Flunkeys?! My flight instructor is a bellhop and, believe me, he's no dummy.

This reminds me of the time my Dad almost ran over a restaurant valet trying to get out of the way and park himself. He hates tipping for things like that.

So many times it seems like that extra stuff is all just sizzle with no steak. I was grateful to the bathroom attendant who kept me from going out with the back of my dress stuck in my underware. :-D

I do not tip bathroom attendants. I'll turn the water on to the temperature I like - thank you. I can also get my own towel. They don't get a dime from me.

Who do you think is keeping that bathroom clean and tidy for you? Making sure there are towels?

I don't like pay excessive tips and turn down help with my bags, etc.

But at some point, if you are going to stay at a luxury hotel--especially in a foreign country--you need to get with the program and tip employees, accepting that's part of the culture of staying in those kinds of environments. To pay $400 for a room and complain about giving a bathroom attendant 50 cents or a dollar is cheap and a little, well, pathetic.

"Who do you think is keeping that bathroom clean and tidy for you? Making sure there are towels?"

I don't get this. Are you suggesting the only way a nice hotel or restaurant can keep a bathroom neat and tidy and providing plenty of towels is by stationing someone there and putting out a tip plate? I don't think so. I have yet to see an attendant in a Ritz Carlton restroom, but I have yet to see one that wasn't perfectly "housekept". In my opinion I'd rather see the hotel having an employee checking and tidying up hourly if necessary that to stand there the whole time.

Was that a Saturday night live sketch where the bathroom attendant thing is carried to a new level? "May I hold that for you sir? One shake or two?"

Most bathroom attendands I've seen are in restaurants, where there are often not staff making sure the bathroom is clean.

OK, but I've been to many fine restaurants where a busboy or someone else was given that duty and the results were excellent. There are other ways to do it besides stationing an obnoxious guy there turning on the water for you, making small talk, handing you a towel, spraying you with cologne (who would let them do that anyway?), and pointing to a tip plate.

I can't imagine being so cheap I couldn't find a quarter or two to give some person living on the edge of poverty a tip after they've kept the bathroom clearn and tidy and given me towel.

My husband and I stay at 3 star hotels for this very reason. We don't want help and dislike waiting for it. When we travel we just want to be left alone.

I like upscale furnishings but not the hoopla that goes along with it.

MikeT - tipping is not the point. I believe in tipping well, and do so in restaurants, and to bellman, valets, maids, etc. But I am perfectly capable of turning on the sink and getting my own towel in a restroom! I think it's a bit excessive and completely unneccessary.

Not to mention, having perfume sprayed in a small space like that is offensive to many people with sensitive noses, myself included. Not only does it make me want to gag when I walk in there, but I often get a killer headache that lasts for hours. I'm with Neopolitan on this - have someone come in and clean the place every so often, but otherwise, leave me alone!

And another thing, if the only job someone can get in this world is as a bathroom attendant, then they have bigger problems than me not tipping them. There are plenty of other options!

Do you wash your own hair at the hair dresser or do you let someone else do it and tip them? Since you are pefectly capable of doing it, why are you tipping someone for doing it for you?

"And another thing, if the only job someone can get in this world is as a bathroom attendant, then they have bigger problems than me not tipping them."

Like work in a sweatshop, clean people's houses, or babysit for high maintenance people while they go out fo the night.

Sorry Mike - Poor bathroom attendants will not get any sympathy from me, no matter how much you whine about it. I paid my own way through college while working several low-paying jobs. It took me 7 years to get a 4-year degree and now I have a good job. It can be done, without being a bathroom attendant.

Besides, I CHOOSE to have my hair done, and I CHOOSE to use the valet or the bellman. Because I CHOSE to use their services, I tip them well. I do NOT choose to have someone turn on the faucet and hand me a towel. Sorry - no tips.

MikeT, it is not a matter of being cheap. I find it intrusive for an attendant to stand there making small talk while I'm at a urinal, and then turning the water on for me and set the water (way too hot usually) as if I were an invalid. I always drop a dollar when there are such attendants, but I'd rather drop the dollar if there were a sign there that said "I have kept this room clean for you. Thank you". My point is I wish they weren't there and I could have a little privacy please. Ok, I'll admit it. I'm pee shy, too.

I'm glad you like them. I don't. OK? Different strokes for different folks. Don't accuse people who don't like the intrusion of being cheap!

Your attempt at analogies like hair washing have gone way beyond being absurd comparisons!

I love the upscale accomodations, the bathroom and its amenities, the decor and ambience, the bed and linens, etc. However, I'm also low maintenance in that I don't need any hand holding. I know where I want to go and how, and I'm pretty self-sufficient.

Part of staying at an upscale accomodation is the ready availability of the valet, bellhops, concierge, etc. You don't have to use any of their services if you should so choose. I don't, and as such, these services they provide don't bother me at all. It is nice to know they have it if on the off chance I need to use it.

For instance, I stay at the poshest hotels whenever I'm on business in DC due to our negotiated rates (lucky me). However, I always decline their help in dealing with my bag (it's usually a carry-on with wheels or less), I know where I want to eat and go so never use the concierge. I even decline their help in getting me a taxi as I often stay within walking distance of my business destination. Imagine seeing a young woman walking out of the St. Regis in a suit and heels, with a backpack on her back walking away from said posh hotel. That's me! :D

However, valet parking is something I will object to. Like Neopolitan, I don't want to call down 30 minutes ahead of time in order to collect my car. Sometimes, I just want the freedom to put/retreive my items from my car without having to depend on someone else to give me access to my own car. Give me self parking any day.

As for room service, that is lost on me as well. I'd much rather go out for a walk around the neighborhood and eat at a restaurant. Or if I need to work through dinner while in a hotel, I'll get takeout from a nice place and bring it back to my room. Fresh air and food! Nothing on the room service menu ever appeals to me anyway, and I dislike forced tipping. I tip very well without their help.

I don't think the way that I stay in these posh hotels brings down the quality of their clientele any. I just feel this is the way I travel most comfortably, and their goal is to allow me such comfort. I have found the staff at these hotels will always respect your space without ignoring you. This is something I always appreciate as there will be times when I will need help.

I travel this way regardless of whether I'm on vacation or on business. Even if I'm the only one who travels this way, no one's going to run me out of a posh hotel!

Fortunately it's a practice we seldom see. My tip is my sweet smile. :) I <i>abhor</i> the practice, will not tip for a towel, and I'm an overly generous tipper normally. That is just way beyond reasonable.

mcnyc, where do you want to go? I suspect you and I could travel well together. We're on the same wavelength.

My husband &amp; I stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia several years ago because of a great rate (I lived about 5 blocks from the RC). We enjoyed the luxurious accomodation, but couldn't stand the bellhops etc. C'mon! We lived in Philadelphia and only had a small duffle bag! We're intelligent people who can carry our duffle bag and find our room without any help!

Ever since then, we avoid staying at the 5* hotels on vacation.

On the flip side, last year we stayed at the Fairmont in Dallas for our wedding. I had an enormous amount of stuff to unload from my car, and I really appreciated all the help that was offered (valet, bellhop, concierge). I was tipping everyone left and right.

Minimum wage workers world wide like a smile and a few pesos, yuan, etc.
Stand in tneir shoes some day.
M

LOL Neopolitan! Anywhere in Europe, with a softspot for Italy, where I cannot (yet) afford the posh accomodations and accoutrements debated within this thread. But that's fine for me, as then I don't have to deal with bellhops, bathroom attendants, etc. ;)

This is not to say I don't tip and have no sympathy for the minimum wage worker. We all have to start somewhere, but if I don't need your service and have just performed the action/service myself, then there is no tip forthcoming. If I have asked you to perform a service for me, or you asked and I accepted your service, then by all means, I would be in the wrong not to tip you for your attention to me.

However, I don't think this thread is about cheap people who hate to tip. This thread is about people who don't feel the need to be pampered to the point of ridiculousness for some of us. Of course I love to be pampered, but I can carry my own bag, thank you. I also like access to my own car when I want without feeling that I'm inconveniencing someone. I basically like to do things for myself, not because I'm fiscally conservative, but because I'm practical.

I've also seen the flip side, people who ask for someone to carry their bag, someone to retreive their car at the snap of a finger, someone to get the best seats for an event, etc. yet not even tip a stinking worthless dollar. I think *that* is worse, to expect service and not tip. Those are the people you need to address, not the humble travelers who like some little extra luxuries away from home w/o the hoopla.

I just like being surrounded by luxury without being bothered, and I am always successful. :)