Tipping etiquette when traveling can be a complicated and controversial subject. The more you travel, the more confusing it all is. I’ve addressed the topic of tipping in airport lounges, and in this post I thought it would be interesting to address the topic of tipping in hotel club lounges.
Should you tip in hotel club lounges, and if so, under what circumstances? How should this compare to tipping hotel housekeeping, or tipping hotel concierges?
In this post:
Tipping is a complex and confusing matter
Let me start by acknowledging that tipping in travel is never an easy thing to figure out:
- There are often inconsistencies regarding who it is appropriate to tip and who it isn’t appropriate to tip, despite functions often being similar
- When deciding whether to tip, my primary consideration is generally whether that person relies on tips to make a reasonable living; I then also consider the level of service provided compared to other functions I would tip for
- With how global travel has evolved, there’s no denying that the US approach to tipping has spread around the world, so tips often become the norm even in countries where that wasn’t initially the case
It’s impossible to create any sort of standard system around tipping, as there will always be confusing inconsistencies. For example, why do we tip almost anyone that serves us a meal, except flight attendants? In hotel shuttle buses, do we only tip if the driver helps us with our bags? If so, is the simple effort of lifting a bag what justifies the tip, as opposed to the time spent driving the shuttle?
Tipping in hotel club lounges isn’t expected
First for some context, hotel club lounges are spaces that are available to select guests (typically either those who pay for it, or those with elite status in a hotel loyalty program). Hotel club lounges usually offer breakfast, all-day snacks, and an evening happy hour. The quality of these lounges varies significantly depending on the brand you’re staying at, and where in the world you are.
Let me start by saying that tipping in hotel club lounges is never expected, including in the United States. If you go to a restaurant in the United States and don’t tip (assuming service is decent) you’re being a cheap jerk who doesn’t care about how others make a living. Meanwhile if you go to a hotel club lounge and don’t tip, you’re not being a jerk.
That’s because the attendants working in club lounges are typically paid a wage that reflects that they likely won’t get tips. Now, that might not be a great wage, but it’s not like the restaurant industry, where pre-tip pay is often below minimum wage.
My approach to tipping in hotel club lounges
For the purposes of this post, let’s focus specifically on the United States. Obviously the quality of lounges can vary hugely. An airport Marriott in the United States might have a pretty depressing evening happy hour selection, and you don’t even get complimentary alcoholic drinks. As a standard, you’re generally expected to bus your own tables, and place used plates and glasses on a tray for dirty dishes.
Meanwhile at a Ritz-Carlton club lounge, you can expect five food presentations per day, including evening snacks that could act as a dinner substitute, plus great alcoholic drinks that are included. Staff often try to get to know you as well, and provide personalized service.
So, what’s my approach to tipping in hotel club lounges?
- If a lounge isn’t great and service is unmemorable, I typically won’t tip, since I don’t think it’s necessary
- If a lounge attendant is very friendly and attentive, proactively clears plates and asks if they can get me things, I’ll usually try to leave a tip (around $5), assuming I have cash on me
- If a lounge is fantastic (like at a Ritz-Carlton) and a server makes a point of getting to know you and your preferences over the course of your stay, I always try to tip a larger amount at the end of the stay, in appreciation of their service
Let me emphasize that I’m not claiming my approach is correct, but rather I’m just sharing how I view things.
I do have to say that some lounge attendants aren’t particularly attentive, and then also basically try to pressure for tips, where they’ll place money on the tray where you are supposed to put your used plates, in order to try to encourage guests to tip as well. I find that to be pretty tacky.
Meanwhile there are some really personable and hard working lounge attendants who get quite a bit in tips through providing great service, which is an approach I far prefer.
Part of the reason that I often choose to tip is that the major hotel groups often don’t do a great job incentivizing employees who go above and beyond. So many investment firms that own hotels try to cut any corner possible to maximize profits, with little regard for guest experience.
The people who do a great job either do so because they’re personable and take pride in what they do, because they think there’s some financial upside, or both. So I like to reinforce good behavior and show appreciation for that whenever I can.
Bottom line
Hotel club lounges can be a great feature, and it can be tough to figure out when it is and isn’t appropriate to tip. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. Personally I decide based on the level of service provided by the attendant. I’ll try to tip if they’re proactive about clearing plates, seeing if I want anything, etc. Meanwhile if the entire experience is self-serve and they’re not particularly friendly, then I don’t generally tip.
I don’t take this approach because I’m some huge advocate for the US tipping culture, but rather because I recognize how people make a living, and want to show appreciation to those who actually try. Not every country is like Japan, where being super customer focused is the norm.
I take issue with the notion of “force the employer to pay a better wage,” because you know the employer isn’t going to do that. Large, publicly traded companies generally get away with paying the absolute minimum they can, because their obligation is to their shareholders, and not their employees.
Do you tip in hotel club lounges? If so, under what circumstances?
Recently been to Mexico. There is a service charge on the hotel bill.
Why do I need to tip anyone in the hotel, its already included?
If the hotel doesn't pass it on, I can't fight that, then damn the hotel owners.
I do not think I ever tip in lounges, but I will leave positive feedback to the hotel, including reviews and on social media (using first names, unless an email to the hotel).
Most American thing ever to claim that your dreadful tipping culture is “happening in places it didn’t use to”. If that’s true, and it’s a big if, it’s still usually only Americans doing it.
'Tip Not Included'? Oh, pity about that.
My tip is to get another job where you'll be less screwed over.
Yes, let’s just tip everyone for doing their jobs. Plane lands safely, tip the captain 20 bucks. Uber app works without crashing, tip the software engineer who wrote it 10 bucks. Check in to your hotel and get keys to your room, tip front-desk staff 10 bucks. Walk over to the elevator without tripping over garbage in the hotel lobby, tip cleaning staff 5 bucks.
Yup. We should all walk around with wads of cash in our pockets to tip everyone. And how does one fund all of this? Simple - start demanding tips yourself, of course. Open door for kind old lady at the store and then stare at her till she tips you two bucks. Stop your car to allow pedestrians to cross and ask them to toss in some spare change into the tip jar glued to...
Yup. We should all walk around with wads of cash in our pockets to tip everyone. And how does one fund all of this? Simple - start demanding tips yourself, of course. Open door for kind old lady at the store and then stare at her till she tips you two bucks. Stop your car to allow pedestrians to cross and ask them to toss in some spare change into the tip jar glued to the hood of the car.
This is the kind of transactional society America has become. Most restaurants in Europe only expect tips from you if you’re American. And no, it doesn’t get you any better service. And if it did, then it’s probably a tourist trap you wouldn’t want to be eating at in the first place.
Agree with Crosscourt and Joe Traveler. Seems you are having separate articles for all of these situations to fill content.
I became completely jaded with the notion of tipping when I found out about a classmate who was clearing nearly 200-300 every weekday night she worked, tax free, simply from being a female around men who can expense their meals. Weekends were a completely different league in terms of her take home at the end of the night.
I cannot wait until it's abolished outright, where we're not asked to subsidize employee wages, and we...
I became completely jaded with the notion of tipping when I found out about a classmate who was clearing nearly 200-300 every weekday night she worked, tax free, simply from being a female around men who can expense their meals. Weekends were a completely different league in terms of her take home at the end of the night.
I cannot wait until it's abolished outright, where we're not asked to subsidize employee wages, and we see bartenders and servers up in arms because they can no longer make egregious amounts of money from some idiotic custom that should have met a swift and brutal death nearly 100 years ago.
I tip only as a form of dignified charity to those who may be in more need than others, and nothing else.
Bar keeps and flirty waitstaff can cry and complain all they want--no handouts for just looking pretty or doing your job. At this rate, we may as well tip anyone in any service industry; from your fast food worker, mailman, grocery store cashier, and soon to be self driving taxi vehicles.
Its embarrassing that we Americans are arrogant to believe the whole world should revolve around how we feel. I feel so good about tipping, local traditions be damned.
Ends up creating a situation for locals to have to tip as well. That is why locals have contempt for American tourists.
Go to Egypt to understand a policy of TIP EVERYWHERE. Every Egyptian hotel employee whether Sheraton, Marriott, etc has his hand out for the most trivial reasons expecting a tip. Most surprising to me has been there is absolutely no shame in hounding guests for tips.
I go to Egypt pretty regularly, and I don't tip very much. If you're asking someone to blatantly break the rules, sure, give them a tip. That seems to be fairly accepted. But at a hotel, just because someone asks, definitely say no. A lot of service industry workers thrive on visitors' ignorance, and their lack of understanding of Egyptian wages and economics.
Another one of these ridiculous articles. Totally agree with Joe Traveller. Tipping lounge staff, tipping cabin crew, tipping airline lounge staff, Americans being annoying and embarrassing. Just vulgar.
I truly have a problem with this approach and Americans’ approach in general. The sheer number of tourists visiting Europe now mean that more and more places where tipping was never requested now inform you that tip is not included. And I am not American.
I am American. It is my dream for the United Nations to convene and to decree that the concept of a tip is eradicated in modern existence.
Importantly for the very dumb people out there, I am not advocating that people who perform a service should not be paid for it. I am advocating that the payment for this service should be transparent, clear, and upfront. Not part of a web of unwritten rules, confusing expectations, and guilt trips.
If someone else makes a cocktail for me then yes it’s customary for Americans to tip the bartender. Hilton Mumbai lounge this happened. The USD is strong there i didn’t mind splashing cash around and tipping it goes a long way for the workers.
Just be cautious in mainland China. In hotels that cater to westerners they understand we tip but don’t understand the tipping culture. I once had several hotel staff members mob...
If someone else makes a cocktail for me then yes it’s customary for Americans to tip the bartender. Hilton Mumbai lounge this happened. The USD is strong there i didn’t mind splashing cash around and tipping it goes a long way for the workers.
Just be cautious in mainland China. In hotels that cater to westerners they understand we tip but don’t understand the tipping culture. I once had several hotel staff members mob around my taxi heading to the airport after checkout.
THis reeks of self-absorbed arrogance. Why do you have to do things like you would in the US and not care about what the local culture is. Do what people in Mumbai would do. If you do not know, than figure it out. But stop behaving like you would in a suburb of Boston!
I have a completely different consideration. Is tipping customary? That's the only question I ask. If a majority of people in the situation I am in would tip, then I tip the customary amount.
No as their is usually a sign up somewhere saying only residents of the USA are obliged to tip as the this more than covers the rest of you that don’t.
"there’s no denying that the US approach to tipping has spread around the world" - That's absolutely not the case, it's just that some employees and businesses learned that Americans are easily fooled into giving them extra money for nothing. The tipping rules are the same they always were, if anything in Europe it's sort of fading away recently, unless you're identified as an American.
As for tipping in lounges, it's the same as...
"there’s no denying that the US approach to tipping has spread around the world" - That's absolutely not the case, it's just that some employees and businesses learned that Americans are easily fooled into giving them extra money for nothing. The tipping rules are the same they always were, if anything in Europe it's sort of fading away recently, unless you're identified as an American.
As for tipping in lounges, it's the same as tipping everywhere else except restaurants: Only for an extraordinary service. I usually give tips to some of the guys working at Conrad Istanbul's lounge at the end of my stay as they're really going above and beyond, but apart from that I really don't see what would I tip for.
I think the bigger issue is having cash to make it happen. Start spreading the wealth and give cash tips and you might know what you get for a tip.
TIPS = To insure proper service.
Is the word "wage" also an acronym for something?
We Are Getting Extra via TIPs
ensure, unless one is actually avoiding a risk of tangible loss.
You do realize that even wait staff in several states (e.g. CA, WA) earn tips on top of a mandatory minimum wage ($16-20 in CA). Thus, at least in those states, they are in the same position as other non-tipped minimum wage earners.
Even in states with tipped wages, employers are required to make up the difference when tips don’t amount to minimum wage. Realistically, there is a lot of unreported wage theft though...
You do realize that even wait staff in several states (e.g. CA, WA) earn tips on top of a mandatory minimum wage ($16-20 in CA). Thus, at least in those states, they are in the same position as other non-tipped minimum wage earners.
Even in states with tipped wages, employers are required to make up the difference when tips don’t amount to minimum wage. Realistically, there is a lot of unreported wage theft though with employers just firing employees if they can’t make minimum wage with tips. So in those states I still tip.
But in states like CA, I don’t tip anymore unless I feel service was exceptional.
So you're suggesting we can happily go to any restaurant in CA and give zero tips.
We wouldn't receive any retaliation in current and future visits.
So let's start with asking the restaurant to remove the automatic gratuity for party of 4 and give em ZERO?
Oh I wish! Unfortunately servers still very much expect tips. So I can’t make you any such promises. But I’ve stopped tipping myself, willing to accept the risks. Someone has to. Why do waiters get tipped when supermarket cashiers don’t in CA? I hate tipping culture and given that the biggest reason for it got removed, at least in CA, I’m doing my bit :)
The answer is no, jesus christ.
If the lounge serves made-to-order items for breakfast, I do leave a tip.
I recall every lounge serves made-to-order item.
They always ask me what beverage do I want.
As an influencer with a lot of viewers.
Please don't be part of the problem encouraging this broken system by guilt tripping people into giving tips.
Readers, you are not the jerk. You, along with the restaurant employees are victims of this system you enable.
"If you go to a restaurant in the United States and don’t tip (assuming service is decent) you’re being a cheap jerk who doesn’t care about how others make a living."
So the staff will only do their contracted job if they get tips. No tip = we don’t care
Why ? It’s the employers job to pay their staff. If I’m in a restaurant it’s not really the customer’s concern to start thinking about the background of the employees.
It’s typically American. Emotional blackmail. I’m in the service industry you must tip me as my multi billion dollar employer doesn’t believe it’s up to them.
Let your gratitude be your guide.
Often I will have guests meeting in my suite. Honesty and tips have insured the lounge manager to bend the rules regarding bringing in extra people occasionally, but I always ask first. And 10 to 20 depending on the spread.
That’s called a bribe, not a tip.
@GT
Exactly why the whole system is broken. People confuse bribe as tips. They are the enablers.
Just look at the other comment about receiving generous pour.
That's defrauding the establishment.
Not when you ask first without expectation. ( I always offer to pay and this is dismissed by the manager. ) Then the tip is offered in GRATITUDE for the accommodation in hospitality.
Or the manager already knows that either the GRATITUDE goes into their own pocket or the establishment.
I rest my case.
Exactly why system is broken.
Exactly why people are confused.
I tend to tip at most hotel lounges particularly for Breakfast where I leave a couple of dollars. When staying several
Nights at same hotel it goes a long way. If
Nothing else your remembered with a smile.
In non-tipping cultures, that smile means, "What a fool we can exploit for more money on his next stay!"
As a general matter, no.
But no one should be fooled. When you are around a few nights with the same attendant, a $2 tip on a glass of wine or bourbon on the rocks often leads to a more generous pour the next day.
And if I have a multiple night stay and come to recognize a good server who makes my $1000 or $2000 stay more pleasant, I inquire if they will...
As a general matter, no.
But no one should be fooled. When you are around a few nights with the same attendant, a $2 tip on a glass of wine or bourbon on the rocks often leads to a more generous pour the next day.
And if I have a multiple night stay and come to recognize a good server who makes my $1000 or $2000 stay more pleasant, I inquire if they will be around at the end of my stay and leave something (which is certainly a tiny percentage of the total stay cost) at the end of the stay. I do try to make sure that person has a shift when I do so.
If someone tips in a lounge, they quite simply have a tipping problem.
Stop tipping for the sake of tipping lol. If they need tips to get a living wage, maybe address the actual problem of the employers wanting to pass on the cost of labor to the customer rather than inflicting tipping on everyone else.
Also, what sort of BS is this "If you go to a restaurant in the United States and don’t tip (assuming service is decent) you’re being a cheap jerk who doesn’t care about how others make a living".
No. Just because one country has been conditioned from birth to tip for absolutely anything, does not mean everyone else is being a 'cheap jerk'. The problem lies with the country that considers it acceptable for commercial...
Also, what sort of BS is this "If you go to a restaurant in the United States and don’t tip (assuming service is decent) you’re being a cheap jerk who doesn’t care about how others make a living".
No. Just because one country has been conditioned from birth to tip for absolutely anything, does not mean everyone else is being a 'cheap jerk'. The problem lies with the country that considers it acceptable for commercial organizations to pay so poorly that its employees cant live on their salaries. Fix the local problems first.
I agree, but how do you suggest that I "address the actual problem of the employers wanting to pass on the cost of labor to the customer".
Apart from taking time to buttonhole the general manager at every property where I stay, the only way to manage that is to "retrain" the industry by refusing to tip and hoping that all of North America falls in line with me. Such seems passive aggressive.
In my...
I agree, but how do you suggest that I "address the actual problem of the employers wanting to pass on the cost of labor to the customer".
Apart from taking time to buttonhole the general manager at every property where I stay, the only way to manage that is to "retrain" the industry by refusing to tip and hoping that all of North America falls in line with me. Such seems passive aggressive.
In my experience, club attendants generally get tipped only in their role as "bartender". I assume that if those tips plus their base wage were poor, they would first seek reassignment at the property, or move on altogether, especially in a labor market where service oriented workers remain in demand.
The argument in favor of tipping is always that the worker has a low base pay and needs the tip in order to make a living wage. The catch is that I never know how much an individual actually earns, so I make it a habit of always asking how much the worker gets paid. Then, based on my own personal judgement and on a single interaction with the worker, I make the determination of...
The argument in favor of tipping is always that the worker has a low base pay and needs the tip in order to make a living wage. The catch is that I never know how much an individual actually earns, so I make it a habit of always asking how much the worker gets paid. Then, based on my own personal judgement and on a single interaction with the worker, I make the determination of how much that person should actually earn. In most cases, I provide a small gratuity to them. In some rare instances, I judge the person to be overpaid and request a refund to balance the scales.
There is no argument in favor of tipping.
It's not your job to ensure someone makes a livable wage.
It's the job of the idiots you voted for.
Unless of course, you believe that democracy is also broken and we need a different governing system, say dictatorship?
And besides, the tipping culture enables employers to offer lower wages arguing that the staff makes up for it with tips. Except that tips provide far lower protection than actual wages (they normally don't count towards social security schemes, they are not guaranteed if the business is slow, etc.), ultimately making these employees much more socially vulnerable.
You clearly have no filter in broaching sensitive and personal matters with strangers.