[QUOTE=sugar and spice]
Olive, I think this is why people thought you were a guy:
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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.
[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.
[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!!!
[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%?
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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.
[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.