I’ll be staying in a bed & breakfast in Vienna. The breakfast will be a buffet. There will be waiters providing beverages to tables, in addition to setting up/clearing off the tables.
Do I leave a tip? If so, do I leave a small tip each day, or a large one at the end?
In that situation I never have - mind you I am a cheapskate. In Europe, tipping in smaller hotels is not very common
I understand that if tipping is appropriate, it will be already included in the bill. Tipping american style is unusual.
It is true that there are differences in tipping behaviour and that you are not expected to tip on the exact same situations as in the US, but neither here nor on any trip to our Austrian neighbors have I ever seen a tip included in the bill. In an ordinary restaurant you would be expected to tip. From what I have heard waiters basic salaries are somewhat higher (a higher percentage of the total income) so that they do not depend on tips that much. You get away with not tipping in a normal restaurant but it sends a negative message. A problem in this case is that european tipping works in a slightly different way. You don’t leave a tip for a waiter. You pay your bill to the waiter and in that moment give them more than you’d technically have to. In this case the bill will not be paid on the spot. I think you can get away without tipping on this occasion or you give them a certain sum at the end.