Tipping a concierge
 

How much should one tip the concierge in an expensive hotel (e.g., the Bristol in Vienna or the Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich) for services such as obtaining opera tickets, making a restaurant reservation, etc? If one is staying a number of days, is it better to tip for each service, or a substantial amount ahead of time? Thanks.

Good question. Bumping cos I'm curious about this too.

If you are staying at the hotel for more than a night or two, and you plan to use the services of the concierge extensively, I would prepay. After checking in, find the concierge, introduce yourself and ask some simple &quot;where is&quot; type questions and then mention that you hope he /she will help you get the most out of your stay and then give him / her 5-10% of what you estimate your total hotel bill will be.<BR><BR>However, to be very honest, I can't say that this is a sure fire way to get attention and good service from a concierge. It works at the Connaught in London. But the concierge staff there is outstanding. I stay at the SAS Scandinavia Hotel in Copenhagen for 8-10 days about twice a year and I have started leaving a tip for housekeeping and this has paid off much more often than tipping the concierge.

10%,15% OF the entire bill as a tip to the concierge, I find this way too much... for reasonable services I have tipped each time the concierge depending, of what it was aprox 10 to 20 dollars and it has worked just fine.

That's 5-10% not 10-15%. And it depends on what you get the concierge to do for you. On a $2000 hotel bill, $100 for the concierge to make sure that my dinner reservations are made, tickets to theater - good seats, cabs always available . . . seems reasonable.

I think it depends upon the services needed and rendered. If the concierge has really gone to extremes - say - score tickets to a sold-out New Years Eve concert by the Vienna Philharmonic - then by all means leave a big tip. But if it's just to recommend a place to eat or how to get from point A to B - then I would skip a tip altogether.<BR><BR>I once paid a $25 tip to a concierge in Munich when I checked in and found it made little difference in quality of service/advice.

I've made requests of concierges twice, ones that they haven't been able to help much. Once was at the Connaught, where we thought that they, of all hotels, could get us 2 tickets for the last night of the Proms. Their concierge very kindly told us that we did not have enough money for what those tickets would cost, if indeed he could even get them! [He was correct!] After I got that hotel &quot;out of my system&quot; we never stayed there again.

I tend to agree with Ron. My suggestion about an upfront, 5-10% tip means to send a signal to the concierge that I will be very demanding and expect service BEYOND that he normally gives.<BR><BR>But it probably doesn't matter.

<BR>What the concierge does is not a personal service, so I don't tip. You could bribe the concierge, in advance, to put forth a special effort. Or reward, with a gift of cash, a service that was above and beyond the call of the concierge's duty. Skip the tip.<BR><BR>

I always thought when you are paying around $250 a night in a hotel that the concierge was part of the service you were paying for. oops!

Thank you all for your helpful though not unanimous comments!