Tipping

[Yankeefan]

Yes we know, its all inclusive but we would like to know if you do or dont and if you do, how do you do it.

[ottawa_cuple]

Great question, Yankeefan!

Why don't you create a poll? If you click on "edit" at the top of your topic-starting post, down below the text box, you should see boxes to fill in to create a poll.

We tip staff that we feel have done an exceptional job at the end of our trip, starting a couple of days before leaving in case the person we want to tip happens to be off or we don't happen to see them on the last day of our stay.

Our usual tip is $20.00 to $40.00, depending on the quality and frequency of service.

[seisdnueve]

Yes we know, its all inclusive but we would like to know if you do or dont and if you do, how do you do it.

Here's our typical rundown for a week (about $200-$250 total).......

Check-in/Check-out: $5 + extra $3 if they have to hold our luggage

Housekeeping: $20 for the week

Suki Cook (tempenaki area): $5 each time we go

Buffet Breakfast/Dinner: $2 each time

Lunch: $1-2 each time

Bar/Pool: $1 per round (2) of drinks

Breakfast cook (Matilda): $10 per week

In the restaurants, the senior waiters (Leo & Memo) try to seat the known tippers at their tables. We try to spread our tips around to some of the younger waiters.

Some trips, we have given individual activities coordinators $20 when we feel they have done an outstanding job. I will admit, we gave Silvina a $20 tip when she was the activities director in 2004.

[eddieandjojo]

Yankeefan - as you can see just by two posts, it varies by guest and by service you get while there. We can tell you that the service will be good to great as has been our experience each time we've gone, no matter Cancun or Cabo.

As a rule of thumb, we generally take care of the bartenders each day (usually $5 or $10), the housekeeping crew at the beginning and the end (amount depends on how the room looks/service) and then the staff at the restaurants (usually $5 each time).

There is no right or wrong answer! Some folks feel that they've paid for an all inclusive and as such they are not required to tip......some like the prior posts feel compelled due to the level of service you receive. I can tell you that the staff are very appreciative when you do. One thing I can tell you is that the service is good whether you tip or not!!!

Hope that helps! As ottawa_cuple posts above, a poll would be a good way to get some additional feedback.

Eddie & Jojo

[JCnBadboy]

Yes, tip generously, and often. Dont tip if the service is not good. We never tip the angry guy. You know which one...lol. Be kind and take an interest..you will get nothing but excellent service. See you there!

[DoctorandDomina]

We stayed in a Passion Suite last year and as such received the services of a butler 24/7, Raphael. He was absolutely marvelous. I can't begin to tell you how much we enjoyed both his service, and his friendship. Our first day there, we were disappointed to discover the resort didn't have ginger ale, our favorite mixer, and that the "premium bottles of liquor" that come with a passion suite were mini bottles, two each of a few different liquor at a time, restocked daily we were told...not much. Before we even had a chance to tip him for carrying our bags and fetching us drinks from the bar, he offered to see if he could talk a bartender out of a full-sized bottle of bourbon for us...which he did. Then when he discovered our disappointment over not having the ginger-ale, he offered to pick up a bottle or two for us at the store on his way into work the next day. We were delighted, gave him the money necessary to buy the ginger-ale and tipped him handsomely for his effort. A couple of days later I had the misfortune of having my monthly show up early...no tampons, not even in the store. Guess who talked a cab driver into going to the store to fetch them for me!!!! We weren't even charged for the cab fare, but we tipped the driver for certain! Most husbands and boyfriends hate buying that stuff...what a guy!!!! We tipped Raphael very handsomely again for making so much effort on our behalf. Mind you, he had 3 other Passion Suites of couples to take care of at the same time. But you know what the best part of all was? After his next day off he came and told us a lovely story about how he'd gotten to take his daughters on a really nice day trip with the money we'd given him. That whole experience really added to the multitude of reasons we love Desire so much.

Katrina

[shelly67]

Hi DoctorandDomina - thanks for that info. We are going back to Desire for our 2nd visit in just over 3 weeks (just miss you as think you leave the day before we arrive) and have booked a passion suite for the week and we were both wondering about how tipping the butler worked (us Brits not as used to tipping etiquette!). Did you just tip him when he did something extra for you or did you tip him every day anyway and then at the end of your stay?

Thanks also for the tip about the in room drinks - did not realise they would be minatures but I'm sure we will be able to sort extra supplies!

[DesireCpl]

There are some good posts on this topic, and although we agree that Desire is an all-inclusive resort, there are certain employees that tend to go "above and beyond", providing a certain something. For different people, that certain something is different, but there are some good examples of what matters above.

We will generally provide tips to the house keeping staff at the beginning (and end as appropriate), waiters as excellent service is given, and any others that go above and beyond during the last few days.

Matilde is very deserving, providing excellent breakfasts year after year.

Cheers,
D&K

[DoctorandDomina]

Dear Shelly67 ~

For us, it's demeanor and friendliness upon first encounter that dictates whether or not we feel like "greasing the wheels" a bit with a good tip right off the bat. Raphael was obviously eager and happy to do whatever he could to make our visit the best possible from the moment we arrived and I believe he would have continued to behave in such an outstanding manner regardless of our first big tip, Memo (our beach waiter) was the same way as were a few of the other bartenders and waiters/waitresses (can't for the life of me remember the name of the waitress at the pool, but she was outstanding as well). Anyway, we have a habit of starting off with a good tip to those with that obvious eager to please demeanor, but it's always part of an understanding that we then expect to never wait for a drink, always have our room spotless and cleaned early, bartenders to remember how we like our drinks fixed without being told more than once or twice and then getting them started for us when we appear at the bar, how we like our eggs cooked in the morning and so forth. It's a habit that has worked very well for us over the years, and particularly well at Desire. But I wouldn't say it was necessary in order to get really good service at Desire. We talked to our Passion Suite neighbors about Raphael and they expressed just as much delight in his service as we did and said they don't normally tip at all-inclusives but would be tipping him before leaving. So who knows if our beginning tips were necessary. We think they were appropriate in this case however. The "night" butler wasn't nearly as friendly or eager when introduced to us, nor at any point thereafter, though he wasn't surly or anything and always "correct" and "did his job". But he often forgot our requests altogether and had to be reminded or was late with breakfast or our afternoon champagne and snack. We did not tip him at all.

We will often tip 1/2 of the total we would for the whole week at the very beginning of our stay (having worked for tips myself in the past, we tend to be very generous tippers anyway) to those who express an immediate friendliness and eagerness to please in order to get not just good service, but outstanding personal service, and if we don't get that extra outstanding service, we simply tip the other half. If we DO get it, then we tip double at the end. And for people like Raphael who really go over the top like spending their off-time helping us out, then we usually tip rather extravagantly as a thank you gift more than anything.

Katrina and Doc
p.s. Grin...we have not, nor will we, tip the D.J. at the disco until they install one who pays attention to the vibe and requests of all the guests and acts accordingly. If they ever do, then it will be Merry Xmas for him/her!

[mfay]

On our last trip in May we noticed a bit of
competition between the restaurant staff people to "grab" known tippers when we came in the door. It was a bit uncomfortable and we have heard the same from a couple others since.
But apparently the word has filtered back to management and then on the the staff. We just returned from another Desire trip and the service was outstanding- without the
over eagerness we had seen in May. We ended up tipping liberally and we'd have to say that overall service was as good as its ever been- both from the veteran staff like Leo, Memo, Aaron (now a captain) , Edgar,
Carlos, CC, Silvia , etc- and from many newcomers.

[oldseadog]

If you do not live in USA, bring Pesos to tip with. If you bring US$ you will have to buy them and pay commission, and then the people that you give the tip to will have to pay commission to turn them back into Pesos (or use them on the black market and lose out on that as well.)

[midwest567]

Can some one verify the Pesos vs. US dollar for tips

[CokeMann]

Actually if you are from the US, just use US dollars for tips. Most, if not all the staff, would prefer tips in US dollars - for them conversion to Pesos is easy and they actually make a bit more locally via the conversion than tourists would

[midwest567]

Thanks CokeMann!!

[skinneydippers]

Well they say all inclusive and tips are automatically included in the regular fees. We do not believe in consistantly tipping through our stay. We believe that this actually upsets the ballance of everything and the ballance of service. We do tip in sealed envelopes on the last day to the staff that provided exceptional service, usually 20-40 dollars per envelope, but thats just how we feel. Some couples save all year for this maby once in a lifetime vacation, and cant affort the tipping contest. They may feel bad because they are unable to tip as much as they may like, to deserving staff. If you must tip as you go it is thoughtfull to do it descretely and not put out the idea that tip as you go may be the custom at Desire, because it is definately not. After all we are usually naked and dont wish to be burdened by carring a something or wearing clothes to have money in all the time to tip