Tips?

[PJackson]

Can anyone give advice on leaving tips at DLRP? I think I read that most restaurants add a standard charge to the bill that you can have removed if you like? Can you then tip the waiter themselves?

Do you all leave tips? I see more and more people don't but we've nearly always left 10% of the bill unless the service/meal was v bad. How much is expected/reasonable?

What about luggage porters? Do you tip them and again how much?

Thanks for your help :)

[norty mouse]

hi patsy,
we tend to leave a tip if we have eaten in likes walts or annettes and it is usually around 10% be it right or wrong, only place we didnt leave one was rainforest cafe, because they never bothered giving us our change, they just kept it, and the service was pretty dire so i guess they knew they would only be getting the spare change coins.:goodvibes

[gemmybear83]

Can anyone give advice on leaving tips at DLRP? I think I read that most restaurants add a standard charge to the bill that you can have removed if you like? Can you then tip the waiter themselves?

Do you all leave tips? I see more and more people don't but we've nearly always left 10% of the bill unless the service/meal was v bad. How much is expected/reasonable?

What about luggage porters? Do you tip them and again how much?

Thanks for your help :)

I always tip, unless as you say service is rubbish. I would leave a minimum of 10% (more if there good), but to be honest it often depends what change I have on me :guilty: . I don't like adding a tip when I pay on card as I always think it will go to management and not to the waiting staff, so I will leave a tip in cash.

I would tip luggage porters - a couple of euros maybe? I feel guilty as my bags are usually very heavy!:eek:

[PJackson]

So if a meal bill was £200 (in euros) would you leave a £20 tip then? I know we have in the past but my Mum is giving me a hard time saying others don't leave tips these days :confused3

[gemmybear83]

So if a meal bill was £200 (in euros) would you leave a £20 tip then? I know we have in the past but my Mum is giving me a hard time saying others don't leave tips these days :confused3

I would .... although I ahve never spent £200 on a meal :rotfl: (more like £20!!). I think most people tip .... I hope!:confused3

[PJackson]

I agree with you it's just my Mum is being a bit odd about it saying people don't tip as much these days??

Our Auberge meal will be around that price unfortunately as it's 4 adults and one child! :scared1:

[Ware Bears]

We always tip except once at King Ludwig's last year where the server was so bad I couldn't even call her a CM ;) We tip minimum of 10% at DLRP, more if the service is exceptional. We're the same as gemmybear, we always like to tip the server in cash, then it's up to them whether they pool it or not.

I saw other people tipping so think most people do.

ETA: Forgot to say where we stay we have to deal with our own cases :rotfl: but I reckon I would tip a porter €1 per case.

[aussietravellers]

Do you tip the housekeeping? :confused3

It is something that we don't do in Australia, but I know when we go to the US a tip for the housekeeping is expected and at WDW and Disneyland (Anaheim) we leave a tip for the housekeeper (mousekeeper). Just wondering what is done in Disneyland Paris?

[Ware Bears]

I do. I left €3 a day but most days it wasn't taken even though it was in a marked envelope so guess perhaps not many people leave tips. :confused3 I like to because I used to do chambermaiding in the school holidays and was always soooooo grateful for any tips I received!!

[Cyrano]

I'm another who would leave a tip unless the service was exceptionally bad.
For Cafe Mickey 2 adults, 3 children we were just under €100 and left the waitress who was brilliant €15 :)

We had a similar case as Elaine with housekeeping. The envelope was always left at DCR. So on the days we saw the housekeeping staff we tipped them. Most tried to say that it was not necessary but they were appreciative when we insisted :goodvibes

[cap'njack.]

We always tip in restuarants, however I've never tiped the cleaning staff at all.

One of our friends refuses to tip anywhere he goes, he even picked up the tip that his wife left on the table without her knowing. He says that he doesn't get tiped for simply doing his job so why should he tip anyone else :confused3
Guess it's just the way some people are!

[PJackson]

My Mum really doesn't mind paying for things (I mean we are staying in the DLH afterall) but she says she used to leave tips and found others weren't so got a bit fed up doing it :confused3

I can see it causing issues tbh - as me and my DH like to leave a tip but only if food & service is good - I don't believe in tipping if the experience isn't good. I think we'll just have to agree to leave the tips :scared:

My Mum said she'd rather use the money to get extra bits for the girls - which is nice but I agree that waiters make up their wage with tips etc and if they try hard to accomodate you and are pleasant then why not tip....

I think she's just concerned that we'll run out of money and be scrimping (and she doesn't like to use her visa as there is a charge which I do agree is a rip off!).

I'm sure we'll sort something out ;)

PS - Do you normally tip the drivers of private transfers - I would but not sure how much would be right?

[DLPdaft]

I've only used the private shuttle once - the driver was excellent, he even carried my DD and Dnieces cases from where he met us all the way to the car. So I did tip him 5 euros (our shuttle cost was 55 euros).

And I do tip at table-service restaurants, if I've had good service (which, to be honest, has been every table service meal we've had at DLRP).

[davewasbaloo]

I tip 10-20% for restaurants dependent on quality of service.

1 euro per bag to porters.

I tend to give 10% for a good journey in a cab/shuttle where they take care of you and the bags.

[Bolanette87]

We don't go in for all this 10% tipping stuff....... We generally leave a couple of Euros, unless the service was really terrible, in which case they get nothing.... The biggest Tip we left was around 6Euro at California Grill.... I tend to find the CMs look a bit surprised when they're tipped, which leads me to think they aren't expecting it.

Bob xoxox

[MrsTigger]

We tip but I have to admit I have no idea how much... I leave it up to MrTiggs...

[Cyrano]

I can see it causing issues tbh - as me and my DH like to leave a tip but only if food & service is good - I don't believe in tipping if the experience isn't good. I think we'll just have to agree to leave the tips :scared:
It is a hard call since there are so many customs and practices that exisit. Some of it doesn't make sense. Why is it okay to tip in a table service but not in a fast food :confused3
Like others I'm always wary of a service charge that is automatically added to the bill or leaving a tip through the credit card.
What about if the food is lousy? Is that really the fault of the waitress? But then you don't tip the chef :confused3

[PJackson]

Thanks for all the replies - interesting to see different people's perspectives :thumbsup2

[hildasmuriel]

I read that tipping is expected more in the US where waiting staff can be paid only a few dollars an hour. In the UK waiting staff should be protected by the minimum wage, so tipping is not essential to make their wages up. They proabably earn as much as the person who stacks the shelf in Tesco - and I certainly don't tip them. :)
I personally do tip unless service was abysmal (never happened in DLRP) but I wouldn't be too worried if your mum doesn't believe in it, PJ. I would think the labour laws in France are as good as ours and staff should be on a minimum wage. As Bob noticed, the staff often look surprised to get a tip, so either they are good actors or they genuinely don't expect it.

[Ware Bears]

I've just found this (http://gofrance.about.com/od/travelplanning/a/tippinginfrance.htm). I'd thought I'd read somewhere that there was a service charge added in France but as I'd never seen it on the end of any bill thought I'd got it wrong.

[ukstitch]

I read that tipping is expected more in the US where waiting staff can be paid only a few dollars an hour. In the UK waiting staff should be protected by the minimum wage, so tipping is not essential to make their wages up. They proabably earn as much as the person who stacks the shelf in Tesco - and I certainly don't tip them. :)
I personally do tip unless service was abysmal (never happened in DLRP) but I wouldn't be too worried if your mum doesn't believe in it, PJ. I would think the labour laws in France are as good as ours and staff should be on a minimum wage. As Bob noticed, the staff often look surprised to get a tip, so either they are good actors or they genuinely don't expect it.

You're right - many US jobs are paid a low wage with tips expected to make up the difference. In the US, tipping is expected for almost everything - Bell boys, waiters, taxi drivers, cinema attendants - you name it and a tip is usually expected. It's so common in the US that you're almost considered rude if you don't tip.

Personally, I don't like this approach, because I feel a tip should be a bonus reward, rather than the normal. From the point of my US trip, I have to be careful with my tipping because we don't have a formal policy for tip related expenses (as they aren't recorded on an official receipt), so unless I can justify it every time I tip, then that comes out of my own pocket, even if it was a tip for a work related taxi trip for example. That's fine when I've had good service and personally want to tip, but it's more awkward when I've tipped because I feel I have to.

I've just found this (http://gofrance.about.com/od/travelplanning/a/tippinginfrance.htm). I'd thought I'd read somewhere that there was a service charge added in France but as I'd never seen it on the end of any bill thought I'd got it wrong.

Indeed, although I've never noticed the note at the end of the bill in DLRP...

[PJackson]

Thanks Elaine that's an interesting article. Seems it's the driver that benefits most from tips! We'll see how it goes - someone told me that service is included at DLP but wonder if the waiters get it? Also someone said you never get your change back!?! :confused3

[Ware Bears]

someone told me that service is included at DLP but wonder if the waiters get it? That's what always puzzled me, I'd always looked at the foot of the bill expecting to see the charge. Now I understand that it's already included in the price of the items although looking back through my receipts a meal we had in Paris did print the charge at the bottom of the bill, it was only for reference though and wasn't added on to the total.

I would hope that it's passed on to them. That's why I always like to tip in cash to an actual server rather than add it on to the bill total. Then as far as I'm concerned I've rewarded the server for his/her good service. If he/she then decides to pool tips that's his/her choice. Also someone said you never get your change back!?! :confused3:confused3


If we've got quite a bit of cash left by the last day we'll pay for our last day's main meal in cash and have always been given all our change back. The CMs have never assumed it was a tip.

[PJackson]

I've actually heard two people say about the change now (second hand mind you) maybe we are talking like 2 euros or something....?

[DLPdaft]

I've often paid for meals at DLRP in cash, and have always had the change back, with my receipt.

[BONITATIME]

I would always tip 10% (even when the bill is over 200€.) I would rather not go out to eat than not tip. I wourk in the service industry and know how much waiters are paid and how the tips really make thier life better. It is a matter for everyone to choose though. We were talking to one of the waiters in the bar in DLH a couple of years ago and I got the impression that inspite of it being a 5 star hotel they were not particularly well paid.
I would tip a bus driver a couple of euros per person. And try to accunulate change for the chambermaids. I have never used a porter but would guess about the same as a bus driver.