I will share with you some my ideas on how to tip so your stay can be as comfortable as possible...of course with the assistance of those you've tipped well! The goal is for them to remember your generous tip and the promise of another tip by the end of your stay! Please use your discretion when you are tipping as to not let any of the other staff members see you doing so. I'm not going to get too elaborate on this, but some resorts frown on it. Or at least that's what people are expected to believe.
Ideally, you will have brought a small bundle of $1 and $5 bills with you for tipping and always keep a stack on hand with you at all times. When you arrive, you want to tip the Bellhop at least $1 per luggage. That's it. If everyone does this...they're making a fairly steep little bundle on the side of their regular low paying salary.
Next, you want to tip every server that's served you at each and every restaurant you dine in at your resort. They will appreciate this and make special arrangements for you later on in the week if you so happen to get food sensitivities or other sensitivities due to your new heavenly environment.
Now this is another VERY important one. You NEED to tip the water boy. I don't care what you have to do to flag him down...chase him, stalk him...I don't care, but for the love of gawd, TIP him at least $10 on the first day you see him with the promise of another $10-$20 on your last day of your stay. You will NEED him to stay hydrated. Sometimes the resorts don't provide enough water in your room to suffice for the day...be smart about this...especially on the days you will be hung over...you will worship your water boy then!
You sitting for this one??? This is the most important piece of information I will provide you on tipping. What you need to do is make friends with one of the bar people that work at the outside bar or pool bar. You tip them $20-$30 and tell them you and your friends want to be taken care of and never want to be left holding an empty glass. You also tell them that some days you will want to lay on the beach and will NOT want to walk down to the bar for refills, so you'd like to always have a full glass on hand. For this service, you will pay them the exact amount on the last day of your stay as well. Not only will your glass always be full, but you will make some friends along the way...who wouldn't want to be friends with the cool person that gets special service like that...! :O)
Lastly, all your day trips and excursions need to be tipped out at least $5 depending on how long it was and how much value you think it was worth. You may use your judgement on this one. If it's a large group of people tipping, then you know they will make more by larger numbers...so you will want to keep it low. However if it's a small group, you may even want to tip more. It's all up to you.
It may seem like a silly idea to be tipping so many people. After all, you'll be staying at an all-inclusive resort. However, keep in mind, it is a humanity thing. These people work their poor butts off to make your stay as memorable as possible working for peanuts a day. The least you could do is reward them for it giving them better quality of life for them and their hungry families. Or, you could just be a cheappo and not tip at all. It's totally up to you...I on the other hand can sleep at night knowing I've contributed at least a little to enrich someones life.
Travel Well!
Jennifer Boudreau
http://www.organizedbrainclutter.com
2 comments:
3-9-2008 - Just returned from an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic. Could have used this tipping advice in advance. Here is how we tipped. Pool bar staff about $1 per drink; Villa maid, who cooked breakfast and cleaned, $12 per day; Refrig. restocker guy $5 per day to keep it full of water and beer; Dinner waiters $20 per meal; the luncheon buffet table help $2 per meal; our "call with any problem" guy $30 for the week for a special cheese tray, prompt replacement of our broken gold cart, and good advice. We are not sure if we got it right because some in our group said too much and some said not enough.
3-9-2008 - Our group of seven just returned from an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic. Could have used this advice. Here is how we tipped: Pool bar staff $1 per drink; Villa maid, who cooked breakfast and cleaned, $12 per day; Villa Refrig, restocker guy $5 per day to keep it full of water and beer; Dinner waiters $20 per meal; Luncheon buffet table help $2per meal; "Call me with any problem" guy $30 for the week for a special cheese tray, promptly replacing our broken golf cart and other requests. Hope this helps others because some in our group said too much and come said not enough.
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