There’s no question that the tipping culture in the United States has gotten out of control, with requests for tips becoming more prevalent across many industries. This includes request for tips at self-checkout machines, when you do a pickup order and other places that have not historically asked for tips.
I’m somewhat conflicted about tipping – on the one hand, I would prefer that businesses pay their employees a living wage and pass that onto consumers, rather than expecting consumers to subsidize their employees’ wages additionally. On the other hand, when people SAY that, what they REALLY mean is “I want businesses to pay their employees BUT THEY BETTER NOT CHARGE ME ANY MORE MONEY OR I WILL SHOP SOMEWHERE ELSE”, which is why businesses don’t do that. John Oliver had a pretty good segment on tipping culture awhile ago, which is worth a watch if you have some time.
I also don’t really enjoy taking my “anger” about tipping out on people who don’t make very much money (in some states and occupations making a “sub-minimum” wage) when I do have the ability to tip without it really affecting my bottom line. I generally tip when I go to a sit-down restaurant, though I counter that by not going to sit-down restaurants very often. I do tip delivery drivers but do not tip when I am picking up food.
Tipping At Hotels
At hotels, it is common to tip the hotel housekeepers who clean your room, though again, there are different opinions on that.
(SEE ALSO: How much to tip a hotel maid? (POLL))
Personally, I always put the “do not disturb” sign out in my room and prefer not to have service during my stay. I put my trash in or near the trash cans in the room, and I don’t feel like it is necessary or appropriate to tip housekeeping for coming in to clean / turn the room between guests.
Another place where you’ll see tipping is drinks at the hotel bar. There, I think tipping is appropriate like you would tip at any other bar. Personally, I do not drink so I am basically never at the hotel bar, so this is not personally a place where I have experience.
The other place where I think tipping is common at hotels is at breakfast (or other meals), if there is a sit-down restaurant at the hotel. If you’re at a hotel with a full restaurant where you have a server that is taking your order and serving you just like at any other restaurant, then I think tipping just like at any other restaurant is appropriate, based on the value of the meal (even if you’re getting it for free as part of your room rate).
Tipping The Hotel Breakfast Buffet Attendant??!?
If you’re at a hotel that has a full restaurant that serves a breakfast buffet, then I think the tipping calculus changes. If it’s still a situation where you have a server who seats you and brings and/or refills your drinks, then I think leaving a tip is still appropriate. If they’re not taking your orders but maybe just refilling your drink once or twice, then maybe you just leave a dollar or two rather than a full 15-20%.
But at a recent stay, I encountered something that I had never seen before. This was at a limited-service hotel, where it was just a self-serve buffet staffed by one person who was refilling things. It’s self-serve and seat yourself, so the attendant isn’t taking your order, refilling your drinks, clearing your table or doing anything other than refilling the breakfast items (i.e. her job).
But on the counter next to where you put your trash was a basket with a sign asking for tips.
This is just a cash grab, right? There isn’t really an expectation that we tip the hotel breakfast buffet attendant, right? There was a single $5 bill inside, which I assumed was put in there by the attendant herself as a way to “stimulate” tips, so as far as I could tell, nobody had fallen for it.
This was a two day stay for me, and on the second day it was a different attendant, and the basket was not out there, so maybe someone in management had put the kibosh on this, or maybe the other attendant didn’t feel comfortable asking for tips.
The Bottom Line – Do You Tip Hotel Breakfast Buffet Attendants?
At a recent stay at a limited-service hotel, I saw a basket where the hotel breakfast buffet attendant was asking for tips. This was a self-serve buffet, where you seat yourself, get your own food, fill and refill your own drinks and clear your own dishes. Even though tipping culture is clearly out of control, there’s surely no expectation that we should tip the hotel breakfast buffet attendant for essentially doing her job, right?
Leave your thoughts on tipping hotel breakfast buffet attendants in the comments below
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I don’t feel the “tipping culture” is out of control. There are so many people working at low paying jobs and if they take care of me I certainly don’t mind putting a buck or two into a tip jar. I do it all the time and feel good about it. I am 73 now, but I remember working as a kid through high school and college changing tires and doing other light mechanical work on cars at a Firestone dealership. It was rare, but when someone slipped me a couple of bucks I know I really appreciated it. I tip a lot of people, from sub shops to people who deliver an appliance to my home, etc. I have no issues and feel good about it.
I’ve always tipped $2-5 to the self-service breakfast folks, especially when it’s crowded and they’ve kept the food offerings in good supply. Last year, when 1 person was on-duty (a co-worker didn’t show up), I gave him $10. He had several spills to clean up, and I managed to mess up the waffle grill when I forgot to use no-stick spray. He pleasantly accepted my apology and cleaned it gesture next person.
You don’t tip maids and never go to a hotel bar? You are an alien weirdo
I don’t tip hotel maids because I prefer that maids do not come into my room. I don’t go to a hotel bar because I don’t drink alcohol. While perhaps both of those are minority opinions, I don’t think that either of them is weird enough to be classified as “alien”. But maybe that’s just me…