25 March 2010

What? No tip?

The Elysian Hotel in Chicago has adopted a no-tipping policy, a move that breaks with standard practices across the high-end- and luxury-hotel market, says the head of a trade association.

"I haven’t seen [a no-tipping policy] anyplace else," Joe McInerney, president and chief executive officer of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, told The Wall Street Journal. "If you go to a no-tipping policy, certain positions that have always lived off tips—like doormen, uniformed services staff—what would they do?"

Elysian employees are paid competitive wages and benefits, says an Elysian spokeswoman of the hotel that opened late last year.

"I just don’t think it’s luxurious to always have to be thinking about having to tip people for doing the jobs they do every day," said Elysian’s CEO, David Pisor. "We try to eliminate your need to have to have extra cash on you to get someone to do something."

Guests are notified of the no-tipping policy after they book a room and are reminded of the policy upon arrival at the hotel.

Employees are instructed to politely refuse tips, thanking guests for the gesture but saying that it’s not necessary to tip on the property. If a guest absolutely insists after the refusal, the staff member is allowed to take the tip so as not to offend a guest, says Pisor.

While tipping practice can vary by location, the general culture of tipping is still in place in almost all luxury hotels, says McInerney.

But some observers think the move might spread, particularly at a time when hotels are cutting back on costs.

By David Wilkening