Colleen

When I left a hotel this past weekend, the person that picked up my bags at my room was not the person who retrieved them from the belldesk and placed them in a taxi.

Do you tip the person picking up the bags or the one placing them in the cab? I tipped the latter but felt that it was unfair to the former.

What's the right thing to do?

TheBellman

You tip both.

Colleen

Bellman,
If you tip both, does that mean each get the customary $1-$2 a bag?

That's seems excessive. If this is the case, does that mean if the same person picks up my bag and places them in the cab, they get two tips?

Howard

The bellman who picked up your bags from your room and, I assume, brought to the front entrance should get the customary $1-2 per bag tip. For the one putting them into your car--and I assume the bags were at the hotel entrance--$1 should suffice.

Patrick

Arrival seems even more tricky. These days I've noticed more and more that one person will unload the car and put the bags on a cart. Someone else then takes the cart up to the lobby, and a third person delivers them to the room. I really had the impression that in most larger hotels, the tips to bellmen are pooled, but I could be wrong. Adding tipping the guy who takes the car to valet and the sort of captain guy who writes out a receipt for your luggage and hands in to you -- often not even the person taking the luggage out of the car, that makes 5 people to tip by the time you get to your room. Is that right?

Howard

Patrick, you're much too generous. Usually, the tip for valet parking is given when you get the car at the end of the stay. Also, there's no need to tip the captain who gives you your checks unless he's the one who carried your bags.
You are correct about some hotels pooling tips.

Patrick

Actually Howard, I didn't mean that I necessarily tip all these. In fact what I was sort of driving at was the idea that maybe one should just tip the "captain" sort of guy assuming he is the one who distributes tips, but I'm just not sure how that works. And one friend indicated that he only tips when the total job is completed. As you say, you only tip when they bring you your car, not when they take it -- maybe it makes sense to only tip the guy who finally brings the bags to your room, not the two or others who handle them in transition.