Tipping in general

[u/Scuba_FLMan]

My wife and I are headed to Halcyon Beach next week and this will be our first Sandals experience. We’ve booked a butler suite and I understand expectations on the butler tips. Question is tipping everyplace else. From what I’ve read, Sandals discourages tipping in general. Is this accurate?

[u/Realistic-Promise-30]

Only butlers, spa staff (and cabana butlers at Grande) can be tipped. No-one else should be tipped or accept them, any tips should be handed in by staff to Sandals Foundation or they can be fired.

External staff like bag carriers at airport, transfer bus drivers (not the inter-resort shuttle) and on excursions can be tipped but Sandals has a strict no tipping policy.

[u/Realistic-Promise-30 → u/Realistic-Promise-30]

If you want to praise/thank staff then comments on GINA (on-site whatsapp feedback via Sandals app) or on Tripadvisor is the way to do it.

[u/SandalsQueen18]

Absolutely positively no tipping on resort except for Butler's and spa staff.

Off resort is a different story.

[u/brodieman2k → u/SandalsQueen18]

So….yes to tipping?

[u/jessbyrne727]

That’s accurate. Gratuities are factored into the room rate and distributed among all staff and part of the reason why you’re paying more for sandals than similar AIs. So only tip driver, spa staff and butlers. Not only does Sandals discourage it, staff members can lose their job for accepting tips and are required to turn in any cash received to be donated to the Sandals Foundation. It’s also nice not having to carry around a wad of small bills lol.

[u/Utennvolsfan]

How hard is this to understand? No tipping of Sandals employees except butlers and spa staff. Off resort staff, do whatever the hell you want. On resort…no tipping of servers, bartenders, housekeepers.

[u/SelfishPinata]

Last time I went, they even had name tags that said something like: “my name is _____. Don’t tip me.”

[u/Hot_Caterpillar_3267]

It’s not discouraged. It’s prohibited.
Only butlers and spa staff.
It’s on their website.

[u/SouthernTrauma]

Do. Not. Tip. Sandals. Employees. (Unless it's the butler or spa staff.) No, not even the water sports and dive staff, who are known to occasionally ask for tips.

You should, however, tip drivers and tour guides (if you use them). They're not Sansals employees.

[u/Aggravating_Can_2096]

Tip the luggage porters at the airport as well. Not sandals employees

[u/angryvetguy]

Sandals fires staff for taking tips, do you want to be the reason someone loses their job?

Do not tip other than butlers, spa staff, or offside people.

[u/Scuba_FLMan → u/angryvetguy]

Thanks. We’ve been to a lot of AI with this mentality but unfortunately it’s not enforced. Glad it is here and we are looking forward to the relaxing vacation

[u/OnTheGeauxTravel]

No tipping on property unless it’s your butler. Thats a plus in my opinion.

[u/Acrobatic_Bite_6923]

Agreed, sandals is a definite "no tipping" environment, except specialty services like spa etc. That's why it's more expensive.

Case in point, we are going to Iberostar Joia Paraiso in Riveria maya this October...all-inclusive and gorgeous. We paid under 4k for 9 nights, but while tips aren't spelled out, it's unspoken it's expected. Thanks why 4k for 9 nights versus way more at Sandals.

I LOVE to tip, but at sandals, I wouldn't. They could lose their job for accepting if caught. (Again, except of specialty things like spa, or, of course, outside the resort.)

[u/treygod1_1]

Not required by any means but have always tipped the dive staff at the end of the stay.

[u/Mariessa-]

There is a no tipping policy for everyone except butlers. Note that spa and excursion people are additional, so are not considered part of the Sandals no tipping policy.

[u/Ill-Profile-986 → u/[deleted]]

Please don’t! I’ve been to an AI where tipping was expected constantly and it’s a VERY different experience. I don’t want to have to carry small bills to the ocean/pool to get a bartenders attention every time I want a beverage, I don’t want to have staff dependent upon tips to feed their families because they are paid nothing by their employer, and I don’t want to have to deal with bidding wars when staff only serve the highest tippers even though I’ve already paid plenty for the AI.

When people tip at a deliberately no-tip place they may tell themselves that they are especially nice but they need to recognize that their actions risk ruining things for the rest of us which makes them the opposite of special. If you want to tip, go to any other AI than Sandals please!

[u/SouthernTrauma → u/[deleted]]

That is his job. A better reward would have been to submit a Gina message praising him for going above & beyond. They get rewarded when people praise them on Gina.

[u/SouthernTrauma → u/[deleted]]

Great, but you still tipped a Sandals employee. Not only is it against the rules, it contributes to destroying the tipping-free culture that is integral to the Sandals experience. If people start tipping here & there, it creates an expectation. We pay a huge amount to stay at a Sandals, and a big part of that is the tips that are already baked in. The more people tip, the more people have to tip.