Thanks LoveItaly. I guess I just wasn't thinking that it may not be the same person everyday. Well, the last person always got a really good tip, anyway.

I will be more aware next time, and I like the idea of an envelope. I have been in some places where there is a little card left that says, "your room has been serviced by___________" I have left it in there also.

I'm with socialworker in the "personal serrvice" debate.

The person who washes my towels along with 5,000 other towels is hardly providing a personal service. If I tipped that person, I doubt my towels would be treated any differenty from other towels.

However, the person who cleans my room is doing just that -- cleaning MY room. And I consider that a personal service.

I'm really confused now, j_999_9. Are you saying that the maid who cleans my room before I checked in and after I checked out, but never enters the room while I'm registered, IS providing a personal service and cleans it differently for me than she would for any other guest?

I think you missed the point when you said "cleaning MY room". If I haven't checked into the hotel yet, it is not MY room she's cleaning. She's simply cleaning another one of the hotel rooms, just like the laundry person is just washing the hotel's towels.

Sorry, but you'll have to do better than that to indicate a difference in terms of "personal service". Again, I understand that it becomes personal AFTER I've checked into the room and I am in "residence" in the room she's cleaning. That's different, and that's why I then tip.

I thought you guys already beat the before/during/after argument to death, so I was avoiding that one.

My point simply was that a maid does provide personal service, while the person who launders the towels does not. Just giving my definition of "personal." The timing (before/after, etc.) seems to be hair-splitting to me, but I have no problem with your applying those standards to your situation.

I'm currently staying in a hotel in Texas that charges $116 a night for a room with 1 bed and a tv. They also have mandatory valet parking at $13/day. That's $47000 a year to stay in a tiny room and watch 30 chnannels. They give you a gaming pad that you can use for games, but it's $7/hour. That is an absolutae outrage, and I'm supposed to be tipping anyone????? For that much money, tips should be included. Besides, tips should be given for exceptional service, nobody tips me daily for just doing my job. If I ask for extra towels and want them between 9 and 10 am, then I'll tip. If you wash my car before bringing it back to me, then I'll pay you. This tipping crap is becoming ridicilous with always different staff performing the same function so you feel like you got to tip everyone. If the hotel doesn't pay valets and maids enough, that's their problem. I went back to school for a degree and switched jobs when I fell I wasn't making enough. I don't wanna tip a mandatory valet guy because he is outisde all day...It's a part of his job description. Go back to school and get an office job if you wanna stay inside.

I agree with the previous poster in regard to tipping everyone for everything is getting ridiculous. I still feel that a 20% tip for simple service in a restaraunt is ridiculous. My wife and I usually have very few requests or questions. I order our meal and ask for a refill and for this I am supposed to leave 20%. I work hard for my money and this practice always irritates me. Iam sorry to come across as a cheapskate, its just that I like receiving fair value for my money. For someone to spend from one to three minutes of their time with me and expect from $5 to $10 for it does not seem fair.

I'm always perplexed that the same service, whether you order the pasta or the steak, a glass of wine or a bottle, results in a tip based on the total amount spent, not the amount of extra effort. Why should the waitperson get more money for the same service, just because the entree cost more?

I agree with you Sylvia. Truth be told, I've stopped tipping on percentage and started considering number of visits to the table, special requests, special attention, etc. I get excellent service in the restaurants I visit regularly.

My question is in regard to roomservice in hotels. If they put on a 20% service charge plus a $10 delivery fee, am I supposed to tip the server on top of all that? Somehow I don't think that service charge goes to the server but geeze that make for one expensive bottle of wine!