tipping for a better room

Old Jun 26th, 2008, 05:42 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
tipping for a better room

I was reading on other travel sites that if you tip the check-in person at a hotel you might get a better room or an upgraded room at no extra charge.
Has anyone tried this, and did it work?
Thanks
adelheid is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 05:48 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 17,549
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

BUT, I would rather try this as opposed to LYING about the following:

We are on our honeymoon

We are stressed out

We are cheap and stressed out

Our kid just robbed a bank
Dukey is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 06:16 AM
  #3  
Jed
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Website on tipping for upgrades:

http://www.frontdesktip.com/
Jed is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 09:37 AM
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for the info Jed; I went to the website you sent and I think I am going to try it !!!!
adelheid is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 10:05 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Your best option is to ask if there are any upgrades available and how much they cost. Be charming and well-dressed. If the hotel is fairly empty the chances are they will offer it to you.

But, if the hotel is fairly full - and they are probably going to get a higher rate for the upgrade - the chance that a $20 to the desk clerk will get it for you are nil.
nytraveler is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 11:54 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97,141
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts
I would do your requesting to a manager via email ahead of time.

Tips or not, often the desk clerk does not have control of room assignments. It's not theirs to give, is my point.
suze is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 02:06 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
That website for tipping was all Vegas hotels.

My guess is that the culture there is very different than other places.

In fact, from what I read, most hotels don't like you to try and tip the front desk person. Some may even take it as an insult.

I still think the best way to get an upgrade is just be polite and friendly and ask if there are any upgrades available.

travelinandgolfin is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 02:10 PM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 10,965
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
A tip is given after a service is performed.

Money slipped to a room clerk for a better room isn't a tip, it's a bribe.

A bribe is given to persuade somebody to do something that is illegal or dishonest.

Why demean yourself by bribery when you can get the same result by asking for a room on a higher floor, a room with a view of the mountains, or whatever it is you want?




happytrailstoyou is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 02:14 PM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 19,419
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
And if there are no better rooms available for free, do you pay? Or demand your tip back?
FainaAgain is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 02:28 PM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 10,965
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Good point, FA. Emphasizing the simple fact that tipping to get at upgrade is a fool's game.

Also, with wall-to-wall surveillance in Las Vegas hotels and casinos, I am surprised to learn that room clerks there are taking bribes from hotel guests.

I have had good luck accepting any room given to me and then calling the front desk if there is something about the room that is objectionable. I've never been disappointed.
happytrailstoyou is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 02:30 PM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
That's a little harsh happy trails. I never thought of doing it at a hotel, but haven't you ever tipped to get a better seat in a restaurant or to get seated more quickly? Hardly a bribe, imo. I think it is a tip. I've never asked for a better room, but as I read this, I thought that perhaps I would try it, not for an upgrade, but a better view, not a more expensive one, but one of the non-guaranteed sort. Do you also consider the restaurant tip a bribe? I think I understand what you mean about upgrades that one normally pays for, how that might bother you. It might bother me too, I think.
claire_bluesky is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 03:28 PM
  #12  
dmlove
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
claire, here's why it's a bribe and not a tip -- say there is an upgrade available, but they don't give it to you because you don't "tip", but they do give it to the next person, who proffers a "tip". That, like happytrails said, makes it a bribe. On the other hand, if they simply offered it to you without you asking "We have an upgrade for you today..." and you then gave a tip, that would be different.
 
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 04:13 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well, I do agree about "bribing" for an upgrade, if one defines upgrade as something that costs more, but I have stayed at hotels in which for example the cost to be on a lower floor versus a higher floor is the same. If one asks for a higher floor, and basically one would be asking someone to check for, and if available, make that change which is some work, then a tip would not be out of line. I see what you are saying about doing the tipping after the request is made, yet it still seems like a tip to me either way.

I actually find it even less fair for people that have paid nothing to be upgraded, but I realize that it is a business and sometimes it is done out of necessity or to encourage business and positive reviews, etc., but if one is paying for a suite and someone else is upgraded from an ordinary room, if I am the person paying for the suite, I don't even want to know about the person who got the upgrade. I understand it and it is fine, as I said, but ignorance is bliss in that case.

As I said, I have never attempted to get an upgrade and had not even thought of "bribing" or "tipping" to get one. I would tip to get something like my example above, but I suppose I will think further about the timing of it.
claire_bluesky is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 04:24 PM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Author: claire_bluesky
Date: 06/26/2008, 06:30 pm
That's a little harsh happy trails. I never thought of doing it at a hotel, but haven't you ever tipped to get a better seat in a restaurant or to get seated more quickly? Hardly a bribe, imo. I think it is a tip. I've never asked for a better room, but as I read this, I thought that perhaps I would try it, not for an upgrade, but a better view, not a more expensive one, but one of the non-guaranteed sort. Do you also consider the restaurant tip a bribe?

***************************

No offense, but IMO, all your examples are bribes.

It would be tip if they gave it to you FIRST without any promise of recompense, then you gave them the money as a thank you.
travelinandgolfin is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 04:31 PM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,825
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Now I feel totally guilty just at the accusation, so I'll think about what you said. I have tipped at a restaurant to get a seat quicker, and just recently.
claire_bluesky is offline  
Old Jun 26th, 2008, 04:33 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97,141
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts
No, I have never "tipped" for any of those things (better table, faster seating, room upgrade).
suze is offline  
Old Jul 4th, 2008, 02:35 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 52
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I think its better to tell the check-in desk that this is your honeymoon or some other special occasion and that would be better to get an upgrade. Also if you didn't book already then check out the deals on www.smartervegas.com lots of them include a free upgrade and more.
SaraWOO is offline  
Old Jul 5th, 2008, 12:28 AM
  #18  
casey_reed84
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Who cares if it's a bribe or a tip? If it gets you what you want that is the whole objective. This is a ridiculous argument. It's not like your doing anything illegal even if it is considered a bribe.
 
Old Jul 5th, 2008, 04:49 AM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey .... it's Vegas. Isn't Vegas all about "taking chances?" Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose!
bawlmerhon is offline  
Old Jul 5th, 2008, 05:12 AM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 13,192
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Bribe . . tip . . just different words for the same act.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. I do it all the time when I want preferential treatment.

Rich
Rich is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -