Leely

Interesting questions, both from Maureen and Suze.

I used to "grossly" overtip in Italy and France--just hard to break the habit. (I live in SF and the cost of living is high, so I tend to tip at least 20%, sometimes 25-30% on almost all lunches/dinners. Is that high? I'm not even sure anymore.) I tipped the same in Italy and France.

Now while travelling I think I still overtip, but not so excessively. I'm less worried about disrupting the social order than looking like a jacka$$ somehow boastfully throwing money around. So I tend to guesstimate at roughly 10%.

I usually leave 3-5 Euros a day in the hotel room for the maid. I do it each day and most of the time when I get back it's still there. I just let it pile up until I check out.

Again, is this high or low--I'm not sure. My rationale, and perhaps it's wrong, is that people have less face time with maids, so perhaps are inclined to undertip them.

clairobscur

France :

-A 15% service fee is included in the bill in cafes/restaurants

-This service fee isn't a tip. It might or might not be added to the staff paycheck (and a lot of french people are unaware of it and assume this fee always goes to the staff)

-Tipping isn't "morally mandatory"

-There's no generally agreed upon rules about tipping

-In restaurants, some people tip a percentage (10% is generous), some tip the same amount regardless of the cost of the meal, and this amount can vary widely from one person to another. Some people quite always tip, some people quite never tip. Some people's tips are higly variable depending on the service (or on the waitress look), some people tend to tip the same, except when the service was exceptionnally bad or exceptionnally good.

-In cafes, tipping generally consists in leaving some loose change.

-Not tipping if you're unsatisfied with the service is perfectly OK. All waiters are paid at least the minimal wage, and aren't taxed on the basis of tip they're assumed to have been given.


-Tipping taxi drivers and hairdressers, as already mentionned, is relatively widespread, but once again nor "mandatory" nor done by everybody.

To sum up : do as you feel like,there's no generally acepted guideline.

Neil_Oz

clairobscur, thanks for clarifying the situation in France - this question keeps coming up but seldom returns quite the same answer, so this thread goes in my "fact file".

Leely, maybe the fact that the money you leave in the room mounts up means that the maids aren't used to being tipped and fear they'll be accused of thieving your small change?

Last year in China I left a small amount on the table in a restaurant that obviously had seen few if any foreigners, and hadn't made it to the door before it was sternly returned to me and wouldn't be accepted even after I mimed that it was for the waitress. I got the impression that she was a little embarrassed, possibly even offended, at being offered money - as though she was a beggar, perhaps? Diff'rent strokes.

BTilke

Neil, maids won't take the loose change unless the guest notes it is there for them. It has nothing to do with "not being used" to tips and everything to do with not being sure if the change is a tip for them or not.
I tip daily in hotels and leave the change with a note of thanks. It's always taken, sometimes the maid leaves her own note of thanks in return. Many guests tip only at the end when they are checking out. Unfortunately, the tip at the end may go to someone other than the maid who cleaned your room during your stay, depending on staff schedules.
Also Clairobscur, thanks for posting that there are NO hard and fast rules about tipping even among Europeans. I have made the same point several times before....many of the patrons DO tip at the restaurants I've been to in France and we usually tip in the 5 to 10 percent range. This is NOT excessive nor out of step with local custom (unless, of course, restaurants like d'Antan Sancerrois in Bourges, La Tour in Sancerre and La Ferme in Angers have all been taken over by American customers who speak fluent French and are friends with the proprietors!). However, I keep reading from certain posters that the locals don't tip and it's only foolish American who do so. That's not REALLY the case (and, no, I don't tip salespeople, but at many stores they are paid a commission on their sales, which is a tip of sort, I suppose, since it goes to the salesperson that served me and not to staff in geenral). It's interesting to note that German posters like HSV also believe in tipping around 10 percent in Germany.
In the UK, in most of the restaurants we dine at, it's clearly noted on the bill that service is NOT included. So again, we tip around 10% unless there has been a problem with service (and not a problem with the kitchen...I don't take kitchen problems out on the wait staff).
Maureen, don't be made to feel that you are violating local custom if you tip between 5 and 10 percent at restaurants in your three destinations. You are NOT.
As far as wait staff being paid living wages, that is less and less true, given the high costs of life in places like London and Paris. Most teachers, firemen and police have a hard time making ends meet in those cities....and I don't think they make less than waiters at inexpensive restaurants or chambermaids. The book Below the Breadline: Living on the Minimum Wage by Fran Abrams might be an eye opener for those who think UK chambermaids and other low end hotel staff workers are paid "living" wages.

LoveItaly

Hi Leely, I think a 25% to 30% tip in SF is to high. I tip 20% unless there is an overwhelming reason to tip higher.

About tipping the cleaning person in an Italian hotel. My friend who manages a hotel in Italy has told me many times that one euro per night is appropriate. So that is what I do. However unknown to him when I stay at his hotel for three weeks I usually make it 25 euros. Because I know the woman I put it in an envelope at the end of my trip and give it to her and she is more then pleased.

At other hotels I leave one euro per night.

I think we all want to tip appropriately and it is one of the questions every traveller has when they travel outside their country.

It is hard to know if one if overtipping or not tippiing enough. Another confusion regarding travel.

twoflower

I've not struck tipping at any of these places, on many trips to each of them, although I do 'round up' frequently, and may add a bit more if the service is beyond excellence (excellence being the level I expect without tips). North America is the only part of the world where I have ever had tips expected of me regardless of whether the service justified it or not.

ckenb

For Americans, with their tipping culture, the main consequence of not taking local tipping customs and economic realities into account is overtipping.

In France, the service charge is included in the price of a meal in a restaurant or a drink in a café.

Leaving what would be considered in France as a lavish tip in on top of that leads people to the conclusion that Americans are too wealthy for their own good and like to show off my throwing their money around. That's considered vulgar behavior. French people are much more discreet about money matters than Americans are.

MaureenB

Good to know the valuable information and points of view expressed here. Thanks for your helpful insights.
BetsyG and I are still wondering if anyone can comment on Amsterdam? My guidebook does say 15% service is included in the bill. Anyone out there live in Amsterdam?

twoflower

Been to Amsterdam 5 times. My comments above hold good. If they do include it in the bill, fine, but they certainly do not solicit or even tentatively hint at anything extra above what's billed.

wren

On an Amsterdam travel website: "All prices in the Netherlands by law include tax and tips: the price you see is the price you pay. Normal Dutch practice in restaurants is to round up to some whole number of euros, so that the tip is about 5%. Don't feel obliged to leave a tip. If the bill says "service not included" they are just trying to rip you off. You don't need to tip in taxis either."

wren

On the flipside of this coin: The cheapest tourists that ever come to Florida are the ones who are the Europeans who are accustomed to having their tip included in the bill. Quite often they leave coins for a tip...this has been told to me more than once by restaurant employees.

Leely

wren--

Too funny. The other night I was in a bar here in CA. A guy came up next to me and ordered 5 drinks from the bartender. He left a 1.50 tip for FIVE cocktails. The bartender looked at me, rolled her eyes and said "And he's not even European!"

igemini48

I got this tip from americans who live and work in Paris(Poatcard from Paris) and just got this tipps on tipping: Safe guidelines on what to tip (on the bill as a whole, not per person):

- For a coffee or drink, 10 or 20 cents, if anything
- For a light breakfast or lunch, a euro
- For a full lunch or a light dinner, two euros
- For an elegant meal in a nice restaurant, five euros
- In a grand restaurant, ten euros or more depending on the attentiveness of the service
- In a large group setting, it's polite to add a couple of euros to the indications above

When in doubt after a complete meal, a 2 euro coin is your best bet--small enough to be modest, large enough to signal appreciation…and so, a good thing to have at the ready in your back pocket.