I am going to NY with my family, 4 small children,all together we shall be 7.
Before making reservations I noticed the following note in several of the restaurants I was checking
Prices do not include sales tax or gratuity.
If you enjoyed your service, a 15—20 % gratuity is customary
A 20% gratuity will be added for parties of six or more.

Do I have to pay 20% on top of the customary gratuity or does it mean that I shall be charged 20% period.

I am begining to feel not so confortable with my NY visit, I also found out that the suites
although they say accomodate 4 persons, since one of two children coming to our suite is 13 we shall have to pay an extra $30 dollars. Last time I checked when our children were young they were considered adults in hotels after 17 years old.

Graziella

No, it means they will charge you 20% for the tip instead of leaving it to your discretion.

Thank you thursdaysd, I feel better now.

It depends on the hotel as to what age they charge extra for children. You are correct in that some hotels don't charge for children under age 18. Yours just happens to be one that charges for children over age 12.
6 seems to be the magic number that forces a mandatory service charge in restaurants for some reason.

Just wanted to add something to look out for on the restaurant bill. Well, not sure how prevalent this is is NY but it's common in Miami: The restaurant automatically includes the 18 or 20% gratuity, and then adds another blank line for "addl tip." Many people don't notice that the tip has already been included, and write in a full tip on the blank line, while in actuality the additional amount is completely optional if you desire to pay above and beyond what has already been calculated.