According to Anthony Melchiorri, a noted TV personality and hospitality expert, how much should a person tip for room service?

According to Anthony Melchiorri when you tip, you are tipping for the quality and service received, not just the person. So, tipping for room service is based upon the same principle as tipping someone for service received while dining at a restaurant. It is recommended that twenty to thirty (20 - 30) percent be given. Like others in the hospitality industry, room service workers are in the lowest paid jobs and are working for tips. Therefore, remember to tip what you are comfortable with and what service dictates.

Also, if the room service attendant mentions that the ‘gratuity’ is included, ask if he or she gets a portion. If so, it will be up to you if you would like to offer something additional.

More Info: www.anthonymelchiorri.com

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49 Comments

Ian Swindale

I'm far from convinced about this.

Grant McIntosh

Oh, Anthony Melchiorri, THAT noted TV personality and hospitality expert. Who he ? And whoever he is, he must have more money than sense if he's tipping 20 - 30%.

Cheryl Perkins

Thank god we don't have tipping in NZ. Our workers get paid enough that they don't have to rely on tips.

David Holmes

Never heard of this "expert".

Deborah Digby

Why don’t they just pay better wages for waiting staff in the US? Nowhere else would you tip 30%!!

William Laughlin

The 20-30% tip applies to restaurant service. It is not the appropriate answer for room service since, as stated in the answer, gratuities are generally included. The explanation given does not answer the question as asked.

Tom Fulton

I go with Vince Savage. For more than 10%, I want a bit more than delivering sandwiches.

Morton Bartlett

I heard in Japan tipping is an insult

Jaimi McEntire

What a joke. Tipping culture has to go. Pay the people a decent wage, and get rid of it.

Sam Brown

Sources indicate that in most cases the tip is included with the room service bill and no tipping is required.

Shirley Dutt

He wishes. I've never been able to afford a 5 star hotel.

catmom

George Oliver Prince, I do that too. It's only fair bc these people work hard for low wages.

catmom

Morton Bartlett, It is of what I understand & you don't tip in France either.

catmom

Deborah Digby, I agree with that.

catmom

Cheryl Perkins, I think that's a better idea to do that.

Jeannie Ellis

Elaine Curran, I got the impression from the explanation, that this was only for food service brought to the room.

earlepg

William Laughlin, It looks like everyone else, including the author, took this article all wrong. It looks like I arrived too late to make a difference, but I left a couple of comments.

earlepg

John Broussard, Anthony Melchiorri is a New York hospitality expert with many years at several levels of hotel management who now owns his own hotel management and consultancy "Argeo Hospitality". He created the hotel improvement show "Hotel Impossible" which on the Travel Channel from 2012 to 2020 which I thought interesting.

earlepg

I read the question, together with the accepted option, as tipping room service $20-$30 as a general practice. I think many others did the same. When I read the Melchiorri article I didn't see it as tipping standard room service 20%-30%. That particular amount was in the paragraph concerning room dine-in service. He said that 20%-30% was "not uncommon" but as usual to tip what you are comfortable with and what the service dictates. For the regular room service, if the billed "gratuity" isn't given to the server, then the suggestion was to leave the tip based upon "what you are comfortable with and what the service dictates". There were a couple of remarks about moving bags, and the suggestion for this was $1 to $2 per bag.