I see on other website that some people dont tip.. or have no idea what a tip could mean for you and ther person you are tipping. Here is what I do when we go south. Am I crazzy do to this? What do you do regarding tips? Tipping at AI resorts: The staff at most resorts make very little. They for the most part work long hours under extreme heat and have to deal with people from all over the world. Maid: $3.00 USD per day. This will ensure you the usual standard service, plus if you need more towels, an iron, extra TP, or anything in general for your room you will get it. Regardless of if it is the Maids job or not, she will want to make you happy to keep the tips coming. If she doesn’t do what you need she will find the person and most times follow up to make sure it got handled. Water/Beer boy/mini fridge re-stocker: $2.00-$3.00 per day. Depending how much you drink or what you want to be re-stocked you may or may not want to tip this person. We never drink tap water, witch means we brush our teeth,wash our face and drink with bottle water. Also I love my beer when on vacation and I really don’t care for pop or orange crush. I leave a note in Spanish prepared before we go that will say: “ Please leave more water, beer and less pop and juice” This note will have $2-3 USD in it. 99% of the time the guy will take all the pop out and fill it with beer and water!!! Buffet Wait staff: $3.00-$5.00. You might have noticed that the wait staffs usally are assigned to one area of the buffet for the whole time you will be there. They normally work in teams of 4-6 depending how big the resort is they will also pool the tips between them and the kitchen staff. Once the server knows she will get $3.00-$5.00 out of you she will treat you like a king. You want some fancy drink from the bar…she will make one of the bus boys go get it for you. You want ketchup that you can never find she will get it. You drop your fork on the ground she will run over and pick it up and hand you a new one. Treat the people that play an important roll in how you will enjoy your stay well. They will make your stay unforgettable. Bartender $10.00 one time $5.00 on the 3rd day and last day (not the swim-up bar): Depending how much you drink or how important speedy service is to you, this is the most important person for me during my stay. The 1st night I will slip the guy a $10.00. He is now my best friend for the week. If you need anything he will try and help you out. You want a bottle of wine or 2 for the room? DONE. You want to know where you should go to meet girls? DONE you want a top shelf liquor? DONE. Keep this guy happy and he will keep you happy. Swim-up bar staff: $3.00$-$5.00 per day. I don’t spend too much time at this bar because I like the beach too much. But if I do spend an afternoon her getting drunk I will tip the person about $5.00 once. I don’t care too much cash on me during the day because I never have any place to put it. The swim-up bar staff are usually fun people to hang out with , they will keep you entertained for the most part. Entertainment day staff: $25.00 per week. I like to play V-ball and drinking games during the day. I also like to liten to good music and not hear the same songs played over and over. The day entertaimnet staff at most hotels will also be the people that will take you out at night. Once again these people are important to me. If I need some thing like a bag of “green” stuff to smoke, this is the staff I try and get friendly with. Grand total for the week $132.00 in tips. A small price to pay to be treated like a KING!!
Yes, this is a popular topic. Here are three threads discussing the matter: http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21887 http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2927 http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24418
Sounds about right Crazy, that sounds about right. We don't participate in the entertainment but we tip the towel person and the boogie board people. Never considered the mini bar stocker. Thanks for that tip :daveandmo: Jimmy
Sounds like you are a New Yorker at heart We tip everyone here. Good system you got going there though. When you are getting good service it always helps to show how much you appreciate it with a tip and a smile. Aside from tipping the hotel staff, I always find that making friends with them goes even further. I love talking to people I do not know and I have met some fascinating people working at the hotels I have stayed at. So my advice, tips are important, but conversation and a friendly attitude go a long long way as well. If you want to really surprise someone....tip the groundskeepers sometime. There was this one really friendly young guy that seemed to be in charge of the landscaping duties in the area outside of our ground level room last year. I was up as the sun was rising one morning and I started talking to him for a bit since he was the only one awake and outside that morning. Before I left to go walk the beach I slipped him a 50 Peso bill and said thanks for doing such a great job at keeping everything looking so nice. Well, from that day on that guy was sweeping our patio everyday, waiting until we were up until he ran any loud equipment and just doing everything he could for us. I did not give him the tip expecting any extra service in return, I just wanted to thank him for doing such a good job. I made a friend in him though and had a sparkling clean patio
I tip everyone that is breathing, including the maintenance guys, front desk, bell boys, and even taxi drivers. If anyone participates in making my vacation more enjoyable, they get tipped. In 8 trips to the area, I have never once been disappointed, not gotten what I wanted, or been given an attitude. If it costs me a couple extra bucks in tips for this type of service, I am all for it.
Good post! Travel agents will often state that at an all inclusive resort tips are included in the price you pay, this is true but only to a certain extent. While a percentage of your price is allocated to tips the people that really make your stay memorable - those at the lower end of the food chain are unlikely to see much of it after it's been, shall we say, shared amongst other staff. The only point I'd disagree with you on is tipping the Ents staff so much. They are the higher paid of the hotel workers, and dont forget for every person they take to a club at night they are making ave $10 a person in commission. Some hotels Ents staff will take 50 people a night 7 days a week. I'd far rather the $25 get given to the gardeners, maids, wait staff and bartenders who really do rely on tips to earn a "liveable wage" that after all, none of us could live off.
Do you guys leave gifts at all? I usually take a 'pampering' gift bag for the maid(s). The first time I see her I get her name and ask if she'll be doing our room all week. I tip her daily, but at the end of the week I leave a thank you note and a gift as well. All women like to be pampered right? Since my boyfriend is a restaurant/bar owner, he also has a ton of beer stuff, like bottle openers, so I'm hoping to take a few along this year for the animation staff and bartenders. I figure it's that little something extra (along with $$) that makes you memorable. When I was in Puerto Plata a few years ago the Red Sox were in the world series, so I brought a ton of Boston Red Sox key chains and stuff and gave them along with tips. I would be walking from the pool to the bathroom, and one of the front desk stadd (for example) would yell out "GO BOSTON EH?" with the thumbs up..it was pricessl I also brought a lot of pens/pencils/school work books, since I had arranged a tour to a local school and the kids there don't have any school necessities provided by the school.
Gifts are cool too, cosmetics for the maids etc sports hats / shirts / novelties etc for the guys. Lots of the guys love English football shirts too, so if you've got an old one or don't mind giving away your new one then do that too. At the end of the day though gifts dont pay the rent and the grocery bill, so imho gifts should be an extra and not a substitute.
i agree with what's been said, but lambert said it best: tip all u want, but if ur an ass, good luck on getting service. i've always tipped at all-inclusive AI, and even a little goes a long way for alotta those folks. and a smile and a heart-felt thank you are always appreciated as well.
In addition to the tips... here's something a little different... angain in addition to the tips you are planning to give. Mexicans consider receiving a US $2 bill as good luck. OK, maybe not all but a lot do. So stop by the bank and pick up a few for those people that do you really good. I said in addition to the tip because they won't ever spend it. As for the gifts, I agree with Steve that it should be in addition also. But think of things that they might like to have but can't pry the money out from the regular budget. A mom would never spend her baby's food money on bubble bath, but if someone gave it to her... well that's different. Also think of unique things, cool but unique. Like instead of a NYC ball cap, how about a Saprano's hat? Just some thoughts... But above all TIP! As you enjoy your vacation thing how hard it would be to do it on a salary of $5 a day. If you're spending $2,000 on a week there a 20% tip would be $400. You'd do at least 20% at home right? Jamie
