Ever use valet parking?
Sure, mostly when I had to or in the city where it’s easier to pay the venue’s valet parking than to find my own spot two blocks away. It’s not my first choice but I won’t put myself out to avoid it, either.
Never have, but then I can’t recall ever going some place where it was offered.
The only place I go that has valet parking is the casino, and I always use it.
Oh, and I guess Ruth’s Chris steak house one time, and I used it there.
All the time in Vegas. Self-parking is a bitch and a hike. I’ll spring for the valet fee (and tip) to be able to waltz right in and out.
Valet parking is also the trick for parking at the LA County Fair. Go in through the West Gate and valet at the hotel.
I use it when it is free or very low cost like the hospital we go to. Saves a lot of walking.
Dennis
It’s much more convenient, but it’s also a lot safer. If I leave a club late at night, I really don’t want to wander alone in the dark looking for my car.
NEVER if there is ANY alternative.
I voted “Only if I have no other choice”, but that has only happened once - at a funeral home of all places. It seemed like I was in some bad, surreal, music video, but was the only way to get lined up for the procession, so for the sake of decorum I obliged.
In the real world, I have been to places that offered valet parking as an option, but I never saw the point of it. I despise places that don’t have adequate parking lots, so if valet was the only way to go, it’s not likely I would be there to begin with.
If it’s available I use it. Sometimes there’s no choice, and then I’m not happy about it even though I would use it anyway. I just like having a choice.
Yes, all the time. However, I don’t drive so this is mostly on vacations. Many big city hotels are valet only anyway and I don’t want to deal with a stupid smashed window on a rental car because I left a used tissue on the floor.
It’s a value tradeoff, like everything else. I ask myself, “How does paying for valet parking at the front door of where I’m going compare to the cost and potential hassle of finding my own parking space who-knows-where?” A lot of places have complimentary valet parking, and it’s always worth the price of a tip. In the city, parking can be expensive and hard to find, and valet can be well worth the convenience. But I won’t pay a $12 valet fee if there is open street parking around the corner.
The two malls near where I live have valet parking (for a fee), and you drop your car off just steps from the self-parking area, which has plenty of spots. I don’t get that.
The only time I used it was when the hotel (in a big city) didn’t have a parking structure, so they parked your car in a garage several blocks away.
I voted “Usually not, but occasionally I’ll splurge”. It’s the closest option but isn’t quite right because of “splurge”. All else being equal I’d prefer to self park, but if it’s the more economical option I’ll do it.
The value trade-off mentioned above is one example (where I’d lose too much of my time to finding a spot).
The other example is a valet only lot right across the street from my downtown Seattle office. I don’t often drive in but when I do it is by far the cheapest and most convenient option. I don’t think they’re selling “valet” as a value-add, I think they’re just packing cars in more efficiently than they could with self park (they typically ask when you’re thinking of returning for pickup).
There are three reasons to avoid valet parking services, if possible:
1 - The additional cost. Often there is a surcharge for the service, or at least an expected customary gratuity to the valet.
2 - The additional time. Sure it’s easy and convenient to drop the car off in front of where you’re going, hand it off to someone else, and pop in to do what you came to do, but what about when you leave? If it’s the kind of place with a lot of people going in and out all the time, or worse, a scenario where there will be a mass exodus all at about the same time (like at the end of a show performance), get ready to wait 20-30 minutes after you give them your ticket to see your car appear.
3 - The “stranger danger” of having some unknown person drive your car. This is especially true if you have a fancy car where you care a lot about its immaculate condition, something sporty or performance oriented that might tempt a young carhop to joyride in at least slightly, or if there is something mechanically or physically unusual about your car that an unfamiliar driver might not be respectful of (a manual transmission, lowered suspension, that sort of thing).
Of course, there are many times when valet parking is the only practical option available (mostly garages or restaurant lots in a city with very limited public parking space). But if free parking or paid self-parking is an option, even if I have to walk several blocks further, I would always choose that over a valet parking lot I was unfamiliar with.
BTW this is fun read, I actually have it bookmarked: Your Most Deeply Appalling Valet Horror Stories on Jalopnik, a driving enthusiast website.
I’ve started using at the airport in Albany more. Parking is same price, car is waiting for you when you get back, short walk outside terminal (unlike where you often end up self parking) and never any snow on it. For only $4 or $5 in tips.
I picked “No, I will absolutely not” because I’ve avoided it completely so far and I don’t see that changing. I know the odds of problems are tiny but I just don’t like people I don’t know driving my car. For one thing, it’s a manual, and I’m sure most/all know how to drive manual but why take the chance?
Oh no, you should not be so sure.
Sometimes there’s just “the one guy” in a set of valets who knows how to drive a stick shift, and his expertise in that area is only a relative maximum, so to speak…
And while your car is in their custody, if they are not round-the-clock busy, guess what, some of the other valets may ask him to teach them the basics. In your car.
This has been known to happen, believe me. As in, I personally know someone who worked a summer as a parking valet, and openly admits this is how he first learned to drive a stick shift.
Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. It depends on
a) is it required? One place I go sometimes doesn’t allow an option. Although they have for me sometimes – see c)
b) is parking horrible there?
c) am I driving something that will drive the average snot-nosed-little-whipper-snapper-today valet nuts like a 3-on-the-tree with no power steering or brakes? Or a chopper; valets hate choppers.
Only at downtown hotels where it’s the only option. Otherwise, I’d rather not hand my car off to a stranger to take who knows where.