How much extra are you willing to pay for room service
 

My husband has a conference at the Claremont in Berkley in July, which coincides with our anniversary. We plan to stay there and then spend the weekend in SF.
Because of the special occassion I called the concierge to see about getting wine delivered to the room as a surprise for hubby on arrival. He told me that not only would the bottle have the standard markup, but that a 20% gratuity AND a 22% delivery fee would be added.

I know room service is pricey, but I think 44% in fees is more than I can stomach!

What would you pay for room service?

Hide the wine in your bag, tell him to get you some mints from the gift shop and meet you in the room. :)

No, not how you described it above. As United959 said, bring your own bottle and do your own preparations for a romantic evening.

I will definitely do that. I was just shocked at the amounts. I've never heard of gratuity and a 22% delivery charge for room service! Concierge said it was because it was a "luxury" hotel...

I've stayed at others and not paid that. In fact, at the JW NO two years ago, I arranged a ballon bouquet and a bottle of Dom to be waiting for our arrival. The merchant charged the Dom at cost and JW did not charge me anything for the delivery. They even upgraded my room!

Of course, I did tip the concierge....

The 20% gratuity is pretty standard, but a delivery fee of 22% of the total food and beverage bill seems quite steep. In fact, I'm much more accustomed to seeing a standard delivery charge of say $5.00 or so, rather than a charge based on a percentage of the meal costs, even at 4 and 5 star hotels and resorts in the US. Maybe this is an indication that the lodging industry has concluded that room service is another "underexploited" profit center that will now be mined for all it's worth.

I agree about the gratuity, that is standard. I fear you are right about the delivery charge. What's worse to me in this case is that I had the order form sent to me to review the available choices, and the "delivery" charge isn't even reflected on it.

Agree 100%

It amazes me that hotels pull this sort of stuff. But obviously they get away with it. At least some of the time. If you're a frequent guest with the hotel or hotel chain and complain, I'll bet they'd take it off.

My all time favorite is still the San Jose Fairmont where a colleague of mine got charged $35 for "borrowing" a phone cord overnight for his computer. (Yes, he complained and got the charge removed)

The 22% delivery charge is simply greed. Even the 20% gratuity seems a bit high - for service in a restaurant, OK, but not to deliver a bottle of wine.

I wouldn't have a problem with a 15-20% service charge and a fixed room service fee, like $5. 44% is absurd.

Considering the prices they charge, I wouldn't pay one thin dime extra for room service. I don't see why they even deserve a tip. It's essentially take-out.

I don't use room service often, but I can't recall ever paying a service charge. I do think I've paid an 18% gratuity and put a few bucks in the delivery guys hand, assuming he didn't actually get the whole gratuity.

For 44%, I'd want a little entertainment with my delivery.

Hubby WOULD like that! ;)

Work out what the total bill will come to and then go and spend that money on a really fabulous bottle of wine from a wine merchants! If the hotel wants to try and rip you off like this they should be losers not you! We take wine and spirits into our hotel room all the time, even in swanky 5* places - never been an issue, I won't pay £28 for a wine that I can buy for £5.

Agreed - bring your own Vino - and other goodies early if you're able to scope the room ahead of time.

If not - just back it in your carry-on. 22% + 20% is pure greed.

One other observation;
Next time you're travelling. look at the menu in your room (for room service) and note the prices. Then go to the restaurant and look at the menu. Often there is a 10 to 20% difference in price. This is in addition to teh gratuity and delivery fee.