Originally Posted by Colin

your issue here is with management. management knows exactly what it is doing. it presents a bill with a line item "service charge" with a calculated 15% and a separate line item "propensity/gratuity" with blank line. at Banyan Tree, the F&B receipts print with the sentence "service charge is included". No such sentence on Andaz receipts. Banyan Tree additional line is labelled "additional gratuity". Management's decisions at Andaz are quite intentional.

employees have income expectations - if the Andaz model is to confuse & extract an extra 15% from most customers, then the employees have likely accepted lower wages as a result. if management eliminates this nonsense, Andaz will need to raise wages to attract & retain staff.

as it stands now, the only choice most reasonable American customers will see is to add an additional 15% to the bill for the server. the battle can't be waged with the server and his family as the collateral damage.

that being said, Andaz printed prices at 50% markup should be the final cost expectation, and, even still, it is a fair final price. $20 final cost for a frilly, quality cocktails with an umbrella & fresh garnish overlooking the Caribbean ain't too bad in my mind.