges Rp 2,000 per car, plus the usual hourly parking fees.

Nevertheless, for VIP guests, hotels like the Grand Hyatt always have a reserved free parking space for them, including valet parking.

Other hotels do not bother hiring staff for parking. They just use a valet parking service like Le Gong. Hotel Santika Jakarta, for instance, is negotiating with Le Gong about a valet service at the hotel.

Besides at hotels, valet parking is also available at some restaurants and cafes. Restaurants can use distant car parks rather than rent expensive space next to their premises. Besides, professional parkers can cram cars into a parking lot despite limited space.

Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta, which is uses Le Gong's services, is among the first cafes to use valet parking.

Other cafes and restaurants which provide valet parking, in cooperation with Le Gong, include Sizzler, Jalan-Jalan, Twilight Cafe, Indicus and Ole-Ole Cafe.

Le Gong's Lukito said the valet parking business was promising despite limited parking space in Jakarta. But the demand has yet to arise significantly.

Not all car owners are happy to let attendants drive their cars to parking lots. There are still many car owners who do not let other people drive their cars.

"I cannot let my car be driven by people I don't know," said a frequent visitor to Pondok Indah Mall.

Another car owner said she just could not let other people enter her car, which she considers to be like her private room.

Renata Sofjan, public relations manager at the Grand Hyatt, had a different reason for wanting to park his own car. "If I know the location already, I would rather park my car myself."

Parking attendants are happy just to smile at this type of person.

Despite the limited market for valet parking services, Le Gong has expanded tremendously. When it opened in 1994, Le gong was manned by 12 personnel, but now, four years later, it is has some 80 personnel -- a significant growth.

When asked about Le Gong's turnover, Lukito just said it's tens of millions a month. "Just imagine, we pay one person at least Rp 300,000 a month, plus bonus and some other benefits."

Despite promising returns, Lukito said, there are only a few which really focus on the business of valet parking.

"This business seems so simple, but in reality it is not that easy. It needs a special type of management," Lukito said.

To get qualified parkers is not an easy job either. "Once you advertise a vacancy in a newspaper, hundreds of applicants rush to your office. But out of those hundreds of applicants, you get less than 10 suitable people. That's normal."

Lukito said he must be choosy in selecting from candidates for parking attendants because "80 percent of this business is trust".

He also warned that establishing a valet parking service was not a license to print money. All people in charge of valet parking service live in fear of dents and scratches, not to mention collisions. Put some young men in charge of Rp 100 million cars and you are bound to get some expensive accidents.

To reduce incidental claims, Le Gong insures cars in some of its locations for the high risk of dents and scratches.

Le Gong also has a disclaimer on its valet parking tickets, saying that "We are not responsible for: car damages/damaged goods inside/outside your car; lost car/goods lost inside/outside your car; accidents between your car and other cars/people in this parking area."

Lukito said a disclaimer was necessary, otherwise people could easily make claims on Le Gong "for any scratch on their cars". Nevertheless, if a crash does occur, Le Gong would take some responsibility. "But it should be within reason and still under our capability."

"We must take this kind of responsibility because again this is a business of trust."