Tipping

[andy-hughes]

Have just returned from driving the present Mrs Hughes to London where she is working all week.

On arrival at the rather posh Kensington hotel that her company have arranged for her, we discovered that the hoitel is in two sections, so we parked the car on the car park, and the concierge trollyed her cases to the other section - around 30 seconds walk down the road. I wasn;t sure about tipping, so I asked - if you don;t ask, you never know. The man said it was not obligatory to give anything, but I gave him a pound.

The present Mrs Hughes was livid - she accused me of being a 'country mouse' and said I should have given a fiver!!!!

Now I am no-one's country bumpkin, but i found myself wondering what is acceptable in high-class London hotels? In the US it's easy - dollar a bag, in Europe, a couple of Euros gets a big smile - but what about our fair capital? Any advice for the future?

[MarkRae]

I'd have given a fiver, Andy, or if I didn't have a fiver then a tenner.

[mike11111]

If I didn't have a fiver I'd be skint!

[joeluke]

You describe your wife in such a way (present Mrs Hughes) that it sounds like she may not be the last Mrs Hughes!

I'd tip 'em bugger all, they get handsomely paid as it is

[stokemaveric]

id have given him a tip..celtic sixpence in the 14.00 at nottingham tomorrw...lol

[Postdog]

My view on tipping is that anything is nice no matter how small. Used to take a lot of taxis from one station to another with my current other half, and sometimes it was 12 pounds-ish, sometimes nearer 15, but I would draw the line at 15. So some got £3.00 some got a pound. And bear n mind a lot are on low wages anyway so they appreciate that not everyone is rich. More likely to inwardly moan if you give nothing

[Buenchico]

Well this is on the web:
"Tipping in hotels is generally to the porter, £2 – £5 for helping you with your bags and the maid for cleaning your room, £2 per day"
http://3guysonalondon...visitors-should-know/
That sounds probably about right to me (where 'right' = 'norm', rather than being a judgemental decision) but I'm sure that tipping varies greatly.

When I ran a railway station I always refused to accept tips but I never criticised lower paid staff who did so. (I made just one exception: There was a really 'snotty' woman who insisted on calling me a 'porter'. I readily accepted her fiver, which I put into the staff tea fund, just to see her slightly poorer!).

The biggest tip I've ever given was a £20 tip for a £10 meal. It was thoroughly deserved!

[looobylooo]

aw dont worry andy, youll not be seeing him again!
a £1 for 30 seconds isnt bad lol..
im not well off, so a fiver would have seemed a bit much for me to be able to give.

[albaqwerty]

A pound is a pound. In this Country he should be on the NMW, he's paid to do that job. In other countries I understand that the tips make up their wages.
You could have carried the present Mrs Hughes' case/s and asked her for a fiver!! (tongue in cheek)

[ixion]

Hmm.....taxi drivers wages would be much lower if they paid the correct tax!

[joeluke]

Why are we expected to tip at all?......and why only certain professions?

My newsagent provides me a service by selling me a morning paper but he doesn't expect a tip so why should anyone else?

[starone]

"current other half" "present Mrs Hughes" Doesn't anyone stay with the same partner in these days? I know I am old, but I didn't think I was a dinosaur.

[stokemaveric]

did you run a railway station buenchico??some of my happiest days were spent trainspotting when we were kids [sad i know]...but we used to love looking for all the classes of engines...we even went to doncaster [i think] once to see a deltic engine..well we were kids lol

[albaqwerty]

I once introduced my one and only OH as the current Mr Alba. (We've been hitched for nearly 24 years now) We had been narking at each other before we went to my work's 'do'/ The look on his face was priceless :D

[Buenchico]

For SM:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hlwD8hJvTc

[stokemaveric]

thanks beunchico i knew it was doncaster we went to..im not senile yet lol..is that where they were based??..i was only about 15 when we went there to see them and that would be 1975..great times travelling the rail networks with our ''rail rover'' tickets lol...

[stokemaveric]

sorry to have turned your post into a trainspotting forum andy lol...but it just goes to show what a good conversation a decent post can turn into..

[Buenchico]

SM:
Although I've always had a bit of a 'general' interest in railways, I've never really been a trainspotter. So I'm no expert on where the Deltics were based. However I lived in Sheffield when that footage was shot, and I often travelled via 'Donny', and I do remember seeing plenty of Deltics there.

Incidentally, the train operating companies seem to hide the fact that most 'rover' and ranger' tickets are still available. You're unlikely to see them advertised at railway stations, or on train operators' websites. You need to hunt for them here:
http://www.nationalra...ngers_and_rovers.html

[craft1948]

A good hotel porter is worth his weight in gold. I lived in a hotel in London for a year and whenever I went home for the weekend he looked after the clothes I was leaving behind, arranged for dry cleaning, and got me taxis and theatre tickets............in 1989 I used to tip him £20 a week.

[stokemaveric]

thanks beunchico..ill have to get a ''rail rover'' ticket and go back to some of my old haunts..me and 2 mates used to travel for miles on the ''rail rover'' all over the country..well it kept us off the streets...lol