ekscrunchy

Slightly embarrassed to be asking this, but here goes: This query concerns Spain but might be applicable in other southern European countries.

I am personally interested in both Spain and Italy, the two European countries where I travel often. Right now I am in Spain but if you also have comments about Italy, please chime in...

I've gotten a handle on if, when and how much to tip in restaurants. (I'd like to read comments on that as well, although I think I've got it covered in a way I am comfortable with)


But I've never gotten the story straight on tipping in hotels, and since I am checking out tomorrow, I'd like to get some opinions here.
I do not believe that there is a general answer to this question but in this particular circumstance, what would be the correct way to tip, or not tip:

Have now spent 5 nights at a Madrid hotel that I like very much. This is my second stay in the past year. This is a comparatively small, family-owned and run hotel where the many of the staff members are known to me from my stay last year. In some instances, I have established relationships with some of the staff that have blurred the boundaries between employee and friend. For instance,, by now I know the stories of a few staff members, know that one has suffered a family loss this year, know the story of how several (many of the staff are immigrants from other Spanish-speaking countries, from Cuba to Equatorial Guinea) have come to Spain and why, where they live in Madrid, etc..

. I've enjoy chatting with both the manager, and some of the staff when they are not attending to other tasks.

Everyone, from the female owner/manager to the young, male bellboys (that is the term in English that they prefer; I've asked; they each prefer the English translation of "botones," "bellboy" in Spanish) to the restaurant wait staff, has been exceptionally kind to me and I find it engrossing chatting with them.

When I arrived last week, a staff member who was new to me at the time helped me to set up my bags, showed me the room's set-up, brought me extra hangers, etc. I handed a tip to him and he refused it, telling me that "maybe later..."



So now, "later" has almost arrived.

What would be an appropriate gratuity, and to whom do I give a gratuity to???

There are two bellboys in particular that I 'know' best, another who I know less but all have been just wonderful to an extent that I've not encountered all that much in most hotels. Part of this I'm sure is due to the small size of the hotel. Again, it is a family owned and managed hotel and not part of any chain although it does have a designation from a prestigious hotel organization.

So:how much and to which of these people:

Two bellboys who I've encountered the most often
One bellboy always helpful but I know him less....he was among those who tried to fix my computer issues
Front desk manager who I've known over two stays....lovely person dedicated to his job..

Two favorite hotel waiters (one is off until after I depart, but another will be here for breakfast service tomorrow am, before I leave...)

Housekeeping...one woman has attended to my room twice a day but we've not had any contact beyond asking for more coffee pods.

I'm feeling like I'm at a safari lodge and need to prepare tipping envelopes for so many people (!!)....how do you all handle this???

I will welcome your thoughts...

Maribel

Answering a tipping question is like opening a can of worms!

I’ll just tell you what we do at the 4-star Pavillons, where the staff members are like friends. Even now, living in the suburbs, we go in and stay when we have to attend a 3-day congress at IFEMA rather than drive home every night.

We leave a note in Spanish every morning for our chambermaid , who isn’ t always the same lady, and with the note a 2 or 3 euro tip. She makes sure we’re supplied with Nespresso capsules (my addiction), but we don’t ask for anything more.
For the porter we give him 1 or 2 euros per bag, but we never have more than 2 bags each. And we don’ t need for them to send packages to us or wrap anything up.

For the desk staff that we now know so well, we thank them profusely, but since I make all of my restaurant reservations, they don’t do that for me. We catch our own taxis or Uber/Bolt/Cabify, but when we order a taxi for an early departure to Barajas, we tip the lovely gentleman, with whom we’re now on first name basis, although he doesn’t expect it, as we’re friends. It isn’t at all expected, as it’s a very small hotel, not family run, as it’s a member of the Pavillons group, a small French chain, but it feels like a family-run hotel. They always give us the same room.

We don’t ask the staff for anything special, though. When we stay over Christmas, on Christmas Eve the gentleman on duty brings us a chocolate cake and bottle of cava, but they do that for all their guests on Christmas Eve.

Just what we do…and they’re always happy to see us, although we now live here, we do still visit for a “staycation” from time to time.

bilboburgler

Generally tips should be in the 1 to 2 Euro zone or just rounding up to a whole Euro. But do make sure the money is clearly identified as for them, otherwise they might be concerned about being accused as thieves.

This can of worms will just run and run. Staff in hotels are professionals and offer a friendly cheerful aspect to all customers in Europe. Big tipping is not part of most of our cultures.

Maribel

In Spain, the staff being accused as thieves? That just doesn’t happen, especially since we leave a note with a 2 euro tip “para la camarera, muchas gracias” and give a 1-2 euro tip directly into the hand of a porter who carries our bag to the taxi.

For the taxi driver, we just round up.
The flat fare to Barajas airport is now 33 euros. No need to tip, unless the driver handles an inordinate number of heavy bags and other parcels.
We don’t tip when there is a flat fare to an airport, as in the case of Madrid or where we are now, Sevilla.
In Sevilla Córdoba, Málaga, Granada locals just round up from the taxi fare or…not at all, since there’s contactless payment via bank card.

Today ,our friend Shawn (Azahar Sevilla) did leave a tip at Barra Fina, as it was my husband’s celebratory birthday meal, and the chef brought us several extra on-the-house dishes and complimentary dessert sherry. She did this just as a token of our appreciation. (I paid the bill, she added the tip). She’s a Sevilla resident of 30+ years and a regular at Barra Fina and all the other restaurants on her website and insists on leaving a tip. Not 10%, usually 5% and I’m certainly not going to argue with a native!

ekscrunchy

But since I've not given any tips during my stay.....should I just tip as you both mentioned..for handling the bags (2 heavy suitcases and one carton which I've packed myself). (I now bring scissors, bubble wrap and have-duty tape for wrapping my own purchases!!)

Front desk person did not make any bookings for me (I did those on my own, thanks to Maribel!!) but he did change the time of one booking (La Catapa), so one phone call.

So only tip the bellboy(s) who carry my bags down to the taxi tomorrow.....2 euro per bag more or less.

And for 5-night stay, how much for the limpieza woman.....as I said, the only thing I asked for were some Nespresso pods to replace the ones I had used. (Had to use.....I can barely keep my head up after going to sleep at 3 or even 4 am and waking at 9am!! Good thing breakfast runs until 11:30!!

So:

Front desk person
Cleaning woman
Bellboys who will not carry my luggage tomorrow
Bellboy who I did not tip at all (he refused) upon my arrival, when he did collect extra hangars and an extra luggage rack for me.....
Bellboy who WILL carry my bags to taxi tomorrow

It's a minefield!!!!

nyse

>>>“Housekeeping...one woman has attended to my room twice a day but we've not had any contact beyond asking for more coffee pods.”

Forgive me, but it sounds like you’re giving presents to friends rather than a thank-you for work done on your behalf.
Would you be more inclined to tip the housekeeper if you had a pleasant daily chat with them?

bilboburgler

"In Spain, the staff being accused as thieves? That just doesn’t happen, especially since we leave a note with a 2 euro tip “para la camarera, muchas gracias” and give a 1-2 euro tip directly into the hand of a porter who carries our bag to the taxi."

We are in agreement. I'm sorry if my clumsiness caused you to think otherwise.

bilboburgler

"So only tip the bellboy(s) who carry my bags down to the taxi tomorrow.....2 euro per bag more or less."

No

2 Euros for everything (not per bag or for two people's worth of bag)

bilboburgler

"It's a minefield!!!!"

no, it is simple, tip nothing.
see above

If you really have had a fantastic service then up to (note that "up to" includes less than) 2 Euros

Maribel

See what I mean eks, it opens up a can of worms and each person will have his/her very strong opinion. We just follow what our friends and family do, and they as Spaniards tip little, as it’s not part of their culture. For example, they don’t leave a daily note with small tip for the maid…but I can’t tell you how very many times a maid in a small hotel, a B&B or even the owner herself or himself has thanked me for this small gesture. Sometimes the maid has even written a note back to me or has shown me my note at breakfast that she has in her hand with a big smile. Once when it snowed in Madrid the maid wrote me a big “Thank you from Nicole” with a heart, that she drew on our snow-covered terrace . We took a photo. They work hard and many are immigrants just like me.
I have a soft spot for them.

ekscrunchy

NYSE, I do not understand your point. I am going to tip the cleaning person; my question is how much for a five-night stay when I did not ask for anything extra save some coffee pods.
And yes, if I had run into her more, or had been staying longer than 5 nights, no doubt I would have had conversations with her if she had the time. That's just what I do...how often am I going to have contact with a person from a fairly obscure African country......? So much to learn, so much to explore....none of that has anything to do with the size of a tip.

cdnyul

Nothing.

ekscrunchy

Nothing? So no tipping at all, not to bellboy, cleaning person, etc?

Yeah, can of worms.

I have to admit, I was thinking (before I began this thread) that I ought to give 10 euro to main bellboy who was so helpful, and 5 euro to person who will cary my bags down to taxi!!
And then I was thinking 10 euro to front desk person, and 1o euro left for person who cleans room..so you can see that SOME sad Americans seem to feel "guilty" if they do not tip as much as they think they should!! Ii need to spend time in a "re-education camp!!" (No insult intended here..)

At least I got the restaurant tipping thing down..and I almost never tip taxi drivers in Spain or Italy.

In NYC, where I live much of the year..there are "tip jars" even in take out places..like bakeries!!! And the counter person faces the screen toward you so you can choose a certain percent (its never less than 15% or 20%) of you can choose NO TIP, written in bold caps so you can feel like a creep. Same in taxis.....unless you want to go to the trouble of overriding the screen....your minimum tip will be 15%. At least I don't fall for the bakery forced tip....but I really need an education here..in the US everyone thinks about the poor servers who depend on tips...maybe so but not the case here in Spain, I know...but old habits die hard..or old guilt!!

Would you say Italy is same as Spain?????

macdogmom

It’s funny because we went to London and Paris last year and ended up never getting euros or pounds and my one concern was about tipping maids at the end of the hotel stay’s. We handled our own luggage and took taxis or ubers that didn’t need any cash. Or first day in London we saw signs in coffee places that said that they didn’t accept cash. I asked someone in Paris about leaving a tip for hotel cleaning crew but she said that it was unusual and that they might be accused of stealing the money! It’s become a very cashless society in big cities everywhere and I only use it in Santa Barbara at the farmers market and even those vendors are switching to Apple Pay. Good luck and it sounds like a couple euros for luggage handlers and cleaning person is appropriate.

hetismij2

Ok, I wouldn't tip. Nothing, zilch, but that is just how I am and how abnormal tipping feels to me.
I know that doesn't help you, but really if you feel you need to just tip a small amount, at most a couple of euros. Please don't wreck it for those of us opposed to tipping, and trying not to end up with a US style tipping culture in Europe.

Travel_Nerd

I rarely tip in Europe unless I see that it is expected. I read that it is customary in Greece - but even that seems to be a hot button topic.

At hotels, I make it to the point where housekeeping does not have to clean around me (until I leave). I hang my towels, keep my belongings together including toiletries and out of their way, even will make my bed (not to their level, though) in the morning, handle my own bags, etc. At restaurants, I tend to travel solo, so it is only me they have to serve. I may leave a Euro or two on occasion. And it's usually when they have been patient with me as I attempt the local language.

I despise American tipping culture and the system we have where it is put upon the consumer to make up for the wage difference the employer does not have to pay. In the US, I tip of course. Elsewhere, no. If that makes me an "ugly American," so be it.

KayF

Aren't these people just doing their job? And are they getting paid a wage? Tipping in your home country, if workers need tips to survive, is one thing, but I don't agree with taking those habits to other countries.

ekscrunchy

Thank you, Kay.....I cannot disagree with you. What interests me the most is what Spaniards would do on this subject when traveling in Spain and Maribel has offered a most sane response.