Tipping on a concierge floor.

October 15, 2007 3:45 PM

How to tip on a "Gold" or Conceirge floor?

Ok, so I am so lucky that my firm paid for me to go to an AWESOME hotel in an AWESOME city (VANCOUVER - meetup anyone?) - and not only that, but they paid to upgrade me to a "gold" floor in my hotel. It's a concierge floor.

How do I tip on this floor? Do I tip every time I talk to a concierge? When they do something special? When I leave? Grr, this is driving me nuts!

Thank you!

(Also, if tips are different in Canada from the U.S., please share.)

posted by MeetMegan to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

Tipping in Canada is typically the same but lower, if that makes sense. We tip on the same things Americans do, but often a slightly lower percentage/amount. That said, no one will object to a slightly higher percentage, and you won't appear totally out of proportion or anything if you tip 20% where a Canadian might tip 15%, people will just think you're a good tipper.

I have no idea how one tips on a concierge floor specifically, however.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:54 PM on October 15, 2007

Concierge tipping is generally in relation to the service done. Information is usually free and moves upward from there. Booking tickets or reservations can be $5 and up. What do you think the service is worth?
posted by Xurando at 4:01 PM on October 15, 2007

Staying on the "gold" or concierge floor usually means any or all of the following:

- Nicer rooms. No need to tip for this. You might get a signed welcome note from the GM in your room upon check-in, that sort of thing.

- A private lounge area with complimentary continental breakfast in the morning and complimentary drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the early evening. Discreetly leave the same couple of dollars for the servers/attendants that you might in the same situation in the lobby.

- Turndown service. I do not tip for turndown, since 1. I'm almost never in the room when it happens which makes it near impossible, 2. I already leave a couple dollars for housekeeping on each day of a long stay or a fiver for an overnight.

- That's about it.

In other words, just because you are staying on a gold or club floor doesn't mean that you will necessarily use any more of the hotel's services than you would ordinarily. And if you use the concierge for any of the typical things (help with reservations, recommendations, limos, tickets), here are two guides.
posted by pineapple at 4:10 PM on October 15, 2007

Award what you deem as being fit for the service provided. Not much changes up there. I can't say that the employees expect you to tip any larger than usual- unless you have money to burn and plan on coming back at a time where you would want extra special service and attention paid to your needs I would not worry about it.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:31 PM on October 15, 2007

If you're staying on the concierge floor for a week, using the concierge daily to book a restaurant reservation or a dive trip or whatever, I'd say $30 at the end of the week should do it.
posted by charlesv at 9:02 PM on October 15, 2007

VANCOUVER - meetup anyone?

Welcome to Vancouver! We just had a meetup last week, but if you'll be here for a few days, you might try posting to MetaTalk.
posted by russilwvong at 9:08 PM on October 15, 2007