Puerto Vallarta: Lets Talk About Tipping

Tipping

Let’s talk about tipping in Puerto Vallarta. We have discussed this in previous blogs but never approached it directly.

Tipping is optional. What isn’t optional is paying the rent, eating and getting to and from work. The minimum wage in Puerto Vallarta is nothing for the local government to be proud. Taxes are low; an attraction for snowbirds and those who like to live here year-round.

If you are staying in a hotel in Puerto Vallarta, tip the maid daily. When we travel throughout the country, we leave $100 pesos in a visible spot in the morning. Right now, that’s about $5/US. You can be sure you’ll have the best service. At the end of a stay, we leave all of our change and a bit extra. It’s discretionary, obviously.

Waiters in Puerto Vallarta. We always pay 20%, unless they have given us a good reason not to, like bad attitude or blatant dishonesty, (which we have seen a couple time over the past few decades; like adding something to the bill and hoping you didn’t catch it. We always catch it.) If your order isn’t prompt, it’s not the waiter’s fault, and if the food is bad, remember…s/he didn’t cook it. These people have to hustle and their profession is a tough one. They smile even if the chef has just threatened them with a long blade (chefs are known to do things like that.)

We always take a taxi if we have been imbibing and we tip the driver. If we get extra service, like opening doors, carrying bags, etc, we go for about 20%. Fact is, they aren’t required to assist us, so if they do we show our appreciation. We always tip at least an extra $10 pesos. When you see those long lines of taxis, these guys are in queue. They are not running all over town, picking up fares; they have designated zones and the rules are very strict.

Grocery baggers are who we are extra generous with; they don’t get paid any wage. These are students and grandparents for the most part, and they work for tips only. We despair when we see a shopper tip a peso or two. These workers also must keep a queue and no matter how small or large the tip; they go to the end and must wait their turn to have another go at it.

Employers are required by law to pay their employees an aguinaldo every year, a Christmas bonus, if you will. It is equivalent of 15 days wages and given by the 20^th of December. There are increases for loyal employees but we do highly recommend, if you have a maid in your employ, providing them with this benefit. Same goes for a gardener, mozo or anyone else working under your roof.

Que es cómo es.

Thanks to our Guest Blogger Adam Garcia for this great article!  (Opinions expressed are his own…)

About Vacation Villas of Mexico Founder, Vanessa Cole

The founder of the company, Vanessa Cole, lived in Puerto Vallarta for 10 years and in Cancun for 2 years. She has worked in Luxury Vacation Villa Rentals since 2001.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Vanessa earned a degree from the University of Texas in Austin, majoring in International Business and Latin American Studies.  Fluent in Spanish, she has worked and traveled all over Mexico and South America.

This is the type of experience you can count on to assist you with your vacation villa rental in Mexico…. [su_button url=”https://www.vacationvillasofmexico.com/contact-vacation-villas-of-mexico/” target=”blank” style=”glass” background=”#7796ab” size=”7″ wide=”yes” icon=”icon: calendar”]Contact Us Today![/su_button]