Tips on tipping at Las Vegas hotels
Few people know that tipping a hotel clerk is a fairly accepted practice on the Strip. I’ve spoken with hotel managers that have said their registration clerks are trained to handle these situations. $20-$40 will typically get you a better view on a higher floor, while $100 can often get you a suite. I was witness to a friend tipping $100 on a room that was booked at under $50 at the Imperial Palace. He ended up with a suite that had an outdoor patio over the Strip and stayed the duration of his reservation, five nights! I’ve tried it on at least three different occasions to make sure my discounted room was on a high floor with a great view.
Caveat: Note that sometimes you can run into a desk clerk who is new, or just doesn’t jive with this. In these cases, they will simply return your cash – no harm, no foul. Also, you’re much more likely to score big with this procedure during the off-season. If you’re trying to tip when a big convention is in town, good luck. If they’re sold out, they’re sold out.
Have you ever tipped in Las Vegas to get a better room? Tell us if you scored and how much it cost you…
Los Angeles Times Related Links:
Travel: Destination Las Vegas
Las Vegas: Tips on Accommodations
Street fashion a way of life in Las Vegas
Deep house revives Las Vegas electronic music scene
Hard Rock Hotel’s sexy Rehab leads the pool-party conga line
48 Comments on “Tips on tipping at Las Vegas hotels”
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April 29th, 2007 at 12:08 am
I honestly think most people who pay more than $100/nt for a room and $100 for a dinner have lost their marbles. It might make them feel good until they get the CC bill. I stopped going to Vegas almost 7yrs ago when gouging started. Now they say we should tip a desk clerk? For a room I probably would not spend more than 60 awake min?!! Now I KNOW they are crazy.
April 29th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Tipping for a view is like buying a house (or renting an apartment) for the view. You pay a premium, and end up ignoring the beautiful view rather quickly.
However, if you get a bad room and the hotel clerk can’t (or won’t) help, find the executive offices for the hotel and politely complain there! I did this years ago at the Tropicana, and got a much better room (no view) and a comp dinner show for the Follies Bergere (and was seated ahead of the line)!
April 29th, 2007 at 10:23 am
So when do you offer the tip…the moment you step up or somewhere in the middle of the check-in?
April 29th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Isn’t what’s described here effectively illegal? You pay a hotel $100 for a room, then tip the clerk $100 and get a $300 room out of the deal. That amounts to the clerk stealing from their employer - the hotel.
We don’t bribe people in America. Period. Corruption is what’s wrong with so many other countries - why encourage it here?
April 30th, 2007 at 5:49 am
While I have no idea when I will be back in Vegas or if I would have the moxie to give this little tip a try, I do find it interesting that the contributor of this information has no stated ethical qualms with this ‘little known common practice.’ Or is the assumption that one is already being ripped off so heinously just by visiting Vegas that anything shady on the part of the visitor is completely justifiable?
April 30th, 2007 at 7:36 am
I think Dave is missing the point here. The clerk isn’t stealing from the hotel or doing anything unethical. It’s more like a very informal way of buring an upgrade and the hotels have specific policies for what you can get for a given tip, sort of like they do for comps. Like everything in Vegas, it’s all very calculated.
April 30th, 2007 at 8:56 am
We do tip in country for better service. The better view is worth the exra money in Vegas. I didn’t know that you could tip for a better room. Now that I know I will offer a tip for the better room.
April 30th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I’m also curious about how to go about doing this. After receiving my keys do I hand a 20 across the desk asking for something more? Do I slyly slide a bill to the clerk assuming he/she will know what I mean? I’d like to give this a try just to see if it works the next time I’m out there.
April 30th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
I’d like to know how to do it too. Considering the cost of the trip overall, an extra $20-40 to get a better room seems worth it.
April 30th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for all your comments, everyone.
Here’s how I do it:
When I go up to the registration desk, I get out a $20 and fold it to the size of my drivers license and credit card (the first thing they will ask of you — as well as your rewards card if you have one)
They usually continue checking you in. At some point during this process (before they give you the keys) they might make a comment about an upgrade or ask you what the cash is for. I tell them that I’m hoping to get a room with a great view. Sometimes, I just mention that right off, that I’m hoping that I can get a room on a floor that’s high up, or with a specific view.
Note: Checking in early will help your chances of getting a good room as there are more rooms to choose from. The later in the day that you check in, whether you tip or not, raises your chances of getting a room that’s not so great. Such as, a room on the third floor with a view of the roof. You can try and change, but availability will be less because most people will have already checked in earlier.
One of my friends tried this method of tipping and the clerk gave her money back. She said that she was aware that many clerks respond to this, but that it was not her way of doing things to receive a tip before a service was performed.
GOOD LUCK!
- Jen Leo
April 30th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
i beleive the comment about tipping to get a better room is just a con, put out by a front line worker at a hotel. tipping to get a better room is terrible idea i beleive people should not tip to get a better room. where would it end.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I’m so tired of tipping. Why should I leave a tip for a hotel employee when I’m already paying for the room? Why should I tip my manicurist or hairstylist when I’m already paying for the service? I’m okay with tipping for food delivery since the cost of the food is usually the same whether I order delivery or eat in. But we shouldn’t be expected to tip when we are already paying for a service.
April 30th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Jen -
Do you know for a fact if tipping is considered “standard practice” by the hotels? Hotels can and do charge an upgrade fee at the front desk so it seems fairly odd that the hotel itself would willingly forgo this upgrade fee to line the pockets of a hotel front desk clerk. To what extent is this covered in a hotel’s standard policies? I know you’re a blogger and not a reporter but you should at least give both sides to this practice.
I would hate to think that the LA Times would condone something akin to bribery just to save some money on a hotel room. Yes, you can also tip a policeman to give you a warning instead of a ticket and that would save you money too…
April 30th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Hi Kim,
Thanks for your continued interest in this hot topic. What I was trying to get at, and relate to our readers, is that this does exist in Vegas. It happens. I wouldn’t have even thought to try it until my anonymous source, who is intimately familiar with this practice from the hotel’s side of operations, told me that they are trained to handle it. Since then, I’ve been trying it and have been successful.
As I said, one of my other friends tried it and had her money handed back to her. So, I have friends on both side of the line. Some who’ve received more than one upgrade by tipping, and another who tried it to no avail.
I’m not saying that you can buy an upgrade for less money by bribing clerks, I’m just saying that I’ve heard tipping can help obtain a better room, I’ve tried it, and it worked.
I don’t think anyone should try it if they are not comfortable with it.
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
The best book ever written on tipping is called- Tipping for Success! How to get treated like a celebrity everywhere. by mark l brenner.
This guy reveals how never to wait in line again for anything. Guess what? It’s not about how much… it’s about what to say and he gives you the dialogue.
Find this book fast-
May 7th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
I’ve tried this several times, and it’s never worked. For all my effort all I got was embarrassed. This may have worked a few years ago, but now all the strip hotels are corporate, and they care about one thing, the bottom line.
We go a lot, and back in the day the pit bosses could comp you anything just because they were having a good night, now it’s all on a computer, if you don’t have the right level of play, you’re lucky to get a free hot dog.
That attitude is even more evident at the check in desk. Don’t waste your time or your $20.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
We don’t bribe people in America. Period.
HAHA! Obviously you don’t work for a living. Bribery is part and parcel of most every business transaction made in a majority of industries.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
STOP tipping every body you see in Vegas…It makes it hard for us locals to go enjoy an evening without being expected to tip every damn person you come across. Generally, waitresses, bartenders, valets, dealers (after a good bit of luck), and an occasional homeless dude with a funny sign needs any sort of tip. Enjoy your stay, thanks for keeping the lights on.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
When we went for a bachelor party at a strip hotel, the clerk said he could help us out with an upgrade if we were interested. We gave him a $100 and he upgraded us to a HUGE suite that had an exercise room, a dining table for 10, 2 bedrooms, a media room, a steam sauna, and 2 jacuzzi tubs!!! We felt pretty royal staying there! Our original reservation was for about $400/night in a 900 sq ft suite but that room was about 1800 sq ft and would have cost double and we got it for only $100 more! We “crammed” 12 guys in there for 2 nights by the way so it’s actually a lot cheaper than it sounds.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
$100 is way too much. Check this out:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=63&threadid=529706&start=0
May 9th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Wow! Having worked for several years as a desk clerk in a Vegas hotel (the Sands back in the 80’s), I had 2 types of surpervisors; one type would look the other way on “upgrade” tips as long as we split the take with him/her, the other type would warn you one time about not undercutting the Hotels profit and fire you if caught a second time. Unless things have changed a lot (and talking to friends still in the business, they haven’t), tipping for room upgrade is NOT encouraged by the hotel and those who do so are effectively cheating the stockholders. Yeah Jen, it happens but the ends don’t justify the means.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Why do i have to be made to feel awkward/guilty for not tipping ? I’ve been plunking down sizeable amounts of money at the casino floor and their services anyway. The casino/resorts are making record profits because of people like us. WHy do we have to feel ‘obliged’ to tip their employees? Why Cant they take their huge billions in profits,.. take just a little piece, and divide it among their rank-and-file employees equally?
I’m sick and tired of this tipping culture. The business owners need to be considerate and not impose this awkwardness on their customers. You may add it to the bill if you want; but please state it upfront.
I don’t want the burden of having to prove i’m a person ‘worthy’ of better service. Just give me what everyone else gets. I want better, I’ll choose a better option. I dont want to play mind games with employees.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I did some quick research on this, it’s amazing how widespread this information is - there is even a specialty website *just* about what is called “the $20 trick” - check out a Google search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=RXd&q=the+%2420+trick&btnG=Search
As webmaster of Larry’s Las Vegas I’m going to ask Larry Long and some of our other industry contacts about this, but it seems fairly prevelant.
I can’t say I’ve used it myself, though, but I do recognize that Las Vegas is a tipping town and don’t see why this wouldn’t work.
Also, I haven’t been back since the Katrina but there is no question this is also the way New Orleans has ALWAYS worked - heck everyone used to have their hand out down there and I’ve gotten a room in a “fully booked” hotel by tipping front desk staff in NO!
Interesting thread! Keep it up!
Chris Salmon
May 9th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I use to drive a limo in Vegas. In Vegas you tip to get the service not because of the service. If you don’t want to tip (and many people are stiffs) you must expect poor service. If it offends you then Vegas is not the vacation destination for you.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Thanks for all the great comments, everyone. I appreciate the different perspectives and especially the first-hand experience and additional resources.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
As a Casino Employee for over 20 years and a writer for http://www.larryslasvegas.com. I can tell you this. Tipping can’t hurt. If you are a frequent tipper, you will get a lot more for your buck than a non- tipper. Most people in Las Vegas live off tips and are used to this system no matter what hotel policies are. Joe is spot on when he wrote “If you don’t want to tip (and many people are stiffs) you must expect poor service. If it offends you then Vegas is not the vacation destination for you.”
May 14th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Firstly if there was a decent minimum wage in America you wouldnt have to tip.
Secondly, if this means of upgrading isnt sanctioned by the establishment you dont have a leg to stand on if you dont get what you think you might be getting.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:07 am
I fully agree. I’m from The Netherlands, where they sort of ‘invented’ being cheap. In Vegas, this attitude doesn’t work. It makes perfect sense to me: wages are based on people giving tips. Either you tip, and receive good service, or you don’t tip, and you won’t have a good time… I guess those drinks aren’t REALLY free, but 1 or 2 bucks a drink still beats the local drinking hole!
Another (free) tip for the upgrading-savvies: when you check in at the hotel, put your hand on the counter with a 20/50/100 dollar bill discretely (although clearly visible) placed under your hand. Ask for an upgrade. If they upgrade you, give them the tip. If they don’t upgrade you, get your cash and no harm is done.
May 15th, 2007 at 2:10 am
I have been to America nearly half a dozen times and have been expected to tip and tip heavily for admittedly very good service. What amazes me is just how bad Americans are at tipping in other countries. In China recently an otherwise very pleasant group of Americans sharing a party package with my English group refused to tip for any type of service. We tipped ,as our tour organisers advised us that this was the custom in China, and they looked particularly mean because they didn’t.. I’ve noticed the same behaviour in Italy and other countries in the distant past. How very strange for a people that I regard as particular kind and helpful.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:53 am
It seems to me that Las Vegas is all about “excess”. Nearly everyone wants “the most for the least”. We want to play Megabucks for $3 and win $12 million–we’re Americans, we have that God-given right. So why are we suddenly debating a $20 “bet” that could pay off BIG? It sounds like most of you are saying, “I love you, I love you, don’t touch me.”
Please don’t lecture me about me doing fair by some corporation. I’m not out for them, I’m out for ME. They have enough of my hard earned dollars. If I can get a few nickels back, so be it. And by the way, for all of you who feel sorry for these billion dollar corporations, have you stopped to think that maybe (just maybe) not all of the rooms or suites in Vegas are occupied every night. If I’m working behind a desk on a slow night…I’m giving you an upgrade and pocketing the $20 (for use later at the Megabucks machine). And I’m sure the next time you visit, you’ll come back…and I’ll be waiting.
I’ts called Sin City, let’s act like it.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Correct me if I am wrong but doesn’t tips stand for “To Insure Prompt Service”…sounds to me almost like a bribe lol. It’s nice to tip but it should NOT be mandatory, especially if the service was lousy to begin with!
May 15th, 2007 at 7:00 am
This is a simple rule to live by:
Tip 20% or stay at home.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:41 am
I can see both sides of the argument here and have valid points. However, it is idiotic to tell customers to “stay home” if they don’t want to tip. The reason that Las Vegas keeps growing is the fact that customers, (tippers and no tippers alike) continue to visit in record numbers. Look at the big picture people. Don’t make naive statements and bite the hand that feeds you.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Here’s the way I see it…
Tip - Extra money given after service to show appreciation of a good job done.
Bribe- Extra money given ahead of time to get improper preferential treatment.
What you are describing are bribes, so please call them that. I’m fine with tips and always do tip, but I am not fine with bribes. An employee should be helpful and courteous whether or not I have handed him $100. That is his job and part of what I already bought. If there is an issue over salaries, that needs to be taken up with his employer, not the customer.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Tips are rewards after the fact for good service, not bribes to get the good service in the first place. To require a tip to have someone do their job is unacceptable. I tip well, but only after the fact, and I really don’t care sbout the view from a hotel room–I care more about hot water, quiet and clean room, clean towels,a clean bed, and a nearby ice machine.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Call it a ‘tip’ or call it a ‘bribe’ I’m fine with both. As long as I get the best for me. It’s the “Me” generation, time to keep up.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:16 am
In my experience, I agree with those who’ve said that tipping is after the fact and is based on the quality of service you receive. Giving money beforehand is in fact a bribe and I for one have never done such a thing. I’ve never had poor service as a result; generally, by simply asking, I can have a special request fulfilled; after all, I’m already paying enough for the room, food, etc.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
It’s very obvious that the “if you don’t tip, stay home”, poster’s are Vegas employees trying to convince the rest of us that EVERYBODY tips at least 20% . Give it a rest. I’m still going to Vegas, I’m only tipping for exceptional service AFTER the fact and if I get poor service from you because I didn’t bribe you ahead of time, I’m complaining to your boss or taking my business elsewhere. If you don’t like your paycheck, get a real job and stop extorting from the rest of us.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
I’ve tipped $20-$40 and I’ve gotten an upgraded room at The Venetian, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, and The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Of all the rooms, The Hotel at Mandalay Bay for $40.00 gave me an awesome high floor suite with a view of the Strip and the mountains. None of these rooms cost me anymore than what I booked for. (A cheap room.) PEOPLE ARE TOO SELFISH AND TOO CHEAP to consider tipping. I never wait at a restaurant or a club and I’m treated like a VIP because of my tipping. Everyone else can stay in the land of crappy hotels and waiting an hour for a seat at restaurant while I enjoy my meals, entertainment and luxury suites.
May 18th, 2007 at 6:57 am
You mean “jibe”, not “jive”. To jibe means to agree. To jive means: 1. To play or dance to jive music. 2. Slang a. To talk nonsense; kid. b. To talk or chat.
May 18th, 2007 at 6:59 am
just wanted to respond to one readers comment about tipping in China…it is definetly NOT customary to tip in the P.R.C.!! I’ve been living in Shanghai for the last two years and and I’ve never seen anyone ever leave a tip for any kind of service…with the exception of the occasional foreigner tipping at high end hotels or restaurants because of habit or because they don’t know any better!
May 18th, 2007 at 7:10 am
RealityCheck -
There’s nothing wrong with you doing things your way, and me doing things my way.
I feel that people work hard for their money and, where tips (bribes, if you like!) are a significant part of someone’s expected income then I feel that contributing works better for me.
I get really good treatment and really good service and perks and I KNOW that it’s because I always tip well. Often people that I’m around make comments like “Wow, how do you get such good service?” Or, “How can I get perks and comps like that?”: Well, it’s no mystery! It’s all a money thing and the way a lot of these workers are paid makes them basically semi-independent business people.
I’m not a Vegas employee and don’t even live in Vegas to tell you the truth. My approach works for me no matter where I go.
But if tipping your way works for you, then great! There’s nothing stopping you! h
By the way, interesting side note to this, to show you how important tips are to this industry, the dealers at the Wynn Las Vegas have just voted to become the first-ever Unionized dealers in Las Vegas. The issue that caused them to unionize? TIPS! Yes, tips - Wynn decided for the first time to force the dealers to split their pooled tips with other pit personell. So in protest and to protect their tips the dealers have voted to join a Union. That shows me that tips are pretty darn important to these folks! Maybe that explains some of the “if-you-don’t-tip-stay-home” attitude.
http://www.larryslasvegas.com/2007/05/15/wynn-dealers-unionize/
Chris Salmon
http://www.larryslasvegas.com
May 18th, 2007 at 9:05 am
I find this practice atrocious !!!!
May 18th, 2007 at 10:20 am
I’m pretty certain that hotel management is unaware of this practice, and make no mistake about it: if it smells like bribery and it looks like bribery, it is bribery.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:51 am
Jen said: “I’m not saying that you can buy an upgrade for less money by bribing clerks, I’m just saying that I’ve heard tipping can help obtain a better room, I’ve tried it, and it worked.
I don’t think anyone should try it if they are not comfortable with it. ”
Let’s see if this logic works for me…”I’m not saying that switching the price tag from a $10 item onto a $50 item at your local mall will save you $40 (as long as the sales clerk is in on it!), I’m just saying if you do it and give the sales clerk his $10 “tip”, you’ve saved $30!! I tried it and it worked!
Don’t try this if you have a problem with character, morals or any of those pesky do the right thing ideas.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Tipping is not a bribe it is simply a for of gratuity. A way of showing the staff your apprieciation for their hard work. and good services. A bribe is the act of giving money to ensure better service and possible percks. Like dealers, you do not tip them when you change a $100 into chips, or even before the first hand is delt. You usually would tip if you get a winning hand like a blackjack, or if you got a straight flush (if you were playing 3 card poker, where the bonus pays 40 to 1.) If the table is at a $5 min. You gross winnings would be $200 on the bonus. You wouldn’t give the dealer a tip to get it cause with that there are no ways to ensure getting that hand. You would give a tip as a way to thankyou for the hand.
Not to mention that dealers are one of the lowest paid jobs in Las Vegas. They only receive minimum wage on Hourly basis. at this current time that is only $6.15 an hour. Coctail waitresses are diffrent. They are paid $13 to $15 and hour plus tips that average $200 to even $800 a night.
Bartenders make mor going from $15 to $18 an hour plus tips that average the same if not more than what cocktail waitresses make plus the waitresses give a share of their tips to bartenders. The reason some tip them is to ensure faster and more promt services which would be concidered a bribe.
To say you should not tip dealers or coctail servers and bartenders though is saying their hard work is not appriciated, And to further assume that everybody else is tipping them so why should you is the exact reason why dealers find the job not so profitable. Even more that is what everybody else is thinking and so you only add to the problem and not help solve it.
The biggest problem that dealers face is that the highest clientel that they deal to is asian who beleive that tipping is insulting to a staff. or that when you are winnign you should not tip, you are considered giving “lucky money”away and that is in itself bad luck. The truth of the matter is they come to this country to live and feel they shouldn’t have to become assimilate to any of our coustoms. My advice is To locals if you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to gamble so don’t, you obviously are in a financial stasus that makes you pinch your pennies so save your money and come back when you are more finacialy sound. If that is not the case you are just to cheap to show any kindness, and should really re-evaluate your life and what it is like to be stuck at the bottom and be struggeling on your own to get your way to the top. Tipping in this city is not just a form of gratuity it is a for of charity to the people who are less fortunate but do make an effort to work for that money insted of just stting on the sidewalk or out in the streets begging.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Hey concerned dealer,
Thanks so much for giving us the inside scoop from across the felt.
I tip when I’m at the tables, but I think it’s great for tourists to see info on tipping from a casino worker’s POV.
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger
July 5th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Chris Salmon: Your story about Wynn doesn´t tell me how good the idea of tipping is. It tells me that the US would be a better place if more workers were unionized.
Maybe one day the dealers at Wynn can make their employer pay them a decent salary, so they don´t have to rely on tips?