Gratuity Included?
A few days ago, I stayed at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona and included with the room rate of the hotel was an $8 a day “porterage” fee as well as a $3 a day “housekeeping services” fee. It got me thinking that I’ve really not thought about this process before or whether it’s been included in my room rates at other hotels before, too. Or, at least I haven’t noticed.
The concept here is that instead on keeping cash on you to tip the hotel’s services, they’ll just add it to your room bill. On one hand, I appreciate this since I’ll earn points on the charge, though on the other hand, I don’t like being force-fed to tip someone, even though, in most cases it’s warranted.
During this stay, I didn’t once use a porter service – I always tend to carry my bags on my own. So, for this stay, it sort of seems like a waste of $8. Daily, I was charged the $3 housekeeping services tip, which, because I used the room daily, was warranted. Still, I don’t like to be designated what my tip should be, and even though I may have tipped $3, would rather have done it on my own. Let’s say I had received very poor services from something at some point – still, I’m being forced to tip, despite what could have been a very poor experience. It’s just an odd thing, in my opinion. Something I don’t prefer, but others may.
What is your thought on gratuity automatically being included in your room bill?
Jamie Larounis is an avid traveler, blogger and miles/points educator. Traveling well over 100,000 miles a year and staying in hotels for over 100 nights, he leverages miles, points and other deals to fly in first class cabins, and stay in 5-star hotels. The Forward Cabin shares his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler.
Yeaaaa…. I simply would not pay those fees, and if they did not waive them, I would dispute that portion of the charge with my credit card company. Plain and simple. I choose who to tip, and when, and if I tip.
This is sickening. Just another money grab. This is complete BS. I was just at this hotel a few months ago and would have complained if they tried to pull this on me.
Bloody outrageous, If I ever see it on any of my accounts they won’t know what the hell hit them. If I want to tip, I will tip for good service. When i want. “Housekeeping services”. that’s included in the rate. I expect the room to be cleaned.
Are you sure this is a gratuity? I would think you would be notified if that were the case, so you wouldn’t tip. I think it’s a charge, not gratuity. I think it is one more way to charge us more for what we thought was included–just another version of the “resort fee”–a way of making you pay for something whether you use it or not. It is the trend in all businesses to nickel and dime us (or, $5 and $10 us) to death and add a fee for everything but the bed itself. Next will be a charge for the water (as in the tub/shower and toilet). Oh, and towels? That’s $5 a day, sir.
I don’t agree with such practice. If I want to tip someone, I will. I just don’t like being forced to tip.
I am usually not a tipper in hotels to start with, so forcing me to pay those gratuities is not something I would be happy with!