How To

How to Tip a Valet

Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
(12 Ratings)

A valet can be summoned via the hotel phone. He or she is the person who comes to your room for your dry cleaning or shoes to shine. The person who parks your car at finer restaurants and hotels is also known as a valet.

From Quick Guide: Hotel Stays
Difficulty: Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Checkbook Wallets
  • Handbags
  • Wallets
  • Tipping Guides
  1. Step 1

    Keep small bills available for the purpose of tipping.

  2. Step 2

    Remember that a stingy tip could affect the service you receive in the future.

  3. Step 3

    Give the valet $2 to $3 upon taking or dropping off clothes or shoes.

  4. Step 4

    Tip a parking valet $2 for retrieving your car.

  5. Step 5

    Make a mention of your gratitude when handing over the tip.

Tips & Warnings
  • If you have a lot of items going back and forth with the valet, tip a dollar or two more.
  • The word "tip," which originated in England, was originally an acronym for the phrase "to insure promptness."

Comments  

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buster1104 said

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on 2/9/2009 Valeting your car for $1 or $2 every time it is brought to you is an insult coming from the business. $2 was the standard 10 years ago. Not to mention you have to figure that tip is split between 5 to 15 people depending how many attendants are working during the time period your car is given to you. Tipping when you drop off your vehicle will get you better service on the way out depending on how much you give. You give enough and your car will be almost staring you in the face walking out the door. Try a twenty for that trick. I work at a major strip Casino in Vegas. You can say you are thankful all you want but the tip you give me is what feeds my four kids and wife. If you can not afford the luxury there is such a thing as parking and walking yourself.

PSaxeman said

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on 9/19/2008 It varies from place to place. I would guess that usually they don't get the charge. At the hotel I work at, we charge guests $12 per night. The valets actually do get a percentage of this based on how many hours they work for the month. However, it comes out to about $0.50 per car split between 5 valets. So the tips are still pretty important to them.

Producer08 said

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on 9/5/2008 (Here's the rest of the post...)

I said, the guys parking the cars don't get the money we pay for parking. My friend disagrees. So I go up to the guy at the podium and ask him. "Do the valet guys get any part of this parking charge?" The guy says "No." Who knows if he was telling the truth or not. What do you think? When money is collected for parking, I highly doubt any of that goes to the guys parking the cars.

Okay, so here's the question: When you have to pay a parking charge, is the etiquette to still tip, or is my friend right, that in those situations, you don't tip?

Producer08 said

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on 9/5/2008 Need to settle an argument here.... would like anyone reading this to add your 2 cents...

A friend was with me when we valet'd at a restaurant in Hollywood. It was in an area where there is no available street parking. Upon leaving, we had to pay for the parking. (Yeah, it's one of those restaurants that charge you to park in their lot to pay for the privilege of eating their food.) The parking charge was $6, paid to the guy sitting at the podium near the curb. As we're standing there waiting for my car, I pull out some more money to tip the valet. My friend says, "What are you doing?" I tell him I'm going to tip the valet, of course. He says I'm crazy, that "You don't tip valets when you have to pay for parking."

I said, the guys parking the cars don't get the money we pay for parking. My friend disagrees. So I go up to the guy at the podium and ask him. "Do the valet guys get any

Producer08 said

Flag This Comment

on 9/5/2008 Need to settle an argument here.... would like anyone reading this to add your 2 cents...

A friend was with me when we valet'd at a restaurant in Hollywood. It was in an area where there is no available street parking. Upon leaving, we had to pay for the parking. (Yeah, it's one of those restaurants that charge you to park in their lot to pay for the privilege of eating their food.) The parking charge was $6, paid to the guy sitting at the podium near the curb. As we're standing there waiting for my car, I pull out some more money to tip the valet. My friend says, "What are you doing?" I tell him I'm going to tip the valet, of course. He says I'm crazy, that "You don't tip valets when you have to pay for parking."

I said, the guys parking the cars don't get the money we pay for parking. My friend disagrees. So I go up to the guy at the podium and ask him. "Do the valet guys get any

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