<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by monahos:
I am very much in favor of a system where tips still reflect satisfaction with above-average service; basic wages ought to be high enough to provide a decent income to hotel staff.</font>
Very well said, monahos.
As I commented above, any traveler can tip anyone that they choose.
But the tip-everyone crowd causes a negative effect for the vast majority of travelers who tip 15%, limited generally to the traditional, non-standard-wage employees (US waiters and US bartenders). The negative effect is that it ruins it for the rest of us.
Expectations of tips from all sorts of employees lessen the travel experience. And it has the significantly negative social effect of lessening the value of work. Work performed should be compensated by wages, not by soliciting additional money from customers.