Concierge gratuity upon arrival in London
 

I have had our concierge help us get dinner reservations and provide info about London and I want to tip him upon our arrival. I am so confused about tipping in Europe, would it be appropriate to give him a tip for his help? If so, what would be a good amount, he has emailed me maybe 4 times with dining reservations that he was to acquire for us. He has been very helpful!!
We will be in London a week from tomorrow!! Myself, my 23 year old and my 16 year old. We are so excited!!! Thanks to all who helped with advice, I will write a trip report when we return.

Are these basic restaurant reservations - or did he have to make a special effort to get something that's really difficult? What kind of a hotel is it - I would tip a lot mor ein a 5* deluxe than a 3* hotel?

It is ALWAYS appropriate to tip a concierge who does something special for you. (You don't tip if they hand you a map, book a tour - the tour company gives them a commission - or answer a basic question - like which direction to the tube.)

I would tend to do 10 or 15 pounds for the services - unless he got you a reservation for someplace that usually sells out.

£10-£15 would be a huge tip IMO for calling for a couple of dinner bookings. Perhaps at the end of the entire stay if he did even more for you. Then go that high. Or even more IF you are high maintenance :)

I personally wouldn't tip him upon your arrival. How many days are you at the hotel? He is bound to provide other services during your stay. If the dinner reservations ends up being all he did, then £5, £10 if they are really high end restaurants. If he does lots of other special services over several days, then I might go as high as £20 to cover <u>everything</u>

Tipping in general is much less than in the States.

My goodness,

You folks sure do throw your money around. :)

It is the concierge's job (for which he is paid a decent wage) to make dinner reservations, among other things.

This is not a reason for offering a tip.

If, at the end of your stay, you feel he has done a proper job you can give him a moderate tip.

((I))

Agree with ira. I would feel awkward and a bit peculiar giving him a tip on arrival.

I can't even imagine throwing a tip at the concierge upon arrival. Seems gauche to me. And 15-20 pounds for making a couple of dinner reservations seems exorbitant to me. Wait until the end of your stay, when you've finished asking for services and then maybe give him a 15-pound tip at most.

"If, at the end of your stay, you feel he has done a proper job you can give him a moderate tip."

Why?

If he's done a proper job, that's exactly what he's paid to do. The usual absurd American argument that customers should compensate for employers' meanness simply doesn't apply with head porters. In 5* hotels, head porters are part of what hotels offer to justify their rates: they're nowhere near the breadline

If he's done more than a proper job, you might want to tip him. Otherwise, if it's important to you to demonstrate how generous you are - well,that's your psychological hangup, and only you know what you need to do to deal with it.

As for paying someone £15 to make a restaurant reservation....

I agree with flanneruk that making dinner reservations and providing general tourist info are part of the concierge's or head porter's job. I would only tip if the person had been able to do something you couldn't do yourself, like spending time tracking down scarce and/or particularly good theater tickets or obtaining a reservation at an in-demand restaurant where his/her connections did the trick. If you felt particularly well cared for over, say, a week or more, then I would consider a modest tip on departure. A much more meaningful expression of appreciation IMO would be a letter to the hotel manager saying how the concierge's assistance made your visit enjoyable/memorable/comfortable/whatever.

I agree with the don't tippers. The guy is paid to do a job, he is doing that job why tip?

If you think he has been exceptionally efficient write to his employer and say how much you appreciated his help.

Hi flan,

>"If, at the end of your stay, you feel he has done a proper job you can give him a moderate tip."
Why?<

Because the OP is someone who has been brought up to believe that one gives a tip to people who have done a proper job; unlike some cultures where one tips only for extra. :)

((I))

Well I always tip a concierge for services - esp if I had been sending emails back and forth in advance of the trip. But - we usually do our own diner resevations (so don;t need to tip) and use the concierge only for things that are difficult to get/do -for which we do tip.

And I may be doing this since a lot of my trips are business - for which we use a lot of extra and unusual services (for instance finding a restaurant for a group dinner for 30 on 24 hours notice - or organizing a private tour with little notice). These things are out of the norm - and we tip and tip generouslt for concierges that can pull them off.

I'm on the 'no need to tip for this' side. Concierges aren't scraping by. For all normal services, making bookings at normal restuarants, getting tickets for non-sold-out events, helping you out with maps and directions etc, it really is just their job. They are not paid just to just stand there and look decorative.

You only need tip if they go above and beyond and sort out something tricky for you. Those sold-out tickets, that reservation at a restaurant you normally need to book a couple of months in advance, procurement of prostitutes and drugs (and I'm not really joking on those last two, there's a lot of it about).