I'm not sure about other hotels, but at the Coral Hilton in Nuweiba, the cleaner was the only one we tipped personally - all the bars/restaurants have a communal pot and any tips are distributed evenly among that set of staff at the end of each week.

The same person cleaned our room every week for a fortnight and we gave him 150 LE (£15) - to be honest, he did a fantastic job and that sounds really mean, but at the end of our stay we had started to run out of local currency. I'm not sure what a typical amount would be, but he seemed very pleased when we thanked him as we were leaving on our last day.

i think the British are quite good at tipping the maids, the Italians are renowned not to, we got told this by the ladys when we went to Cairo. I would leave 11 Egyptian pounds a day, which is about a quid of our currency.

I don't want to sound mean but LE 150 is a lot. I am sure the cleaner was very happy. I am sure he deserved it. But it still is a lot. My recommendation would be LE 40 - 50 for a couple for one week and LE 70 - 80 for a couple for a fortnight. And that if the job was well done.

I don't want to deprive people from earning money but overtipping can sometimes be quite harmful.

We certainly felt he did deserve it, and to be honest, when we thought about it, the paltry (in our eyes) £1 a day did not seem anywhere near a reflection of how hard he had worked to make our stay comfortable and clean.

Some establishments (and countries) actively discourage the practice because it upsets the local economy, especially if every tipper unknowingly goes over the top.
A few years ago in India we were admonished for leaving too big a tip, simply because the tip we left was significantly more than the guy would have actually earned in a month ! It was about £5 for a week's cleaning. In a country where the average wage is about £45 a year, it wasn't 'responsible tipping' but still difficult to understand for an English person who classes it as loose change. Once word gets out about folks splashing the cash, the cleaner ends up earning more than a doctor or policeman, which doesn't go down too well.

Was it a Saudi Prince who once tipped a waiter at the Dorchester £45,000 because he worked very hard, then couldn't understand why people made a fuss? Difficult concept to fathom for a foreigner.

Hi,

Only five weeks to go until we leave for Sharm for a fortnight at the Grand Azure. Can anyone let me know the best way of tipping at an all-inclusive? I guess we'll tip the maid at the end of our stay, and our waiter (or waiters....) - but what about bar staff? Seems a bit awkward when you're not actually handing money over...... any advice will be greatly appreciated! And ideas of how much would be good....

Hope you can help - can't wait to go!

Callie.

We have just returned from the Laguna Vista which is about 500 metres from the lti grand azure, your hotel does look very nice

In our hotel all the staff, except for two, were male.
Simir who cleaned our rooms done the wonderful thing with the towels on day one, i shook his hand, expressed my admiration and gave him £5 per week to keep doing a good job
Kiko (bar captain), Wael (asst bar captain) and seddik (beach boy) were the three staff who really helped to make the holiday for us, all three were very good with my kids and i gave them £20 each at the end of the holiday
I put £20 into the collective tip box for the restaurant staff, and gave other waiters who we recognised about £3 each

Also see my thread "back from sharm" for some other info
Hope that helps

Paul

Thanks Paul - glad to hear you had a good time!

Hi everyone, just booked my 7th visit to Egypt, but this time doing things a bit different, so I once again need your help.
In April we have decided to do a Nile mini cruise for 4 nights then off to my beloved Sharm for 10 nights at the Savoy.
We have usually tipped using £1 coins untill we get sufficiant Egyptian Pounds and that has always gone down well with Sharm hotel staff etc. But in Luxor, Aswan and on the cruise would they prefer US$,
Many Thanks once again
SB XXXX

Hi SB,

The only thing I would say is that every time I go to Egypt, I am always being asked by Egyptian people to change loads of British £ coins into Egyptian pounds. From that point of view i'd imagine that Dollar bills that Egyptian banks will change would be preferred.

I always bring some small Egyptian notes home with me, so I have them for the next time.

Regards,

Roger.

PS. You'll love the cruise!!

What about euros?
Do they receive those, or is dollars the preferred currency

I imagine that dollars are preferred to Euro or £sterling coins because the banks will only change notes.

Roger.

Hi SB,

general form on the cruise tends to be not to tip people seperately but to leave one large tip in an envelope on the last day of the cruise (or two such tips, one for 'below stairs' people and one for the 'face to face' people) and you can leave this in any form of currency best suits you.

On the streets of Luxor the main cry we heard was 'change english pound! change english pound!'

Bit confused here, so it would be okay to give an english Pound as a tip. Or do they have trouble changing them into Egyptian other than asking tourists?? Which is best. As we are all inclusive we are planning on taking only about thirty quid worth of Egyptian Pounds (in Eyp 10 pound notes) with us to cover tips and the odd keepsake touristy thing. Anything else such as odd meals out, trips and maybe pressies we would pay on Visa. Is this acceptable?

Heather,

They have the same problem as us, if we bring home coins of a foreign currency. The banks will not change them., they will only change notes.
Therefore, apart from Egyptian pounds, the best tip to give is in US$ notes.

All currencies are welcome. But the Egyptian pound is more welcome to the man in the street as it is easily convertable. I.e. he can go and spend it immediately.

As Roger said, if you have to give foreign currency as a tip then make it US$ 1 notes.

But better still, when you arrive and you buy your visa at the money exchange counters just before the passport control, change a little bit extra into local cuurency and ask for small notes. If the counter assistant can't help you much then change a large Egyptian note with the luggage handlers on the way out of the terminal. Try and get LE 1 and 5 notes.

Cheers lads ....... not getting a Visa as plan on Sinai only, however, will try and get a couple of tens changed into ones and fives when we arrive at the airport which should be a help to start with ..only 11 more days!!

I am going to Egypt in March and have been reading, researching and talking to people about the trip for the last six months. I have practically denuded the local libary shelves on travel in Egypt... some of the best books seem to be the Lonely Planet guide, and the Rough guide to Egypt. Both give excellent advice on tipping how much and when.
One thing you do need to learn is how to say No thank you to those who want you to buy, or want you to give them money.

"La Shuckran" is easy to remember and will get you out of a lot of sticky situations. its polite, its No thanks, and it leaves no room for doubt.
Dont say Imchy its something only said to children to make them go away... its insulting to an adult.
Dont give people money because they are pestering you for it, only give it for a service or if they have done you a favour.

The Islamic religion as part of its laws says that people should give alms to the poor and support the needy... that is where tipping realy got out of hand.
If you see a woman with a baby asking for money give it, and be generiouse, women do not beg unless they are realy in desperate trouble.

Give in tips what you think the service is worth, and keep in mind that a pound coin is around 12 pounds Egyptian, and a waitor will only earn about that working for a day... so giving an English pound coin is giving the equivilent of a days wages for a minor service like opening a door.

Their are notes for smaller amounts 25pp and 50pp in Egyptian money and those are quite acceptable for a tip for a coffee, or a small service.
they are only coppers in English money but its a reasonable amount in Egyptian money.

A pound tip in Egyptian money would be very generouse for a small service its about 20p in our money. and its still very generouse in that culture.

Tipping is a bit of minefield as you will find every hand is reaching out to your purse... learn to say no, or to give very small amounts indeed, or you will end up spending most of your holiday cash on tips.
Only accept notes, not coins and make sure they are not defaced, old or torn... you will have a lot of trouble getting rid of them if they are.

Dont be bullied or hassled into handing over money that you dont want to give... if someone is giving you a hard time then mention the tourist police and they will soon disapear.
Learning to say La Shuckran is easy and its polite, just walk away after that dont forget to smile... and keep your temper.

Thanks for a very informative post Shez

That is an easy word to remember, done it already!
Is it pronounced as it's spelt?.....La shook-ran?