A few random questions

1. It's better to exchange cash rather than using travellers check, more so if you're going to remote places, but also for convenience sake! Only exchange in small amounts (say $100 dollars per day or something) because you won't be allowed to convert all of your left over pesos in to Dollars. Keep that in mind.

2. Have not stayed at the Riu Bachata, so can't help here.

3. Give US$1 if you got bad service and request better attention to that waiter or whomever you're giving the tip, it almost always works! Give US$2 if you got good service, notice how the good service becomes stellar afterwards. And give US$3 if the service is stellar. Also, you might want to take some toiletries for some of the maids and maybe some coloring books and/or crayons for their children. For the work these hotel employees do, they get paid very lousy. Please, never give anything directly to any kid, even if the kid asks for it. I'm sure you don't want to help turn little kids into beggars. Other than that, enjoy the Dominican Republic.

Should search and advice anyway even without the search

leeshy813 said:

As a 1st time traveller to DR, I just have a few questions...hoping there's someone out there who can advise...

1- Was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to whether it's better to exchange US$ for DR$, or to bring travellers cheques instead of cash?

2- Is there anyone who's stayed at the Riu Bachata? What's the scoop on the ala carte dining? Is it worth it?

3- What's considered good tipping for waiters, housekeeping at the resort, and taxi drivers?

Thank you to anyone who can give me some info!

Click to expand...

1. You pretty well have to exchange $ for pesos since everything is sold in pesos. If you bring a lot, bring traveler's cheques a little, cash is OK - really the issue is risk of loss not convertability.

2. Undoubtedly the same as anywhere else - if you like the special restaurants (e.g. the a la carte ones) in the AI's bribe the host/ess $10 on day one on the basis you can come back more than one time which is usually the limit. Works every time.

3. There is a huge thread on bringing stuff down for tips quite recent, read that - IMHO skip the "gifts" like crayons etc., since the implication is the maid is poor and you're not so don't go and offend them by offering charity (and you have no clue if they really need crayons anyway - the kids could be 19 years old) - give cash - RD$50-100 at a time IN THE HAND of the recipient works wonders - that is about $1 or $2 US at a time.

Do not tip some large US$ equivalent amount to wait staff like $10 or something as it is not necessary and will not result in any better service or gratitude than $1 or $2 and may even brand you as a sucker gringo.

I rarely actually tip in US$ BTW, get RD$50 and $100 notes and use them.

Tips for wait staff are always appreciated but usually is included in the bill and 20RD is all I give for mediocre service and 50RD for good service but I am usually just a party of one. I tip maids daily with a little note so they know it is for them because if you just leave money laying around in your room, most won't touch it because they value their job and are unsure if it is for them. I have a lot of respect for maids because they are working to support their family and generally leave the equivalent of about 2 dollars daily, let's just say 80-100RD. I wouldn't tip only at the end because you could have various maids clean your room at different days and that wouldn't be fair plus if you tip from day 1 they are more than willing to give you an extra towel and washcloth everyday which I always request.

I have never stayed at an AI in the DR so I can't help you there. Personally I would only use cash for tips and avoid presents, so as not to offend, and because they can use it for what they really need: stuff for their kids, some groceries, etc. I usually bring down about 75percent cash, 25 percent traveler's checks with a debit/atm card as a backup. Some places won't cash traveler's checks and to me, time is money and you have to wait in longer lines to cash t.checks on most occasions than just exchanging US so I only bring down about 200-250US in t.checks and cash them all at once when my cash starts to really go dwindle down, because I hate having to go to the banks/exchange houses daily. I usually go every other day to the bank/exchange house and cash in my US dollars for pesos. Keep all valuables, passports, extra cash, t.checks, locked in a safe and only carry what you need for that day on your person. I only carry around 2000-2500RD on me at a time with a hidden 20US and 500RD bill on my person but I don't always hang around the best companions and in the best areas.Have fun.
dale7(Howard)

To Insure Prompt Service (T.I.P.S.)

leeshy813 said:

Thank you Nal0whs and Ricktoronto for your advice. I'm usually a very good tipper for good service here in NYC (a whole different world than DR) so I'm glad you enlightened me....wouldn't want to be labeled a "sucker gringo" :laugh:

Definitely am going to bring some stuff for kids but to donate to the local school when I'm on my tour, but for the housekeeping I'll give cash and possibly items like nice lotions/soaps.

Do you recommend tipping daily? I was planning on giving one tip at the end of my stay (11 nights). If that's not a good idea, PLEASE let me know!

Click to expand...

If you want the better service and unless they are psychics that know you are going to tip them at the end wouldn't you think daily or alternate days would be a better idea?

And the lotions and soaps are still a waste of time and money (except in Cuba since you can't buy ANYTHING there) but you obviously think suggesting to the maids they are unable to buy basic toiletries, so go ahead. Hope they don't have allergies. Every dime spent on such things is better off, as cash, in their hands.

What you talking about, Willis?

dale7 said:

.... but I don't always hang around the best companions and in the best areas.
dale7(Howard)

Click to expand...

You better not be talking about me.

PS: I found your missing paragraphs -so here you go, add a few to the next posts:










There's 10 for you.

C U 18th.

The other problem with tipping at the end of your stay is that your final day may fall on your maid's day off (or she may be working in another part of the resort that day). During our recent week-long stay an an AI, our primary maid was off two of the days we were there, and I would have felt terrible if our last day had been one of those days. It's easy to leave a buck or two each day.

Like Rick, I also like to leave cash for the maid. I may supplement with toiletries, but I never consider that to be part of my tip.

RIU Bachata, nice place

You can find lots of info in the Resorts section.

If you are going to get out and around a bit, know that the RIU complex is 12=15 minutes from Puerto Plata. Inside the complex they have you by the nookies, so don't change a lot of money there. And never, repeat never, exchange money on the street. Look for a Casa de Cambio and ask first: "Ah komo?" And have them write it down. Then go to another one and see if you can do better. I might make a large difference.

As for tipping: My family usually leaves $100 pesos a day for the room service. My wife gives it to her directly, or tells her where it is. If you have a nice smile, certainly you can bring a few lotions or body splashes. Just say: "Lo tra hee mos para usted." with a smile....they know it isn't charity and appreciate the thought.

I do hope you can get out and around, there is a lot to see up there..

HB

Good Lord! Those tip ranges!

Last time I tipped a waiter in the DR, about 16 years ago I gave him about 10 pesos my bill was 65 pesos at OLE Pizzeria, the dollar was something like 3 to 1, and I must say a dollar isn't much more than that US$1 to a Dominican going to buy oil for 300 pesos a bottle(1 quart or less), here in NY I tip on a 20% to 25% range, why then you think because the exchange rate it's about 44 or something to that effect that DR products stay on 1988 rates?

Use the same scale you would when tipping at home, regardless of the exchange rate. Hey! if you order 2,000 pesos in food why then you think a dollar is more than OK?, on the same scale even if you had one small bill to be a gracious client to your waiter a tip will go a long way.

Something you must learn from Dominicans: We're good tippers!

Tip Advice

PICHARDO said:

Good Lord! Those tip ranges!

Use the same scale you would when tipping at home, regardless of the exchange rate. Hey! if you order 2,000 pesos in food why then you think a dollar is more than OK?, on the same scale even if you had one small bill to be a gracious client to your waiter a tip will go a long way.

Something you must learn from Dominicans: We're good tippers!

Click to expand...

1. There is often service and ITBIS both added to the bill and we know the waiter won't see much of the "service" part so this is about giving them something personally within reason.

2. Also, the original topic was maids and there is no % to apply to determine how much to tip them

3. In an AI resort the average tourist has no idea what the "cost" of the meal is. And there are not a lot of RD$2000 peso meals unless there are 4 or 5 tourists. Even outside the AI if they go - if they do sure if it is a fancy joint and RD$500-1000 per person tip more.

4. It was trying to be easy to follow advice and frankly RD$100 to the waiter is a lot. And it's appropriate for a maid, daily.

5. I have seen a lot of Dominicans leave nothing or nothing near 15% or what you'd think of as adequate so your "Dominicans are good tippers" may apply in NY but not in the DR from what I've seen. Unless zero is OK if you're Dominican and at home.

Heck I almost forgot this involves AI and casual trips to the Bongos bar run by the occasional entrepenurial foreigner...

Beach going it's not your normal setting to get a fancy or close meal for a Dominican, most of the time we take home made food to the beach and some 4 x 6 feet speakers to make a blast at the beach and have fun until is time to pack and go home to the interior and leave the tourists in their AI and noisy surroundings, he he he...

Hey tip as you see fit! I was only providing you with actual and real facts of Dominicans way of life...

No pasa nada compadre, la verdad que no fue apote y sin mala fe!!!

He he he... :surprised

Well A Little Advice is Better than None

PICHARDO said:

Heck I almost forgot this involves AI and casual trips to the Bongos bar run by the occasional entrepenurial foreigner...
............
Hey tip as you see fit! I was only providing you with actual and real facts of Dominicans way of life...

Click to expand...

It's a start - I think MANY tourist give maids NOTHING even tough they make nothing to begin with and the service is honestly a lot better if you grease the skids a bit, so hopefully we will have some readers start doling out RD$50 or 100 more regularly. ESPECIALLY in AI's where they must think AI means lterally EVERYTHING is free.

As for AI's I eat at the Chinese restaurant now and then at Dominican Bay (former Boca Chica resort) since non AI patrons can pay to eat there and they have OK food, prices and A/C.

I frequently watch with amazement/horror at AI tourists tipping a bus boy, and waitress a total of RD$10 (that's less than 20 US cents, folks) for a meal for 4 or 6 people with wine and dessert.

I feel like chasing them down and stuffing the RD$10 in their noses. FYI we tip them RD$50 to $100 each at the conclusion, so the three of us tip effectively the same for one meal as 30 stingy AI cheapskate gringos.

Leeshy, controversy is fun!

Tip as much or as little as you feel good at. You are on vacation, not Candid Camara.

Just be nice, enjoy yourself. Don't get too sunburned, you'll hate yourself at 40!

HB

No Controversies Here

leeshy813 said:

Didn't mean to cause any controversy here with my questions @ tipping!

Living in NYC, I always tip 15-20% for good service, perhaps more for extremely excellent & attentive service. There's no way that I wouldn't do the same in DR, esp. that those people make a hell of a lot less and in most cases don't have as much as. No matter where you are, I believe good service, hard work & a job well done should be rewarded!

Click to expand...

This is a forum ,exchange ideas, good and bad. Keep in mind that a small meal of pasta and a coke might only be RD$200 or even less (rice and beans might be RD$40-60) and thus sometimes the 15% rule results in a whopping RD$30 tip and as such the sort of $50 to $100 rule is in some cases more realistic.

Fancy sit down joints may have the tip in the bill already and as such you may not want to add 15% to 10% on a bill that is in US$100+.

No worries!

Leeshy, good for you for even asking the question. As Rick noted, many tourists are unreasonably stingy. We just returned from the DR and I was dismayed at some attitudes. I always include tipping as part of the cost of travelling, even if it's at an AI.

I am a generous tipper, both here and abroad, for good service. The only time I felt it was reasonable to withhold a tip during our recent trip was when the bus driver "demanded" his tip, after my husband had dragged our luggage from the hotel lobby to the side of the bus in the pouring rain. My hubby didn't mind doing it, but didn't feel the driver deserved a tip for watching him :squareeye