How to Tip a Bellhop

Tip whenever a bellhop provides a service, which might include carrying your luggage, showing you the room, opening blinds, showing you how to operate the air conditioner or putting large pieces of luggage on the luggage stand.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wallets
• Etiquette Book
• Calculators
• Money Clips
• Calculators

1. Keep small bills available for the purpose of tipping.

2. Let the bellhop carry your luggage, even if it is one small bag.

3. Tip the bellhop $5, in a first-rate hotel, plus $1 for each piece of luggage.

4. Give the bellhop $5 for opening the room and showing it, even if you have no luggage.

5. Make the exchange seamless. The money should be surreptitiously passed in a handshake or small, minor exchange.

Tips & Warnings

• You don't have to call the bellhop when you check out, unless you want to. If you do, he or she will expect another tip. Tip $2 per bag or a $5 flat tip.
• The word "tip," which originated in England, was originally an acronym for the phrase "to insure promptness."
• Be sure to tip as services are provided; don't wait to put the bellhop's tips on your bill.

[kabitenyo]

on 1/21/2009 Response to "confuse on switch off", I work at 5 star and 5 diamond Hotel property. if you are staying to this property, expect to spend more on tips. this is the reason why they can provide a high level of service. The Doorman's job is to meet end greet the incoming and outgoing guest. They are responsible for unloading (incoming)and loading (outgoing) your precious belongings and making sure that everything is accounted for.Upon arrival the Doorman will assist and tag all your belongings,and then will be handed over to the bellman for luggage delivery. the doorman always stay in the Frontdrive at all times, to give service incoming and outgoing guest for example hailing for taxi's, giving directions or as simple as opening the door for you. For departure service if you call for bellman for assistance, their main responsibility is to transfer your belongings to the Frontdrive which is

[kjjagg]

on 12/4/2008 A response to the "confused by the switch off"... I work at a 5 star Hotel in North Florida and we do that. But what appears to be a switch is necessary at big hotels. Just as at a drive thru one window may take your money and the next window provides your food order, so it is with us. ie; The Bellman provides services INSIDE the hotel, where-as the Doorman provides services on the frontdrive.

It may be confusing but when you think about it, it really causes a smoother flow and is an intelligent handling of staff. The Doorman are ALWAYS on the front drive (not disappearing doing a check-in) And the Bellman are ALWAYS inside for Prompt check-ins/outs.

I would add that for tips I would suggest (for our line of work) that $5 should be the minimum. $5 is the new $1. It's like a penny for a gumball machine, prices have gone up..

[PSaxeman]

on 9/19/2008 I added this note to my previous comment, but it must have been too long and got cut off. One thing that is rather tacky and inappropriate to do if you stay at a hotel that provides bell service is to use the bellman's cart to take your own luggage. You wouldn't use an engineer's tools to fix your TV or the maid's vacuum to clean your room. Bellman are service providers just every other person in a hotel. Even if you don't tip them, let them do their jobs. No bellman wants to search the hotel for his carts in order to perform his job duties. We are there to serve you, but please, at least be considerate.

[PSaxeman]

on 9/19/2008 As other posters have noted, the amount you tip should be based on the level of service provided. However, since tips are a major part of a bellman's income, a rude bellman will not be very successful in the industry. As a result, MOST bellmen are friendly and polite. As a bellman at an upscale hotel in Palm Springs, CA, I can also tell you that most guests tip the bellman. The standard tip is around $5 if the bellman is friendly and you have a typical load of luggage (4 to 6 items). Of course this usually varies depending on how much the bellperson does for you and what his/her attitude is like. In any case, a bellman with a bad attitude that doesn't provide good service doesn't deserve a tip.

Also, we always get a certain percentage of people who don't tip, so don't feel embarrassed if you don't have extra cash to tip the bellman. It's part of the job and we usually get enough tips

[PSaxeman]

on 9/19/2008 Nicolo--I work as a bellhop at an upscale hotel. At the hotel where I work, we don't follow the procedure which you describe; the bellman who takes your bags from the room normally will load them in your car too. However, on check-in, our normal procedure is that a valet will unload your bags from your car and a bellman will take them to your room, so it creates the same issue of "double tipping."

The reason we do this is simply because it provides prompter service for the guest. The valet can provide immediate assistance, while, otherwise, the guest may have to wait for a bellman to become available.

The one who unloads (or in your case, loads) the car typically gets a smaller tip because less time is spent on that particular task, perhaps only $2 or so.

If you can't or would rather not tip both people, normally it is better to tip the bellman that brings your luggage to or