Q from an Aussie about tipping

[viaggiamo]

Hi

I am Ok with regular tipping in the USA as we have travelled throughout it many times, but I have two specific questions regarding tipping etiquette...

1. When checking out of a hotel, the bell hop collects the luggage and then the valet pops it into the car/taxi: who do I tip? I know it's around $1 a bag, but do I tip the bellhop who collects the luggage from my room or the valet who pops it in the car? Or both?

2. I have afew parcels being delivered to two hotels on our trip and I want to know if I tip the concierge (who I think is holding them) and how much? Is it a set amount per parcel or a generic amount overall? There will be maybe 4-5 parcels in total.

Thanks.

PS: one more...

We are staying at a resort which charges $25 per day for tips. I know we still tip at a restaurant (i think, anyway) but do we truly still not tip anyone there?

 

[java]

If I was being charged $25 a day for tips that would be it. Unless someone went above and beyond their job( like if the parcels were brought to your room)

Are you sure the charge I a tip charge? And not a service charge? (which I still don't know what the heck that is)

 

[lizabu]

I would tip the bell hop and the valet as they both provided a service to you. For the parcel I'd wait and see if they charge you a fee. If there's a fee I wouldn't tip. If no fee I would. For the place that has the tips included most often they are tipping pool attendants, housekeeping and bellman for you. I would still tip in the restaurant.

The parcels would probably be $1 per parcel. If he brings them right to your room maybe tip more for the extra service.

 

[viaggiamo]

Thankyou.
That is very helpful. It can be a bit tricky coming from a culture that does not tip and we are very aware of not being stingy!

 

[Gigi22]

There's also something called a "resort charge" that some hotels and resorts tack on. It's a daily fee, and does not cover tips.

 

[rsschneck]

If it's a resort charge it covers maybe the exercise facilities, pool, self parking, wifi, etc. This is probably not a tip ( never heard of a hotel charging a tip).

Yes, tip the valet AND the bellman.

Your parcels will probably be brought up by bell services and you would tip the bellman for bringing up each parcel.

Still tip about 18% in restaurants ( not including the tax in your 18%). If service is bad lower the tip and if service is excellent increase the tip.

 

[lizabu]

There are resorts, usually all inclusives that specify that gratuities are included. A resort charge is a different ball of wax. When there's a resort charge they will usually specify what they cover sometimes in general terms (use of water sports equipment, wifi, entertainment etc).

 

[mjkacmom]

Never had a packaged delivered, but yes on tipping the bellman and the valet - one brought your luggage from your room to the door, one loaded up your vehicle. The $25 sounds like a resort or service charge - I can't imagine that amount would be instead of tipping (baggages, restaurant, bartender, housekeeping, concierge...).

 

[crisi]

If you want a rule of thumb, tip $1 per bag or parcel to anyone who touches it. If you are stingy, you can tip a little less per bag when you have a big quantity of bags (i.e. two bags should be $2, at six bags, $5 is fine).

However, I will also say that even in the U.S. where we have a tipping culture, many, many people do not tip the bellhop or the valet, or if they do, they hand them $1 for twenty six bags (maybe not that bad). So while the above is a good rule of thumb, putting $2 in a bell hops hand for handling five bags is way better than stiffing them (and if everyone did even that, the job would pay - well, you wouldn't get rich, but it would be a more respectable daily wage).

 

[Alesia]

Hi

I am Ok with regular tipping in the USA as we have travelled throughout it many times, but I have two specific questions regarding tipping etiquette...

1. When checking out of a hotel, the bell hop collects the luggage and then the valet pops it into the car/taxi: who do I tip? I know it's around $1 a bag, but do I tip the bellhop who collects the luggage from my room or the valet who pops it in the car? Or both?

You should tip anyone who touches your bags about $1 for each bag.

2. I have afew parcels being delivered to two hotels on our trip and I want to know if I tip the concierge (who I think is holding them) and how much? Is it a set amount per parcel or a generic amount overall? There will be maybe 4-5 parcels in total.

Thanks.

Same as above. Give the person Who hands you the packages $5.

PS: one more...

We are staying at a resort which charges $25 per day for tips. I know we still tip at a restaurant (i think, anyway) but do we truly still not tip anyone there?

I have never heard of a resort pre-charging for tips. How exactly do they refer to the charge? Do they refer to it as a gratuity?

 

[viaggiamo]

Hi

you guys are great! Thankyou.

I had never heard of the tipping fee either and we will be being charged a resort fee for afew hotels but I assumed (correctly, from your advice) that it was for the pool and other hotel servies, not direct personable services.

This is for Pebble Beach Spanish Bay resort and it states:

For all room reservations, the hotel retains a portion of the service charge as an administrative fee; the remainder of the service charge is distributed to Front Desk, Guest Services, Porter/Valets, Housekeeping, and Resort Shuttle employees. For spa services, a service charge of 20% will be assessed.

So it's a fee on top of the tax and they call it a service charge.

 

[bumbershoot]

I looked up the Pebble Beach resort (oh WOW what a great time you will have!) and it really does seem that you will NOT need to tip anyone.

I googled the resort name and added "tipping" and the reviews of the place state clearly that the staff is pre-tipped (that's the fee you're being charged), and despite not getting tips directly from guests they were still wonderful.

So at this particular hotel, you do NOT tip anything because it has already been done with that fee. Enjoy yourself extra for me, OK? I love the Carmel/Pacific Grove/Monterey area!!!!!

 

[viaggiamo]

Cool, thanks bumbershoot for checking it out for me.

I appreciate your help.

We love that area too and were there last year but DH didn't want to pay the $$$ to stay and play, but being the golf nut he is he regretted it so this trip I booked it for him as part of his Christmas present.

 

[bumbershoot]

Cool, thanks bumbershoot for checking it out for me.

I appreciate your help.

We love that area too and were there last year but DH didn't want to pay the $$$ to stay and play, but being the golf nut he is he regretted it so this trip I booked it for him as part of his Christmas present.

You are welcome. I have a friend whose father used to own a home along 17 mile drive...so the name of the place caught my eye.

You are possibly the best spouse EVER.



As for other resorts, I don't love it when resorts purposely put more than once person in the pipeline for touching our things. Our first time at Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando we ended up with 3 people touching our bags before they got to our room. The guy who pulled out the bags, the guy who put the bags on the cart, and then they whisked the cart to the back (even though we asked them to just follow us in case they had a room ready) and a third person brought the cart back out to follow us to the room. I do NOT like that and when I'm the one in charge of tipping I get pretty picky about who gets the money. Either that or the $1-$2/bag gets divided by the number of people touching them.

If it just happens, or if there's a good amount of time in between, that's different. LIke if I drop things off and 10 hours later come back, that's fine. But that time at RPR with 3 people inside of 10 minutes? NO. I won't play that game. Just to give you a slightly different perspective.

 

[Kay1]

We're staying at a resort (The Gasparilla Inn) and they charge a daily fee for gratuities, too. Not a resort fee. I'm not used to this, but have read reviews saying tips were refused by employees.

I think the restaurant policy may be different as it's open to the public. I'm going to look over our checks to see if a gratuity is added. Really, we should probably do that all the time as some of the resort areas do add 18%.

Have a great time, OP.

 

[DSNY4ever]

I have never heard of a tip charge either, but I could see that at a place like Pebble Beach. There are some truly beautiful views there. I have never gotten to stay there, only stopped to eat. You will have an amazing time! If you like easy hiking/walks Point Lobos is right nearby and has beautiful easy hikes with amazing views (we saw dolphins, seals, otters). Bring binoculars if you can or maybe the hotel has some you can rent out. There is a small market right at your resort and you can pick up a lunch to take with you on outings. Obviously the aquarium is amazing. Lover's Point in Pacific Grove is really pretty and the walk to the aquarium from there is really nice (or renting a bike to ride along there is great too).

Okay, I am rambling, have fun- the restaurants all around there are amazing!