I dislike valet parking especially mandatory valet parking. If I used optional valet parking, I would tip, but I don’t use it cause I can just park myself.
I’ve only used mandatory valet parking thrice. The first time, I wasn’t sure if they wanted a tip. The second time, they were busy and rushed off too fast to wait around for a tip. The third time, they asked me if I needed directions, put it upon themselves to load up my vehicle, etc. so they were jonesing for a tip.
In a couple weeks I am going to be subjected to this experience yet again. What percentage of people tip? How much is the usual tip these days?
This is so ridiculously over-the-top paranoid. You know what those guys DO give a shit about? Their jobs. And staying out of jail. I’ve used valet parking in Chicago for years and years, dozens of times, and have never had an issue with valet workers stealing or treating my car with anything but respect.
Thats great! I used to work in casinos with valet parkers, and let me tell ya Bob, some nasty shit games were played by those rat bastards I used to work with.
Just a few: Burnout contests, ransacking glove compartment and ashtrays for drugs/change/jewelry. One especially sick bastard liked to pee in the back seats. :smack:
I’m glad that you know what happens to your car once you hand the keys to some dope-head and it rolls out of sight, but I’ve been there, and I"ve seen it and I can give names of the parties involved.
I hate valet parking too, but if you eat out and stay at nice places in my part of the country, it’s pretty hard to avoid (or at least you’d be putting yourself at huge inconvenience to do so). So I put up with it. I’ve never had anything stolen or any major issue, and my cars are both quite expensive and babied, so I’d notice.
The least I ever tip is $3, usually $5. I’ll go higher if it’s warranted for some reason.
Did I mention that I dislike using valet parking? So much that I do avoid situations like this, although more for the inconvenience of not being able to get in my car whenever I like. However, I also dislike having to walk very far to a concert in a strange city more than that, and the hotel doesn’t have a garage or parking lot.
Usually I do a max of $5 - especially if it’s free. If its pay - and lets say it’s $12 - I’d probably tip $3.00. I tend to think anywhere between 2-5 is probably what is expected.
Granted, they were a bunch of college jack-offs on summer break in the 80’s, but man-O’-man I wouldn’t give my keys to anybody after the horror I heard about/saw back then.
I was just a kid back then too, but somehow it seemed to make sense when you would listen to these guys. They would say, " Who’s gonna call up and say someone stole dope out of their car, man? Who they gonna complain to?"
Another excuse for this shit was,* “Hey man, they ain’t gonna notice till about 3 days later, man!”* :rolleyes:
The thing that bothers me however is the intentional abuse of vehicles (burnouts, smoking the tires, locking up the tires in big hand-brake skids, “other” ) and that keeps me from ever handing over my keys.
I would imagine in a non-seasonal, non-resort setting there may be a more “professional” crew in place. But I can park my own car. Hell, I drove the fucker there!
I’ve stayed in places where it was over $50/night for valet, with no self-parking option. Annoying, yes, but also frankly a drop on the bucket in the context of the overall cost. I think this falls in the category of “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” (or more accurately “if you’re going to worry about the price of parking, you can’t afford the room”). I’m not going to avoid staying at a hotel because of the valet parking price. (And generally when I’m at a hotel, the car is a rental, so I don’t particularly care how the valets treat it as long as it’s operational when I get it back.)
How much does the room cost at a $50 valet parking hotel? I probably could afford maybe one night (although I probably wouldn’t) so I think I can dare to ask.
