London Hotel Etiquette Question...
 

Hello, I was hoping to get the consensus about a question regarding hotel etiquette in London:

I booked a flight and hotel package which includes complimentary breakfast daily. I don't know what the general tipping policy in London hotels are and what the expected etiquette is.

Since the breakfast is complimentary, there won't be a bill for the server to add automatic gratuity to, or for me to tack on an extra tip. Instead, should I tip them some cash each time they drop off the breakfast to our room, or is it more polite to leave one large amount at check-out?

Thanks for your help!

In Britain, you seldom tip someone for just doing their job. You might tip someone if they provide service beyond the normal.

My questions would be. How many people in the room are having breakfast? Is this a breakfast normally served in the hotel restaurant but brought to the room at your request? Is it a pre-packed breakfast left outside the door, or a full cooked breakfast served on a silver tray by a flunky? What sort of hotel are you staying in? Are you fussy, or do you accept what you are given?

If this is your first visit to Britain, you will find enough to adapt to without worrying about tipping etiquette at breakfast. Nobody will insult you or chase you down the road because you failed to tip at breakfast.

What we do is wait until checking out.
We ask, "Do you have a staff box?"
Often, an actual box will be produced.

Still, as Chartley says, nobody is going to chase you down the road.

If it's a full English in the dining room, it willprobably be buffet so no one to tip.I never order room service so can't comment on that.

"We ask, "Do you have a staff box?""

We don't.

Nice people like Miss Prism, if she's away on one of on her dirty weekends with Canon C, sometimes ask that, just in case one of the other parishioners is in town too and might mention seeing them together in the church magazine. It's sort of a sacrifice to allay Fate.

But the rest of us don't, unless there was really stellar service.

The simple answer, I believe is:

- Guests in hotels don't normally tip at breakfast, wherever it's served (nor do you tip in the greasy spoon next door where a far better brekkie's sold at a quarter the price)unless there's been something extraordinary.
- If for some reason (like getting off a sleeper train and having breakfast in the station hotel) you pay cash for a table-served breakfast in a full-featured hotel, you leave a tip in the usual way.

I agree with what has been said above about taking breakfast in the breakfast room - no tip. BUT... the OP specifically said "...should I tip them some cash each time they drop off the breakfast to our room..." If I was having the breakfast sent up as room service, I'd normally tip the person that brings it a quid, provided they brought it on time.

Who are these people who pay for brekkie in a British hotel?

Are they made of money?

Nice people like Miss Prism, if she's away on one of on her dirty weekends with Canon C, sometimes ask that

Expect a letter from that nice Mr. Carter-Ruck.
It is quite obvious in my friend Mr. Wilde's play that the Canon's intentions are honourable.

IME, it never hurts to leave a Euro or so tip, on the bkfst tray or table, to show appreciation.

I have had staff give me a bit of extra service because I left them a little something.

OTOH, I have had people give me dirty looks because they thought I should have given them more. :)

((I))

Don't leave a Euro in the UK though....

"Who are these people who pay for brekkie in a British hotel?
Are they made of money?"

The shareholders are. So they're the ones that pay.

And bloody well should, if I've spent the night on a train to make an 8 am Edinburgh meeting for the sake of their profits. Think how much they've saved on a room for the night.

Spent the night on a train to Edinburgh for an 8am meeting?

Every once in a while I realise why I work in the public sector.

Expect a letter from that nice Mr. Carter-Ruck.>>>>

Could you check the return address 'cos I want to make sure he's in hell (he's dead you see).

Re above:
<i>"If it's a full English in the dining room, it willprobably be buffet so no one to tip."</i>
I disagree -- what about those who clear your table?

I do agree with Ira, we always leave some change and feel it's good karma. If we're fortunate enough to be on holiday, we can afford to leave a modest gratuity.

"we always leave some change and feel it's good karma""

"IME, it never hurts to leave a Euro or so tip"

What have either of these interesting insights got to do with the question?

The question was "what's the etiquette in Britain?" Which is: don't tip.

No doubt we're crude and heartless.

But at least we know the difference between answering a question and giving a lecture that just ignores it.

CW asked: "Who are these people who pay for brekkie in a British hotel? Are they made of money?"

I have had breakfast in a number of British hotels, and never paid for it. Some high percentage of hotel breakfasts are included in accommodation deals and might fairly be seen as complementary (as, it appears, is the situation with OP).

As to etiquette: I would not tip in a breakfast room, for fear I be taken for an American. I would probably give a £1 tip for room service if I were ever to use it.

have had breakfast in a number of British hotels, and never paid for it.>>>>

What we’re talking about is trolling in of the street and ordering, and paying for, brekkie. And that is simply mental.

Given the current exchange rate of Euro vs Sterling, I tend to slip the waitress (if her looks qualify) a 50 pound note when giving her my room number in the breakfast room. And arrange for late check-out at the reception afterwards. Not sure if that qualifies as tip, though.

Cowboy, those women aren’t waitresses.

NOW you tell me!

Just make sure you're wearing your party hat.

Unles breakfast in your room is the only option you are asking them to do an extra service to serve it there. I would leave a tip (I know in the UK it's more like 10% than the 20% we use) each day - since you don;t know who will be serving which days. You can judge the value of the breakfast from other items on the hotels menu.

I further would recommend tipping (if you choose to do so) at each opportunity rather than at the end of the stay. That way your intended recipient actually gets the gratuity --- who knows how a staff box is distributed?

To Jeremy,
unless you are staying in a deluxe 5 star hotel, don't expect breakfast to be brought to your room. Breakfast is nearly always served in the breakfast room. If your breakfast is included in the price but you want it specially brought to your room, I'm sure they will charge you extra. In that case, I would tip the person who brings it to your room if you want to. But don't feel obliged. You could also leave a few coins on the table in the breakfast room but you would be one of the few that would bother. It's a different tipping culture in the UK.

Kay

"As to etiquette: I would not tip in a breakfast room, for fear I be taken for an American."

Hmmm. I wonder if this is the reason so many servers in the US shudder when they see Brits at their table and know they are about to receive little or no tip. Those patrons are making sure they're not taken for being American?

The pattern in the UK is not to tip, you might tip the room cleaners if you stay a number of nights but say £5.

The pattern in the US is completely different and I cringe when there and make myself tip (after all its not my culture). The area I struggle is how to tip when the service in US has been bad but that is for another thread

If the service is truly bad (as opposed to problems beyond the servers control) it is legitimate to reduce the amount of the tip - or not tip at all if the situation is egregious (for instance a waiter who is incompetent plus surly plus drops food on you). But you should not reduce the tip of servers if the problem is not theirs. (The waiter didn;t cook the dinner - if it's really bad ask to speak to the manager - but don;t stiff the waiter.)

And yes, I had a cab driver last night who was complaining aobut tourists who 1) don;t tip, or give a minute amount and 2) those who think he is trying to cheat them when he suggests an alternte route with less traffic. I can just see all the people visiting NYC who think the cb drivers are cheats - and are afraid to take god advice when offered. (Sometimes th elonger way around is fster and cheaper - because it avoids a construction zone or accident or whatever.)

With maybe three dozen nights per year in those typical business/tourist hotels like Novotel, Holiday Inn, Thistle, or Hilton or independent hotels in Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Dublin, Madrid, Brussels, et al, I never ever have spotted anyone tipping anyone for anything when there was a breakfast buffet-style.

The only conversation you engage in is at the reception of the breakfast room (if there is such) to state your room number. And with the lady or guy bringing the hot stuff to answer the question "Tea or coffee?". After that you often just get a small thermos with coffee, or a tea pot on your table. Or in more upscale places, the waitress or waiter insists on filling up your cup (which makes it a bit too much of a fuss for me, but that's just me).

For room service, I would suggest a tip. But that should be based on the service itself, and not the value of the food. Something in the 1-2 (Sterling or Euro) range sounds reasonable to me.

Bit off topic, but last week when I was in London, I had a modest lunch in a somewhat modest eatery in not so modest W1. I was surprised to find a remark on the menu stating that "Gratuity is not included".
I found that a bit misleading, as the restaurateur (grand name for a small chain of Italian-style eateries) probably was hoping that his (overseas) patrons would read that remark as "service not included".
But maybe that has become common practice nowadays, and I simply did not notice the other times I was eating out.

No-one tips at breakfast, whether it's a buffet or service. You just don't do it.

Despite the fact that only cabbies and hairdressers in the UK generally get tips, we are not totally brainless, and do realise it's expected in some other countries. So the comments about us being skinflints dreaded by servers overseas are actually quite wide of the mark.

RM67, say what you want, and I'm not suggesting YOU don't tip appropriately when traveling, but trust me on this -- there is a reason so many waiters DO shudder when they see Brits. It is standard for many of them to leave 10% around here at restaurants where most people leave at least 20%. Is it wrong to categorize all Brits as being like that? Sure, but like many such things those feelings are based on the reality of the percentage of times it does happen.
And I've heard a number of excuses from British friends of mine here. Some will say things like "well sometimes I leave 20%, but we ordered some expensive wine so there's no reason to tip that much on it" or "we didn't even do desserts or coffee so the waiter didn't have to do that much" or "we really had to wait for our food so I can't see leaving more than 10% for the service". And some have even said things like "our waiter didn't even bring our food -- someone else did so we only left 10%" -- having "food runners" to assure the food comes out when hot and fresh is quite a common policy today -- but who do you think gives those runners a percentage of their tips?

Thanks everyone! I'm actually Canadian, not American. We have a hotel package that includes "breakfast delivered daily," so I assume that means room service, and I wasn't sure what the tipping situation is in the UK.

Thanks again for your help and comments!

You might find that it's a cold breakfast left outside your door on a tray. I've seen that a lot in hotels. Certainly no need to tip.