One of the establishments said in the 'in room hotel guide' that tipping was entierly discretionary and not expected, however if it were desired to be done then it was requested that an addition was made to the final account at check-out, that would then be fairly distributed across the board of staff members at a later point. This was a good method and a major help in 'getting it right'. 10 % added to the account - job done. A second place we stayed added a 10% 'discretionary' service charge to the restaurant bill [which presumably you could ask to be withdrawn if you chose]. Again -job done. I saw no reason to add further to this at the time, but now realise that the hotel chamber staff were probably not party to a share in this gratuity [guilt creeps in
]. Next place - very reserved and 'up market'. No sign of money ever changing hands in the restaurant or anything so I did not sully the atmosphere by introducing 'filthy lucre' into the mix. At my departure - and after having paid - I saw a note on the bottom of the account, "Service charge is not added and is at the discretion of the guest". [Major clangor dropped ]Now never a fan of automatically added gratuities in the past, I have now revised my opinion somewhat. If all establishments added say a 10% discretionary service charge at the point of departure and made it plain beforehand [in the reservation or where ever] that this would be done and the proceeds distributed and that no additional tipping was required the entire process would be simplified and standardised rather than as the 'free for all' system that currently pertains. Guilt and a desire for justice now demands that I write to the establishment where I fell short and send an appropriate gratuity for the service I recieved.
