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tipping the hotel front desk at check in


Gil Bang

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Do you do it?  Is it worth it?  

It's been my standard practice in Vegas for decades.    Next weekend is GF's birthday, and we are going to a nice big-city hotel that has much nicer rooms than the one that I reserved. Will slipping a 20 or 50 along with my ID and credit card get me anything, or is that insulting for non-vegas properties? 

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I’m pretty generous with tips and you can seriously upgrade experiences with some well distributed gratuities.  Never tipped the front desk.  Valet, bell hop, and concierge all get some monetary appreciation, but I’ve admittedly neglected front desk.  I’m assuming room selection is the aim?  I’m sure it does help at finer establishments.

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1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

I’m pretty generous with tips and you can seriously upgrade experiences with some well distributed gratuities.  Never tipped the front desk.  Valet, bell hop, and concierge all get some monetary appreciation, but I’ve admittedly neglected front desk.  I’m assuming room selection is the aim?  I’m sure it does help at finer establishments.

Yes, room selection.  In Vegas, it can get you a significant upgrade.   

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It's certainly a Vegas thing.  Here's my problem; I rarely stay at 4 star (and above) hotels for personal travel.  And, when I was travelling for business (on the company dime), I didn't really care about the room type.

Our vacations are usually international, or we're grabbing a little beachfront deal in Santa Barbara or similar.  

I just don't know the custom for a big-city 4 star hotel.   Of course, I tip the valet, bellman, housekeeping, etc. 

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8 hours ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Former Hilton Rooms manager.

Your room was set by the reservations dept the morning of your check in. Front desk has very little leeway these days as it is all frequent stayer/big spender scraped data. Doesn’t mean the front desk doesn’t know what rooms are between the elevator and the ice machine if you’re an asshole.

Book what you want.

Right.   I get all the upgrade offers when I book and as I check in.    And the complimentary upgrades are based on status.   Seems like hotels are becoming like the airlines, as upgrades are monetized or very much based on status.  The old days of dressing up to get bumped to first class are gone.

But Vegas may always be Vegas.  Tips rule.  So the above may not apply.

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3 hours ago, DFWTexEx said:

Right.   I get all the upgrade offers when I book and as I check in.    And the complimentary upgrades are based on status.   Seems like hotels are becoming like the airlines, as upgrades are monetized or very much based on status.  The old days of dressing up to get bumped to first class are gone.

But Vegas may always be Vegas.  Tips rule.  So the above may not apply.

Yep you nailed it. I learned the hard way making a comment in one of those award travel Facebook groups but getting upgrades without status is severely frowned upon and almost impossible. 

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Mandated valet in a non-urban( non- space restricted) area can go fuck themselves as well. Just charge $30 more for the room, motherfuckers. I can park my own motherfucking car, and really don't want anyone else in it.

I don't like the chincy nickel and diming horseshit.  It's worse than ever.

Edited by Iceman
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5 hours ago, Iceman said:

Mandated valet in a non-urban( non- space restricted) area can go fuck themselves as well. Just charge $30 more for the room, motherfuckers. I can park my own motherfucking car, and really don't want anyone else in it.

I don't like the chincy nickel and diming horseshit.  It's worse than ever.

THATS RIGHT ICE MAN

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On 11/3/2024 at 11:46 PM, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Former Hilton Rooms manager.

Your room was set by the reservations dept the morning of your check in. Front desk has very little leeway these days as it is all frequent stayer/big spender scraped data. Doesn’t mean the front desk doesn’t know what rooms are between the elevator and the ice machine if you’re an asshole.

Book what you want.

Yeah it used to work until it didn't. I guess the exec office grew tired of seeing guests receiving free upgrades and cracked down. 

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  • 1 month later...
Right.   I get all the upgrade offers when I book and as I check in.    And the complimentary upgrades are based on status.   Seems like hotels are becoming like the airlines, as upgrades are monetized or very much based on status.  The old days of dressing up to get bumped to first class are gone.
But Vegas may always be Vegas.  Tips rule.  So the above may not apply.

In Vegas, I never select the upgrade deals when I book. I always tip at check in and frequently get bumped WAY up to a better room. Not close the elevator type stuff, but large suite with strip view, etc.
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  • 2 weeks later...

There was a website called frontdesktip.com that tracked the efficacy of this in Vegas. The fact that the site is gone should tell you all you need to know.

10+ years ago I was going to Vegas 4-5 times a year for work. It worked often. Now I go 2-3 times per year and I don’t even try any more. 

Edited by Buzzrock
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One year I flew to Vegas for a vendor show at Caesars.  Weather delay in Denver so got off plane and took cab to long dinner downtown.  It’s almost midnight, I’m wrecked, have a breakfast meeting at 7.   Desk clerk says “enjoy your room!”  So I go to near end of corridor.  Big double doors.  It’s a fucking huge 2 br suite, with a full kitchen, huge living room, home theater room, 2 king bedrooms, jacuzzi for 4, showers in both for 4, dining room, etc. 

Sat in home theater room getting prepped for meeting an hour.  I didn’t tell my team as they gripe at my fortune, and didn’t tell my bosses as one would have wanted me to swap with him.  Up at 6 to shower and dress.  All a waste as I checked out and returned to Denver late that afternoon.

No tip.  But this was 21 years ago.  

Edited by Texzilla58
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No. I prefer small simple rooms to remind me of my roots, like how Attila the Hun still ate off wooden plates while his generals wallowed in gold.

Never occurred to me to tip anybody at front desk. But don't hang out at Vegas either.

Anybody who pushes a broom or swabs the bathroom for me, yeah, they get tipped + a thank you note.

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8 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

One year I flew to Vegas for a vendor show at Caesars.  Weather delay in Denver so got off plane and took cab to long dinner downtown.  It’s almost midnight, I’m wrecked, have a breakfast meeting at 7.   Desk clerk says “enjoy your room!”  So I go to near end of corridor.  Big double doors.  It’s a fucking huge 2 br suite, with a full kitchen, huge living room, home theater room, 2 king bedrooms, jacuzzi for 4, showers in both for 4, dining room, etc. 

Sat in home theater room getting prepped for meeting an hour.  I didn’t tell my team as they gripe at my fortune, and didn’t tell my bosses as one would have wanted me to swap with him.  Up at 6 to shower and dress.  All a waste as I checked out and returned to Denver late that afternoon.

No tip.  But this was 21 years ago.  

Similar experience.  I was young...23 tops.  Took the GF to Vegas for the weekend (4 hour drive for us).  Staying at the Imperial Palace, because my dad was friendly with the owner (he bought an Allis-Chalmers (sp?) tractor from the guy...another story for another time).  Anyway, the place was VERY popular with Asian folk. As we are about 3rd in line to check in, a couple of tour busses roll up, and about 100 asian are suddenly in the check in line.  Some supervisor guy goes "oh shit" and starts running around setting up the pole-and-rope queue lines.  I offer to help the guy, and he accepts.  Within 3 or 4 minutes we have a satisfactory maze line setup, and he says thanks, and goes back behind the desk.  When it's my turn, the girl helping me starts the process, and the supervisor guy pushes he aside and says that he'll help me.   We end up with a deluxe suite with a hot tub, etc.  all for about 20 bucks a night. 

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On 12/26/2024 at 3:06 PM, Buzzrock said:

There was a website called frontdesktip.com that tracked the efficacy of this in Vegas. The fact that the site is gone should tell you all you need to know.

10+ years ago I was going to Vegas 4-5 times a year for work. It worked often. Now I go 2-3 times per year and I don’t even try any more. 

It was the boards on Vegas.com where I learned those tricks back in the late early 00s. That site went away too. It's back up now but a completely different, shitty site.

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13 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Similar experience.  I was young...23 tops.  Took the GF to Vegas for the weekend (4 hour drive for us).  Staying at the Imperial Palace, because my dad was friendly with the owner (he bought an Allis-Chalmers (sp?) tractor from the guy...another story for another time).  Anyway, the place was VERY popular with Asian folk. As we are about 3rd in line to check in, a couple of tour busses roll up, and about 100 asian are suddenly in the check in line.  Some supervisor guy goes "oh shit" and starts running around setting up the pole-and-rope queue lines.  I offer to help the guy, and he accepts.  Within 3 or 4 minutes we have a satisfactory maze line setup, and he says thanks, and goes back behind the desk.  When it's my turn, the girl helping me starts the process, and the supervisor guy pushes he aside and says that he'll help me.   We end up with a deluxe suite with a hot tub, etc.  all for about 20 bucks a night. 

I tipped you for helping the guy plus for having a dad who bought an Allis. 

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14 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Similar experience.  I was young...23 tops.  Took the GF to Vegas for the weekend (4 hour drive for us).  Staying at the Imperial Palace, because my dad was friendly with the owner (he bought an Allis-Chalmers (sp?) tractor from the guy...another story for another time).  Anyway, the place was VERY popular with Asian folk. As we are about 3rd in line to check in, a couple of tour busses roll up, and about 100 asian are suddenly in the check in line.  Some supervisor guy goes "oh shit" and starts running around setting up the pole-and-rope queue lines.  I offer to help the guy, and he accepts.  Within 3 or 4 minutes we have a satisfactory maze line setup, and he says thanks, and goes back behind the desk.  When it's my turn, the girl helping me starts the process, and the supervisor guy pushes he aside and says that he'll help me.   We end up with a deluxe suite with a hot tub, etc.  all for about 20 bucks a night. 

Was his name Sven?

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