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Tipping at 5-Star hotels

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    I had a discussion with a friend recently and we both had differing opinions on this subject. When staying in a five star hotel, what's the norm for tipping?

    Here's what I usually do:

    Maid - $5 per day (leave on pillow each day)
    Turndown - $2 per day (leave on pillow each evening)
    Room service - 20% of the total order
    Bellhop - $2/$3 per bag
    Valet - $5 to fetch or retrieve car

    I think that sounds about right. But the problem is that when you add it all up, you constantly have to keep a wad of bills handy.

    I'd be interested to hear if this is how everyone else handles their tipping or if they have a different approach.

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    To those travelers that are accustomed to traveling mainly in the USA, your question, and the suggested amounts, may be of some relevance. However, when it comes to international travel, what country you are in is a much more important factor in determining gratuities than the number of stars that the hotel you're staying in has! In particular, most international hotels impose "service charges" that can be as high as twenty percent of the daily rate you are paying for your room, so that you need not have to worry at all about tipping. So, for example, in Tokyo, you wouldn't tip for ANY of the services you mentioned. However, at the end of the day, if your hotel room rate was 50,000 yen a day, the service charge would amount to 10,000 yen, or, at 115 yen to the dollar, about 87 dollars. That amount would then be distributed by the hotel to its various service employees. Consequently, the first question you should always ask before tipping is "where am I?" What is considered to be the proper gratuity varies substantially from country to country. Some very good guidelines can be found in virtually all of the good guidebooks, such as Fodor's.

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    I agree with DonPablo. The tipping techniques are totally different in different countries and you have to be careful not to insult anyone. In Japan, it's actually considered rude if you leave a tip, because it implies that people must be paid extra to ensure that they do their job well.

    You forgot to mention concierges. I think that's a really important one. The best concierges will start off by getting you the tables you want (or tickets, etc.), when you want them. Then, they'll reconfirm your reservations for you before your arrival and have a note waiting for you at the front desk with all of the information you'll need for your reservations. I make sure to tip extra well for concierges who go to that level of service. Unfortunately, not all 5-star hotel concierges will make that effort. So, I won't tip the concierges as much in those cases.

    My recommendation is to do what you think is right. But, I have definitely found that higher tips translate to better service.

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    I always try to overtip when the service is good. Not in a flashy way. Just a little extra than they might expect. For a few extra dollars you'll find that the service improves significantly when you do.

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    I sort of wish there wasn't a need for tipping. Not because of the money. Considering the rates at some top hotels, I think I'd barely notice if they tacked on a nice gratuity for everyone. But, it's really a hassle to have to always carry around enough cash so that you always have enough on hand.

    btw. Here's a good article I found about overtipping. Makes it almost sound fun.

    http://nytimes.com/2006/12/03/style/tmagazine/03ttipping.html

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    Well, whatever you do, when tipping the maid you need to be sure to hide the money under a pillow or beneath the sheets.

    As much as people want to believe that maids are the only ones who enter your rooms, their are actually a slew of people who are in and out of the rooms each day — especially at the best hotels. Mini-bar tenders, housekeeping inspectors, balcony and window cleaners, and maintenance workers are in and out of the rooms, even before the maids are able to get there. And they will take the tips without blinking an eye. Hiding the the tip is the best way to make sure the tip gets into the right hands.

    I can't say I've witnessed tip stealing first-hand, but after reading "Hotel Babylon," a great book about behind the scenes of 5-star hotels, you can really see how difficult it is for the maids.

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    What would you tip a concierge, then? $10, $20, $50?

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    It really depends on how tough the request is.

    If the concierge was able to get me exactly what I wanted, reconfirms the reservation, and has sent a note to my room with the scheduled information for me, either on my arrival or the day of the reservation, I'll usually tip $20 for each "difficult" request and $10 for each "easy" request. Maybe even $5 for extremely simple requests.

    The top concierges usually send notes to their guests as I've described above. The truth is that they're kind of expecting a tip because the note will usually have their name on it. Although, I suppose the name is mainly there in case you have any questions.

    A good concierge will be able to pull strings and hold tables at all the right places in anticipation of the whims and requests of guests.

    So, if the reservation was absolutely impossible for a normal person to get, say at the best place in town on short notice, and they still managed to get me in anyway, I'll probably tip $40 for the request. But, there aren't that many concierges that can pull strings like that. You'll certainly know it when you see it.

    There's nothing wrong with tipping $10 for really simple requests. But overall a concierge in a good hotel usually gets much larger tips than anyone else. It's not like other jobs in the hotel, like bringing you your bags or opening a door for you. A top concierge can do what he/she does because of the relationships they've forged and the ability they have to satisfy all requests no matter what they are. So, they are very used to getting slipped large bills all the time. So, it's unlikely that you'll overtip a capable concierge. Tip what you think is right.

    Thanks from: Vanessa
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    You know, I never used to tip the maid each day. Instead I would always add up the days and leave an envelope with a good amount of money in it at the end of my stay.

    Now that I think about it, that's really not fair to a maid if she has a day off, or a different maid does some of the work on different days. I think I'll be tipping each day from now on.

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    Also, tipping the person at reception who checks you in either $20 or $40 can help if you want to have a chance at an upgrade. Just make sure you give them the tip before you check in and make sure you tell them "this is for you." Otherwise, they might think you just want change.

    It only works in ideal situations (short stays, high vacancy), but even if you don't get an upgrade they are much less likely to stick you in a bad room.

    You can also think of it as an insurance policy. If there is a problem with your room once you get there, they are much more likely to get you something better. At the very least, they should walk you to your room and make sure everything is fine. If they have time, the best hotels usually do this when you check in anyway.

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    The worst is when a hotel runs out of cash at the cashiers desk. Then you look like a complete fool.

    The only place this doesn't seem to happen is in Las Vegas. Go figure.

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    There's a website called frontdesktip.com that records and tracks upgrade success rates, and experiences, in Las Vegas for people trying out the "$20 trick" — as it's apparently known there.

    http://frontdesktip.com/faq.php

    As you are checking into a hotel, you take your drivers license and your credit card and stick a $20 bill in the middle of it, and ask if there are any complimentary upgrades available. Supposedly it works better in the late evening (after 10pm), but the website tracking mechanism suggests that it works more than 70% of the time.

    The nice part about the trick, at least in Las Vegas, is that they will usually return the $20 if they can't get you an upgrade.

    Thanks from: n-voi
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    pinb, if the property is aware of this 'trick', they will implement an upsell incentive that will pay the clerk far more when he successfully upsells you - this will probably be a win-win-win as you get the right room, often times at a better raten then when pre-booked (check with hyatt hotels), earn the clerk some additional income and secure the hotel additional revenue. it's still a great site and nice find! thanks for that!

    regarding tipping, i would say you should tip as much as you feel is right. there could be a 20$ tip for a capuccino or just a dollar note for a concierge advice. it depends on more factors then just the value of the service you are paying for as there are many 5* star hotels where you will be paying more for your suite then the line staff is earning in half or even one whole year. one should be considerate whith these decisions and also think of the local habits. this does not mean that a hotel charging 20% service charge will pay these 20% to their staff. I used to work in hotels while I was going to college and would receive such a low service charge it was really miserable as the owner chose to keep the service charge for himself.

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