# What's an appropriate tip for room service? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683 "2007-04-26T01:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683/21 "2007-04-27T18:09:25Z")
[QUOTE=sugar and spice] **Olive** , I think this is why people thought you were a guy: [/QUOTE] Oh - LOL!!! No, we have a couple of high school boys who run room service in the evenings. At least 2 that I know of have made several trips to the same room on nights they work, all with the same guest, who they claim is a very healthy lady who answers the door in nearly nothing. It’s yet to be seen whether they get an ‘after work’ invitation. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683/22 "2007-04-27T23:02:47Z")
[QUOTE=Olive, The Other Reindeer] Whether the server gets the service charge varies from hotel to hotel. At the one at which I work, the service charge is considered the gratuity, and part of it goes to the server (it’s usually 1/2 to the server, 1/2 to the house). Another hotel I worked at considered the service charge just that: the guy who can’t be bothered to come down to the restaurant should pay for the extra work/materials/waste required to package something to take to his/her room (condiments, for example, have to be individually prepackaged, and must be disposed of if not used). [/QUOTE] That makes no sense to me, unless the hotel is trying to deliberately mislead regarding the price. I’m ordering from the _room service_ menu. If prepping and schlepping the food adds to the cost, I have a wacky suggestion: price the food accordingly. I have the crazy notion that when an umpteen-percent charge is added to the bill that it’s a gratuity, not some half-assed attempt to pad the bill. Sheesh. I’m a very generous tipper too. I really hate wondering if I’m either stiffing somebody or tipping 40%. I guess I can ask, but I don’t want to. I’m tired on a business trip. I just want to know what the meal costs, and it should be crystal clear if the tip is included or not. ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683/23 "2007-04-28T02:29:52Z")
[QUOTE=Stratocaster] That makes no sense to me, unless the hotel is trying to deliberately mislead regarding the price. I’m ordering from the _room service_ menu. If prepping and schlepping the food adds to the cost, I have a wacky suggestion: price the food accordingly. I have the crazy notion that when an umpteen-percent charge is added to the bill that it’s a gratuity, not some half-assed attempt to pad the bill. Sheesh. I’m a very generous tipper too. I really hate wondering if I’m either stiffing somebody or tipping 40%. I guess I can ask, but I don’t want to. I’m tired on a business trip. I just want to know what the meal costs, and it should be crystal clear if the tip is included or not. [/QUOTE] It’s a matter of psychology. You probably wouldn’t order a $11.95 hamburger from the room service menu if the extra charge was part of the price. You might order a $9.95 burger, even if you know there’s a 20% service charge. Actually, if you were to go down to our pub for the same burger, it’s $8.95. It’s the nature of the business, and while I work there, I don’t make the policies, and I certainly don’t have to like them. It’s my boss’s responsibility to make his department profitable, and he does what he has to to do so. Where I work, there’s the added problem of a chain family restaurant across the street, which has a burger platter at $7.95, complete with a “happy ending” (but, you’d have to walk over to get it to go - they don’t deliver). We try to keep the guest inside the hotel, and have them spend their money there. It’s not my policy - when we travel, we NEVER eat in the hotel!!! (I’ve also been known to recommend local restaurants I like to long-term guests - the food where I work is good, but it will get boring after a while). Don’t be afraid to ask the server if he gets part of the service or delivery charge. At least where I work, the server will answer honestly. At other places, YMMV. However, it’s not the server’s fault that pricing is as such, and he/she is only doing their job to the best of their ability. Knowing what I know, when Hubby and I travel, we never eat at the hotel we’re staying at, and NEVER order room service. We’ve been known to pick up sandwiches while we’re out during the day for dinner, or find a local restaurant close by. In general, the same meal outside the hotel is 15%-20% cheaper than if you ate in the hotel restaurant. Don’t even get me started on how much we rake you over the coals for drinks in the bar!!! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683/24 "2007-04-28T06:56:38Z")
[QUOTE=Free Range Otter] Lots of times the hotel includes a 20% “service charge” or “delivery charge” on the bill with the meal. Does this charge go to the person who delivers the food as a tip? If not, what do you think is an appropriate tip for a hotel person who delivers room service? An additional 10%? [/QUOTE] Generally it does, or a part of it does. You just need to ask when you place the order. If it does go to the server, then no problem. If it doesn’t then a modest but not cheap tip is in line. Not 20%- but somewhere between 10 to 15% depending on what you order, when and what class of hotel. If it is just regular food at a Holiday inn, then 10% +change. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683/25 "2007-04-28T12:11:15Z")
[QUOTE=Olive, The Other Reindeer] It’s a matter of psychology. You probably wouldn’t order a $11.95 hamburger from the room service menu if the extra charge was part of the price. You might order a $9.95 burger, even if you know there’s a 20% service charge. Actually, if you were to go down to our pub for the same burger, it’s $8.95. It’s the nature of the business, and while I work there, I don’t make the policies, and I certainly don’t have to like them. It’s my boss’s responsibility to make his department profitable, and he does what he has to to do so. [/QUOTE] Like I said, it only makes sense if it’s an attempt to pad the bill. You don’t like it, and neither do I. I think it can only have the effect of the waitstaff getting inadvertently stiffed, and often. Management knows that and doesn’t care, I suppose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-appropriate-tip-for-room-service/401683.md?page=1)