Gratuities are becoming gratuitous.
Begging for tips has now become commonplace behavior, from coffee shops to fast food restaurants — even airlines and amusement parks.
And while slipping a few bills to a hotel clerk to get better treatment is a timeworn tradition, some guests are reporting a troublesome new trend at luxury properties — where appeals for additional financial consideration are actually made quite directly at the front desk.
An incredulous reader of popular travel blog A View From The Wing reported their experience checking into the Marriott LaSalle in Bryan, Texas, where they were “given a slip of paper pushing tipping along with their key when they checked in.”
And another told the site’s Gary Leff that while they’d read the post and felt “smugly happy we don’t stay at Marriott very often anymore,” they were soon shocked to receive the same treatment upon checking into Boston’s Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall.
“We … ignored the tip request,” the tetchy traveler recounted.
Leff suggested that the idea was a perversion of a tradition in Las Vegas, where guests tip the front desk in exchange for a room upgrade.
“You slide the cash over with your credit card and ask whether upgrades are available (ideally mentioning the room type you want) and if they can do it they pocket the money,” he explained.
The difference is that in those instances the guest is getting something for their “bribe,” while these resorts’ version is an “insidious” con, per Leff
“The guest is expected to fork over money to the front desk clerk for what, exactly?” wondered the travel buff, dubbing the policy a way of getting “free money from stupid people.”
The alleged incident comes amid a flurry of complaints about patrons getting pressured to leave extra money — even at places where service is nearly non-existent.
A June survey by Bankrate found that 32% of Americans were annoyed by pre-entered tip screens, while 30% thought that the present tipping culture has gotten out of control.
