To the OP:
Given the cost of minibar drinks, why not go to a 7-11 instead?
Originally Posted by
LHR/MEL/Europe FF
I like New York, but the tipping there makes it uncomfortable. My friend, a new yorker, left a 27% tip for dinner. That ruined the meal for me.
Did he expect you to chip in? If not, why would his expense bother you?
That said, a 27% tip on a non-trivial bill would indicate (to my mind) extraordinary service or some fairly expensive (relative to the rest of the bill) comped items.
Originally Posted by
jayball
In most states (except Oregon and Washington, I believe - someone can correct me if I'm wrong), waitstaff make anywhere between $2-4/hour - well below minimum wage.
Some cities and counties in California have minimum/living wage ordinances above and beyond the state/federal minimum for tipped staff. I'm fairly sure, for example, that the San Francisco minimum wage ordinance applies to tipped staff as well.
Originally Posted by
1312AvEK
Find a grocery store (they are allllll over southern california!) and bring food to your room in a cooler (like my mom always did when we were kinda poor) and make sandwiches, if your room doesn't have a fridge you can request one (not joking).
Even if you don't request a fridge, it's pretty easy to find food that doesn't require refrigeration.
This is good advice outside the US too, of course - the ability to put together a good meal from say, Sainsburys in London or CONAD in Rome has made a HUGE difference in being able to eat well AND affordably when traveling where restaurants are relatively pricier.
You can find a way to sneak in booze too (every grocery store sells booze).
Why would you have to sneak in booze? Is there some secret "no outside alcohol" rule at most hotels that I've never noticed?
I've brought my own bottle of wine for in-room consumption with my wife, or picked up my own sixer of beer many a time...
Originally Posted by
mshaikun
Travel a long way at great expense to only eat in fast food restaurants and at breakfast bars. Brilliant.
For some parts of the US, the fast food is the most authentic local cuisine anyway :P
Originally Posted by
Mr H
Do these specify the maximum wage too? Are hotels and bars really prohibited from paying their staff a living wage?
There's no legal requirement to keep the wages down, only market forces that encourage it (often rather strongly.)