How to Tip a Door Man

The Door Man:
A person who is in charge of the flow of vehicles in the driveway, hailing cabs, and loading and unloading guest vehicles. A lot of times this is the first person you encounter when arriving on the driveway of a hotel. This is who you will be giving your valet claim ticket to if you haven't called ahead for your car to be brought around. The door man is normally the person that gets yelled at when the valets haven't brought the car around after a "reasonable" amount of time.

How much to tip:
Because the door man wears different hats you will want to tip him according to the job he does. For hailing a cab and opening the doors for you and your party members, any where from $2-$5 is sufficient. If multiple cabs are needed because you have a large party, you should tip at least $5 per cab. You will want to hand the door man the tip right before you get into the cab while he's holding the door open for you.

When you arrive to the hotel the door man will greet you by opening your door for you (most of the time). After the greeting he will begin to unload your luggage onto a bell cart. After unloading the vehicle and making sure you have everything he will park the bell cart and escort you into the hotel (most of the time) and introduce you to the front desk agent. A great time to tip the door man is when he's handing you your valet claim ticket and your luggage claim ticket. You should tip the door man $2 per bag. The valet claim ticket you will (most of the time) hold on to it throughout your entire stay at the hotel because it will be the same numbers used for your car. If the door man gives you the luggage claim ticket make sure to get that into the hands of the front desk agent or into the hands of a bell man after you check into the hotel.

My 2 Cents:
The door man is also the guard of all those pretty cars parked on the driveway or on the side of the driveway. Those cars on the side of the driveway are the cars that have either been called down early for guests on their way to the drive or personally parked there by the door man. There is only ONE way to have your car parked there permanently throughout your stay. And that way is tipping very good! I'm not talking about $5 every time you come and go from the drive. I'm talking about $10-$20 dollars coming and going. (OK there are other ways like getting a bad scratch on your car when a valet was driving it. But seriously who wants to go through the pain of that? You could however, go to the establishment often and befriend the door man and because you would be considered a regular who is a good tipper, they would park your car on the side for you. But those are pretty much the only ways without tipping very well!)

Remember:

1. Make sure your doors are unlocked when pulling onto the drive way. You don't want the door man trying to open locked doors.

2. Make sure you clean up all of your trash in your car. You don't want to arrive and have all of your trash spilling out your car when the door man opens it for you. I once saw a door man walk to the back and grab a very large trash bag and started to clean out this couples car because there was so much stuff spilling out of the car onto the driveway.

3. Make sure you have everything when you leave the car in care of the valet. For example: sunglasses, cell phone, computer, etc. Those are the most requested things for the valet and door men to retrieve from parked cars. Make sure you tip the person who gets it for you too. $2-$5 will be enough most of the time. If it is of high value and you need it immediately tip them more.

4. Anytime someone performs a service, tip them. And tip them more if you feel they went above and beyond to meet your request.

5. The door man is a professional packer. He will ask you if you want anything close to you in the car like a purse of computer bag. If you say, "No." he will pack it into the back. Let me remind you again, he is a professional packer. Please, do not begin to tell him how to pack every bag. If there is something you want on top because you don't want something to be smashed let him know. He will find a way for everything to fit into your car neatly and nicely. Just because you figured out the jigzaw puzzle (after 25mins. of trying) for your 25 bags, ski's, coolers, and beach toys before your 18 hour drive doesn't mean he won't be able to do the same in less than five minutes. The door man packs cars, trucks, and SUV's everyday on the job. He's a professional, let him work.

6. The door men may or may not be pooling their tips. You should tip the door man when you check-in to the hotel. And you should tip him when you check-out of the hotel (when he begins loading your car is a great time to tip him).