Room Service Tip
 

I struggled with this last night... I don't know why, maybe I'm cost concious in this economy.

There was a delivery charge added to the price of the meal and 22% gratuity and then tax and everything.
There is a line for additional tip....

Who gets what? does the server get any of that? At a restaurant I tip 18-20% everytime... here they charged 22% automatically.

Should I be adding on top of that? I have to say that I always do, but yesterday I read through it and struggled a bit.

thoughts?

Gratuity is a tip. I do not tip more if I'm charged a gratuity, esp if it's 22%. Some hotels charge a "service charge" for room service (or, as you mentioned, a delivery charge)....in that case, I normally tip since I figure the hotel is charging you for the convenience of room service.

Same reply as Diplomatico gave.

I agree with the other posters. The 22% is the tip. Anything more than that is nice and generous, but certainly not expected nor compulsory. I have left it blank many times without a twinge of guilt. ;)

I'm wondering
 

And coming from a culture that does not routinely tip this confuses me. I "get" the tipping while I'm sitting in the restaurant and try to be a good tourist and do it right, however, that tip is based on how attentive/good the service is while I'm dining. In the in room dining situation, the meal is dropped off and that is the end of the server. Why is the expectation that the percentage is going to be as high?

I like to be generous, but 22% is more than enough for a tip. That's more than 1/5 of the bill!! I might even complain and force them to take it off if service was bad. I'd much rather have a "mandatory" tip of 10-15% and then add on something.

However, I've also appreciate good service. I will tip above and beyond the suggested tip for staff that bring my room service order right away, make sure the food is hot, or bring everything in one of those nice combination food warmers/tables on wheels. I'm addicted to those. :)

I struggled with this too, but when I saw the 18% gratuity on top of a $4.95 service charge, that was all.

It's amazing to see such a consensus on FT. Me, too.

I will park my "me too" right here. The first couple of times I ordered room service, I didn't pay attention to the charge and filled in a tip--and realized after that I'd double-tipped. It really annoys me that they have the blank tip line after they've already charged one (although I'm sure it's the exact same machine they use in the restaurant, so they probably don't have a choice--still seems sneaky).

Occasionally, I run across hotels that are even more blatant in their capacity to insult the customer...

I can accept that "Room Service" menus generally list prices higher than those for the same items in the hotel's dining room/coffee shop, but I am insulted when the Room Service menu comes with another bit of chiseling....a "Charge for Inroom Dining"....seen more and more.

Then there's this newly magic 22%. Oh, where, oh where did 18% go? Lost in the same cloud as 20%, I guess....

No wonder Europeans find our "tipping" customs ridiculous. They are.:td:

You are so right, they are ridiculous.

22% plus a "service charge" or "delivery fee" is way excessive on top of the inflated prices.

I stopped adding the tip when hotels added the mandatory delivery charge plus "convenience fees" or whatever. As long as the server/delivery person is getting around whatever I would tip in a restaurant, I'm not adding anything on top of what the hotel's already charged me.

It just forces you to read the fine print more carefully. Instead of thinking about how outrageous it is, why don't you congratulate yourself on not being duped into writing another tip? And spread the word to your family and loved ones. This is the way F&B has (deteriorated) evolved and complaining about it won't do much good.

Albeit, 22% seems slightly high. Was this at a resort area or a vacation site?

The calculus of tipping
 

Actually, the way it works is, if a 22% tip is automatically added to the bill, there's now a new total, so you ought to add a 22% tip to that. But now there's another new total, so you have to add a 22% tip to that, meaning of course that you will have to add a 22% tip to the new total thus created, which then you will have to add a 22% tip to ... Eventually, you will have asymptotically given the bell hop everything you have.

I agree with everyone else.

22%? That's greedy, IMO.

I've seen small pots of coffee for $8.95 and large pots for $12.95, outrageous on their own. But to tack on $2.95 - $4.95 delivery fees plus a 22% tip as well?

No wonder I'm happy when I can find an Embassy Suites room for $150 or so.