RockoHorse

Why stick with room service when you can order out?

You can get all sorts of food now online - or in the yellow pages - free or cheap delivery and the tip is up to you.

sbm12

But does the 18-22% actually go to the person bringing the food up to you? If it does, that's great. If it does not and it goes to the bottom line of the hotel, does it really count? The proble is that it is hard to know where the money is actually going.

icurhere2

Let them know some of their customer's are paying attention. I make notes on receipts when the gratuity / tip is already included and I'm provided with a "Tip" line.

I've done this in the Hilton LAX a lot.

If the server receives none of this tip, he/she is working for the wrong hotel.

RichardInSF

There are hotels that won't allow the delivery driver to go up to the room in order to preserve their room service monopoly. So you better have a mobile for them to call and be prepared to go down to the lobby in that case!

Greedy? Sure. But it happens.

ajax

Know any good delivery places in Eindhoven?

Not all of us are lucky enough to be spoilt for choice...

FindMeTravel

I don't know. Does the "Additional Tip" go to the server?

When there's a Gratuity % already included, I guess I won't be adding tips.

ajax

I never add a tip when someone has done it for me, especially in addition to a "service charge".

Although it's a bit of a shame, because you wonder how much the person delivering the food is actually getting (chances are they're not making very much to begin with) and how much is going to the hotel. There is talk of making a law in the UK disclosing how much of the tip is actually going to the server, but as of right now it's just talk.

underpressure

I have actually asked the person delivering and more often than not; service charge is for the person delivering the grub.

$4.95 is plenty for bringing the Club Sandwich, thank you.

ajax

Well, exactly.

$5 tip (and by the way I paid €10 for a service charge the other night ) is plenty for someone who carries a tray from a lift to a room.

BDL-FRA

Actually, I've always been of the impression that you tip on the base value of the service, not on the extras such as tax, service charge, etc. Now, that said, I'm also not stingy when I tip (18%-20% is about normal for me) as long as the service is not lacking. Based on this, you do not keep adding fractions on top of fractions ad infinitum to get to a final value.

I'm also with everyone else here: 22% is more than enough for a tip, considering (A) I have no choice in the matter and (B) the amount of effort to earn this tip is less than if I was sitting down in the restaurant.

Cha-cha-cha

It would be interesting to know if any economists have studied or theorized about tipping. Economists generally assume that the economic behavior of individuals is rational, and that the sum total of individuals' rational economic behavior will be economic efficiency. It seems hard to reconcile these assumptions with tipping. The whole process is wildly irrational and introduces many inefficiencies (bookkeeping, tax avoidance, distortions caused by different assumptions among the people involved about tips, dissatisfaction on both sides of the transactions, to name a few.)

One way to put the question: in areas of the world, e.g. Japan, much of the South Pacific, tipping is not customary. How is the economic functioning of travel and service industries in those places less efficient than in places where tipping prevails? (Maybe should be a separate topic?)

underpressure

There is a Doubletree resort in Miami that I frequent.

As a HHonors Diamond, I always get "free" breakfast coupons, except they have a 25% tip included on the check. This isn't room service, It is a buffet, they get nothing else from me.

woojink

I nearly always tip the room service waiter in cash, as I doubt they get much, if any, portion of the service charge. I also tip the breakfast staff in cash also.

Funny thing... a few years ago, I realized that pretty much the only reason I carry cash anymore is for tipping. Rarely (other than a cup of coffee of bottled water at the airport) do I use cash for purchases and usually the amounts are very small.

My experience is that wait/service staff have always REALLY appreciated the cash tips. Yes, I have been accused many times by my spouse for overtipping... waiters, hotel maid, the bellman, the car valet, caddies, skycaps, taxi drivers etc... I'm certain this stems from the fact that while growing up, MANY of my close friends and several family members were in the service industry in these exact jobs and I can't begin to tell you how important the tips are to them. Yes, the system we have in the US for this type of compensation is not optimal and should change to give these hardworkers a fair wage, but until then, I don't want to make them suffer for this system, and yes, I understand that I may be perpetuating a system that isn't ideal, but the human cost of not doing so is quite material.

chumbawumba

Living in Europe, I usually give 10% or less in restaurants.
I do not tip hotel rooms or airport lounges.
Personally, tipping should not be.
I expect good service, and I expect to know the price in advanced.
Adding for the plate (done in Italy) or service on top of the price makes me order less next time.

N965VJ

A good way to get around the Room Service charges and tipping is to order food to go from the hotel’s restaurant.