Montreal Hotels
Hotel Tipping Guidelines
Unfortunately, there are no real set of hotel tipping guidelines. Knowing who, where and when to tip during a hotel stay can be confusing. In fact, if no service charge is added to your bill, having to decide how much to tip tends to be quite annoying.
Tipping for services is a social custom, not a requirement. It's a gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for services. Do it out of a sense of self-confidence and satisfaction. You are simply trying to properly say thank-you.
If you developed a relationship with the people who work at the hotel, personalized tipping at the end of your stay is appropriate. It's nice to acknowledge people who made your stay enjoyable.
Airport Tipping / Bus Tour Tipping / Car Tipping /
Corporate Hotel Tipping / Hairdresser Tipping /
Hotel Spa Tipping / Hotel Tipping
Advance tipping will often give workers a genuine interest in making your stay pleasant and comfortable. You might even find that various tips and extras really come back your way as a result.
Comment cards are another way of expressing your satisfaction. Let management know their employees are appreciated. It helps the good feelings trickle down.
For a special acknowledgment, a letter to the hotel's general manager can go a long way. Also copy the letter to the person you're praising to make sure he or she sees it.
Bellman: When s/he helps you with your bags, tip $1 to $2 per bag or $5 to $10 for bringing your luggage to your room. Give him the tip when he shows you your room.
If he just carries your bags to the front desk and then disappears, save your tip for the person who carries your bags to your room. Upon checkout, tip the bellman who helps with your bags. Tip on the highest level for additional services like retrieving your bags from storage or if your luggage is out of the ordinary.
Chambermaid: If you follow your hotel tipping guidelines, they appreciate $1 to $10 per night depending on how expensive the room is and how messy you are. Leave it daily as chambermaids may change. If an envelope has not been left for that purpose then you may leave a note.
Doorman: Tip $1 to $2 per bag if he carries your bags all the way to your room. If he just opens the door, nothing. If he hails you a cab, $1 to $2. If he helps you with your bags in or out of the car, $0.50 to a $1 a bag.
According to special hotel tipping guidelines, if he is exceptionally helpful with directions or restaurant recommendations, same as the concierge.
Gym Attendant: $1 to $2 for each service.
Desk Clerk: Nothing.
Hotel Maintenance Staff: Nothing to replace a light bulb, fix the air conditioning, etc.
Housekeeper: Leave a tip at the end of your stay based on the size of your party. Also leave behind subway passes and any unused tour tickets. A nice touch is to jot a short thank you note on hotel stationery and leave it with your tip.
Room Delivery: If you requested a toothbrush, an iron, extra towels or extra pillows, tip $1 per item received, minimum $2, to the person who delivers it.
Room Service: If gratuity is included, add $1 or nothing. Otherwise add 15% to 20% to the total charge.
Swimming Pool Attendant: Nothing, unless you require special services such as extra seating or inflating pool toys, then it is $2 to $5. If you want the same deck chairs every day, then tip $2 per chair beginning the first day.
Whenever sales people or managers enter a new market, they are at a disadvantage. They must do in days what may have taken decades and huge advertising budgets to achieve on their domestic market. The key resource at their disposal is their hotel.
The choice of hotels creates an immediate impression of the company and of an individual's status within the company. However, price is not all, because different 5-star hotels have different images within the same city.
Tipping the hotel staff is one way to accelerate the process of appearing to be accustomed to staying at the best hotels and getting the best service from them.
Hotel tips should not be a reward for a service provided in good faith by hopeful people. Instead it should be seen as payment in advance for the high quality services that will be expected. If big tips are given on arrival, VIP status will be guaranteed from the outset.
If a guest wants to show genuine appreciation, the appropriate hotel tipping guidelines are to slip money in an envelope with a brief note of thanks to the concierge staff for a job well done.
Tipping is optional for just plain advice. Giving you directions around town is part of the job. If the concierge looks up a phone number for a restaurant you have chosen and makes a quick call, tip $2 to $5, it is always appropriate and in line with ordinary hotel tipping guidelines.
As per hotel tipping guidelines, you should tip $5 to $10 for help with hard-to-get dinner reservations or last-minute theater tickets. Tip $10 for booking various tours or for finding tickets to sold-out shows.
A tip of $20 is reasonable when the role of a concierge is really put into action and when s/he makes a full day of plans, including tickets, reservations, and travel arrangements. Tip more for more complicated services.
Tipping can be done at the end of the trip or at the time of service. Just keep it straight so that you are fair. Still, consider tipping when you first introduce yourself. A concierge will try hard to do the impossible, especially if s/he has been thanked in advance.
Leave a tip for the particular concierge who helped you with corporate concierge services. If s/he is not there, leave your tip and your business card in an envelope. If he cares to thank you, he'll know how to reach you. Also, he'll remember you if you return to the hotel.
Shuttle Service: 10% to 15% for paid shuttle service. Drivers of free shuttle services generally do not expect a tip unless they handle luggage, in which case tip $2 or so. If the driver assists you with your bags and if its a long-term parking shuttle driver, you may tip $1 to $2 per bag.
Skycap: For curb side check-in, many airlines have begun charging $2 a bag. That money goes to the vendor and is not a tip for the skycap, who is still expecting $1 to $2 per bag.
Special Assistance: Should you be traveling with crutches or a wheelchair, or if you need other special assistance from airport staff, hotel tipping guidelines says you should tip a few dollars to any employee that gives you an extra hand.
Taxi Driver should be tipped 15% of the fare. In Montreal, if you are dissatisfied with the taxicab services you received - taxi driver’s conduct, driving, cleanliness, the cost of the trip - you can make a complaint to the Taxi and towing office.
Limousine or Car Service: 15% to 20% of the total bill.
Taxi Drivers: Make it an even dollar on short trips, and 10% to 15% on longer trips, extra if they handle your luggage (unless you've already been assessed an additional fee for that).
Valet Parking Attendants: $1 to $2 beyond the valet parking fee per car is usually appropriate for parking or returning the car, given when the car is returned to you. It is not necessary to tip for parking, but always for returning the car.
The valet holds all the keys and is able to move cars if needed. If you think that you may need to leave in a rush, than you should give the attendant a tip on the front end and request that your car be placed somewhere that it can be retrieved quickly.
The whole basis behind valet parking and hotel tipping guidelines is the luxury of the service provided. When using valet parking, you might consider tipping when the valet takes your car and when he returns it. This is an incentive for him to take extra care with your car.
Long Term Bus Tour: $1 to $10 per day.
One-Day Trip: 10% to 20% of the cost of the tour.
Tour Bus Driver: $1 to $2 per day.
Tour Guide: 10% to 15% of the tour price or $1 to $2 for a half-day tour, $3 to $5 for a full-day tour, $5 to $10 for a weeklong tour, more for private guides.
Barber: $2 to $3. Those who shampoo your hair or shave your beard get $1 to $2.
Hair Extension: 10% to 20%, regardless of the cost of the service.
Hair Stylist or Color Specialist: at beauty salons and barbershops they should be tipped 15% to 20% of the bill with $3 to $5 extra for last-minute service.
If a stylist blow-dries and styles your hair after you visit your colorist, be sure to also tip him or her appropriately. You will generally be charged a reduced rate after a color, so hotel tipping guidelines suggest that you be a bit more generous in tipping for this service.
Manicurist should receive no less than $1 or 15% to 20% of the bill.
Shampoo or Other Assistants: $2 to $5 for each person. Hand the tip directly to the person providing the service.
According hotel tipping guidelines, you should tip the owner when s/he provides you services. If more than one person provides services, that is one doing color and another cutting your hair, tip each person 10% to 15% of their portion of the bill. If the salon messed up your service and you return for a re-do, no tip is required.
At day spas, it is not customary to tip the attendants. But, if the day spa is one that you frequent regularly and the attendants go the extra mile for you, you may want to tip there as well.
Aesthetician: 10% to 20% per service.
Facial: 15%.
Laser Hair Removal: Nothing.
Massage Therapist: If they come to your home or hotel room, find out in advance whether a tip is included in the price. No tip if at doctor's office, 10% to 15% otherwise.
Salon or Spa Package: Determine in advance whether a service charge is included. If none is included, then 10% to 20% divided among the service providers. You can ask for it to be divided. Pay each person at the time of service, or leave it in envelopes available at the front desk.
Spa Attendant: At resort spas, tip the spa attendants about 5% of your total bill at the front desk. If any particular attendant went above and beyond for you, hotel tipping guidelines suggest you tip that attendant individually.
Airport Tipping / Bus Tour Tipping / Car Tipping /
Corporate Hotel Tipping / Hairdresser Tipping /
Hotel Spa Tipping / Hotel Tipping
Role of a Concierge
Montreal Qc Hotels / Hotel Bookings Montreal
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