Leaving a few coins after the meal is usually best. We found that our waiter was extremely attentive, and even arranged some flowers on our table for my birthday.

We just sorted out all the tunisian money we had left and shared it between them all.. i think they ended up with the equivilent of about £7 each ....
Also remember to have some money for the porters at the airport on the way home ... i caught the eye of one of them before we even got off the coach . and he got our cases , took them to check in and even waited with us to help my husband put them on the belt ...

Can somebody tell me who is expected to be tipped and approx how much?
in-laws are going to Marhaba Palace PEK for new year, and they are getting a bit panicky as they have read that staff there were demanding tips at the end of the holiday...........

Like Ibiza, is it worth tipping small but regular to the barman etc, with a tip to restaurant and maid staff at the end??

Cheers,

Mark

When we went to Tunesia last, we did exactly as you suggested, e.g. tip the barman small as and when we bought a drink and leave a greater tip for the maid and restaurant staff at the end of the holiday.

Mark

Hmmmm - nobody seem to want to say how much though?

What do you mean by "a big tip"?

Would love to know....

Personally I tip maids and table waiters £5 a week.

Barstaff I tip a dinar or two most nights and the pool attendent every couple of days.

And yes I was a bit gob smacked the first time we went to Tunisia to find the maids camped out on our doorstep the day before we left as the following day was their day off

Thanks for that. Looks like I have overdone it with the tips
And I was wondering where did all the money go?
LOL
Saying that - I do not mind tipping for an EXCELLENT service I always get where I go

lol at Anna
Thing is theres such a thing as "over tipping" and what can happen in developing countries is maids and waiters end up earning more then doctors etc and that upsets the balance. Over tipping is usually discouraged because of this.

I know a dinar a day is peanuts to us, but for staff earning only £100 or so a month - its a lot of money

Well - I have spent a lot of time with our waiters/lifeguards etc after hours so to speak - always goinng in a group and dancing the night away till say 5am (how they managed to make it back to work the next morning I will never know - admire them for that) so we did talk about their wages etc quite openly.

They seem to all have been on about 240 - 300 dinnars per month.

I was joking about overdoing it with the tips, it was not quite like that.

At the restaurant we had 3 waiters - all 3 attending to our "table for 2" which was a bit over the top. The main waiter got 10 dinnars and the other 2 got 5 dinnars per week. This is in addition to me leaving change every every evening as although on HB, drinks (water/coffe/juice etc) were extra for some reason.

In the evening it was easier as on the terrace each waiter had his own area so there was always one.

I started by leaving change from every drink ordered but then clicked that people would colect the bills all night and pay them together at the end of the evening - leaving one tip then rather than with every drink as I was doing. So I smartened up
Maids - we had one for our room and I gave her 10 dinnars plus about 3 carrier bags of mostly brand new clothes (still with tags) as I have overdone it with shopping and packing - again this year :-)

One person I have given quite a lot of money to is someone we have met last year and was looking after us way more than he should have. He did not expect a tip, did not want to take it - he is a lovely guy with whom we keep in touch in between holidays too. very hardworking and very proud.

I would hate anyone camping on my doorstep for the tips.

Had a fallout with one of the waiters this year actually - he came up to me and asked if I brought him something he asked for last year or have I forgotten. Told him that no, I have not forgotten but just decided not to buy/bring it as I rather decide myself who/why/how to tpi and will not be bullied into this kind of behaviour

Silly guy got a hump which ended with me moving a table for the evenings and him losing quite a lot on daily drink tips

I just love Tunisia

At our hotel, I tipped the waiter in the restaurant 2 dinars on the first night for bringing our drinks and every night afterwards the drinks were there waiting for us on our table (with ice ) . In the bars, I usually tipped 2 dinar on the first round and maybe 2 on the last round.

As for the maids, the do a great job but they do torture you on your last day by coming into the room for silly things when all they want to do is say "were is my tip" LOL - so we left them 10dinar.

When we ate out and found the meal satisfying we tipped 5dinar....

First time to Tunisia staying AI ......
When do you tip and how much?
Thanks ccj

ccj I'm going AI as well and a bit worried about the tipping.

We found that any tip even 1 dinar was appreciated. In resteraunts we gave 15% which is what we give at home. when you tip is up to you but we gave when we got drinks, in resteraunts and when porter first carried bags to room. We left a tip for maids €20 in envelope at the end of our holidays!!! We gave all our small change in the end to one of waiters as a tip and he was thrilled even though it couldnt have been that much. It was nice they appreciated it.

Bettyboop asked

also is tunisia a poor country?

thats really interesting as I had thought Tunisia was a poor country before i went . But we didn t find Tunisia to be that poor (ie people with nothing to eat, homeless everywhere, major hassle caused by poverty, massive divide between rich and poor) I have to say we didn t see any thing that shocking whilst there. Its not officially a third world country, its in the transitional zone.
There are much poorer countries like Egypt where i saw homeless children searching rubbish heaps for food really sad!!.. I suppose thats what drives some to hassle tourists out of sheer desperation .

I travelled a bit in Tunisia and saw most of major cities and talked to many locals waiters, beautician, cleaning ladies, the guide even the doctor. To me it seems to be a country on the move up which is nice to see and i am happy for them. :)They ll soon have a huge trade partner with the EU. ok its hard to make money because tax is very high nearly 50%, inflation is soaring and unemployment is a a big problem. there are some negatives but education (including third level) and health care are paid for by government. Orphaned children are supported and put into state orphanages. There seems to be a strong social element to tunisia!

Tourism is one of their biggest sources of revenu. They are fairly dependent on tourism and that is why global disasters like 9/11 can destroy their economy.

Tipping is great as it supports their wages, that after tax are quite low! Some i spoke to earn more through tips than their own wages.

Nothing has changed for me this year re tipping although stayed in 2 different places (Hammamet - Bel Air and PEK- Kanta, both on HB).

Every night was leaving 10 the dinner waiter for a bottle of wine worth 7.500 or 8.000 so he had 2.500 or 2.000 every night from us, left him a tenner on the last night.

Breakfast was "self served" so did not bother.

Left about 1.000 or 2.000 for the maids every day on the table in the room and nothing more at the end - as they turned up in both places, 3 of them together (only ever saw one per hotel so did not feel right tipping the other 2 in each places as never saw them before, sorry).

Tuk tuk driver - 1.000 per day.

Porters at Kanta - 1.000 now and then and 5.000 each (3 of them) on departure, also 5.000 each for the receptionists (4 of them) and 5.000 for the cashier guy on departure.

Bar waiters (terrace, Kanta - change of whatever was left daily).

Something like that anyway - there was 2 of us, adults this time.

Maybe I have overdone it (again) - I do not know. They worked very hard and provided excellent service, they well deserve it.

:))

I am stunned at the high level of tipping that people on this thread give. Unfortunately the knock-on effect of your generosity is an expectation that all tourists should be as generous.

When I arrive at or leave Monastir Airport I prefer to look after my own suitcase. As a consequence of the expected tip the porters will try to wrestle the suitcase from my grip despite me telling them firmly to leave it many, many times. It is only when I start getting angry and shouting at them that they finally give in!

On arrival at the hotel the hotel porter will attempt to remove my suitcase from the boot of the taxi whilst I am paying the driver. Again, after my polite request to leave the suitcase alone is ignored, several times, I have to wrestle my case from his grip after a heated exchange. And so it goes on. There is a world of difference between tipping good service and encouraging bad behaviour.

I always tip the evening meal waiter, bearing in mind that he doesn't carry the food to my table, he only brings extras such as drinks. On the first night I ask him "Would you prefer me to tip you as I go along or at the end of my stay?". If he wants me to tip him as I go along I will tip him one dinar each evening I have a drink with my meal (diet coke). If he prefers a tip at the end of the week I will give him 10 dinars on my last night.

Again, I always tip the waiters in the bar, but only once at the end of the evening. Never less than one dinar (40p) but never more than 15% for incredible service.

The cleaning lady in my room also gets tipped once at the end of my stay. I like to make it into a game show. She starts the week with a potential tip of 15 dinars but I deduct one dinar every time she utters the question "You go Wednesday?". Roughly translated this means "I know you go Wednesday, so don't even think about sneaking off without tipping me!".

Further deductions are also made for "I finish Sunday, I have to go to hospital, my leg is very bad. I will be off work for one month". Translation "You look like you're going to do a runner on Wednesday, any chance I could have my tip early?". Every time I see the same cleaning lady after Sunday I like to shout "It's a miracle - You can walk!". They always keep away from me after that"¦"¦"¦ The biggest tip that a cleaning lady has managed to get from me is 11 dinars!

These are the only mandatory tips that I give to hotel staff.

Don't even start me on taxi drivers! If you caught someone burgling your house you would insist that they give you all your property back, wouldn't you? You wouldn't expect them to try to "haggle" with your goods, for example "Ok, I'll let you have your TV back but I will keep the DVD player - deal?". Well this is exactly how taxi drivers work.
On a journey that always cost 5 dinars I noticed the driver press the button at the bottom-left of his meter for the "night rate". All of a sudden the meter starts turning like a fruit machine. I say "Excuse me, but I would prefer you not to steal from me. Would you restart the meter at the proper rate?". The driver then starts to negotiate with me just how much of my money he is going to steal! "Ok, I'll switch the meter off, give me 7 dinars!!!"

Tip : At the end of the journey play him at his own game. Tell him you'll pay 3 dinars or we can get a policeman to arbitrate. Then he will tell you that the journey should really be 5 dinars, not the 9 dinars on his meter! Insist on 3 dinars or the police arbitrator, he won't risk the police being involved as they are very supportive of holidaymakers.

Finally, I always bring small presents with me to give for exceptional service. £2 boxes of Scottish Shortbread from Tescos always go down well! Also pop in to your local Asda before you travel and help yourself to a couple of dozen Asda carrier bags. They are great bartering tools in the Medinas. My bags can be seen the length and breadth of Sousse Medina! They can't get enough of them.

I was going to write something in response to your post "trickypaul" but after a little "think about it" break decided not to go too deep into analising what you have written.

It is a public forum and everyone is entiled to their own opinion - that is for sure.

Without going too deep into what I think about your post and your general attitude to people who serve you on holiday (note: to people not to tipping) ....

Well, never mind.

PS

"help yourself to a couple of dozen Asda carrier bags. They are great bartering tools in the Medinas. My bags can be seen the length and breadth of Sousse Medina!"

They are not "your bags" - they are Asda's bags and "helping yourself" to more than you need at a time- how is it different to a taxi driver "adjusting" his meter?



Super Scrodge springs to mind...... :ciggy:

I am right in thinking that your post is a leg-pull aren't I Tricky Paul?

I can't believe that anybody would go to so much trouble to save so little! I'm more than happy to pay someone the equivalent of 50p to lug my case around at Monistir. And hotel porters the world over expect to help you with taking your case from the taxi and, yes, to receive a small tip but the going rate of 1DN in Tunisia is a bargain compared to what the porter at a 4/5* hotel would expect in London. And unlike in London I've never had any grief or insolent looks from Tunisian hotel porters if I've found myself short of change.

Nor have I ever got into the sort of altercations with Taxi drivers that you appear to have. On the contrary, I remember well the one who pointed out that I'd misread the meter and given him far too much, most of which he insisted on giving me back. And the only time one has 'tried it on' by not putting the meter on, I simply ignored what he asked for and gave him what I knew to be the going rate. It was proferred with a knowing smile on my part and accepted with a rueful smile on his!

And I certainly haven't ever got involved in the convoluted games that you have with the housekeeping staff! I really couldn't be bothered! They get an envelope with 10/20DN in at the end of my stay depending on how long I've stayed and have never been hassled or pestered for any other arrangment.

As for the restaurant waiters I've always left the small change for them each night and again given them 10/20DN on the last night. And I do what I do here with the bar waiters - if it's table service I'll tend to again leave the small change on the tray or if it's bar service I'll ask them to take 'one for yourself' with either the first or last round.

I can't help feeling that if you treat people with respect and don't demean them by making them jump through hoops to be sure of a tip that they respond in kind and treat you with respect too and don't try and take liberties. Life, and in particular my holidays, are too short to spend time worrying about whether I'm being done over small amounts and trying to find ways of getting out of giving a tip. And if you want to know what a really disgruntled waiter who starts to realise that he/she isn't going to get a decent tip can do to spoil your evening than you can do no better than playing games with the waiting-on staff in the US! Tunisians are pussycats in comparison! As in Tunisia, you have to accept that tipping is part of the culture and if you don't like being expected to tip choose destinations where it is not expected or even frowned upon.

SM

PS And at home I still tip the stylist and the junior who shampoos my hair at the hairdressers but notice that I'm one of the few who still do at the salon I go to. Must be my age :-) but I've done it ever since my mother briefed me on who got what when I went on my own for the first time!

Anna,

I think you need to re-read my post"¦

I said it should be my choice if I want to keep control over my suitcase at the Airport and at the Hotel. It's not about avoiding tipping the porters it's about my right to keep my suitcase with me if I so choose.

I said I always tip the hotel waiter. (Either 40p tip for bringing a can of coke or £4 at the end of the week, he chooses).

I said I always tip the waiter in the bar. (Never less than 40p if I have one can of diet coke or 15%, whichever is greater).

I said I always tip the cleaning lady. (Up to £6 if she doesn't "pester").

Therefore I'm not at all sure what you mean by my

"general attitude to people who serve you on holiday (note: to people not to tipping) ...."

I said I always bring small presents with me to give for exceptional service.

Finally, note the exclamation mark in the comment about Asda. It is used to depict humour! Of course I ALWAYS ask first if I can take a few extra bags to give to my Tunisian friends. I haven't been refused yet. I cannot see the comparison with yet another taxi driver trying to rob a tourist!

It would appear that my post has struck a raw nerve with you. It was certainly never intended to be a personal attack on you.

It would appear that my post has struck a raw nerve with you.

- not just with me, I can assure you.

It was certainly never intended to be a personal attack on you

- of course not, and I did not take it as such.It is about poor people trying to serve you and doing their best to feed/clothe their families and having to feel humilated by "rich tourists"......for what? For 40-50 pence?



"trickypaul" - I think post from SM above mirrors exactly my own feelings about your post earlier on and my own experiences from staying in Tunisia.

I have nothing more to add.