We're using the services of a personal guide in Rome this September for a half day. This will be our first time with this type of service and we're looking forward to it, but are not sure of the tipping etiquette. It's a small guide service of apparently just two licenced people and the owner of the service will be our guide. Do normal tipping rules apply in this case;; i.e. Tip based on quality of service?
Thanks,
Peter
What is the price they are charging and what are you getting for it? Do they pick you up from your hotel, use a van, or do you meet them somewhere. How many hours have you booked or are the number of hours set? Does the tour include entry into any buildings or museums with a fee? Will you stop for snacks, or meals?
How much to tip does also depend on how well you liked the tour. Did it match your expectations, did you enjoy it, or was it boring? Do you feel like you got value for your money, and that the guide knew what they were talking about and did they present it in an enjoyable fashion? Were they passionate about what they were doing, or did they seem bored and were just repeating a memorized script? Have you asked for specific themes to be covered and did they do so? Sharing emails with them and letting them know your interests and likes, will help them plan your tour.
If everything was super, and you felt they went above and beyond to make your tour memorable, then tip 10-15%. Buy them lunch or a drink if you are happy with your tour. If you thought the tour was crappy, don't tip anything at all. If it was just average, then reduce the tip, but not lower than 5 euro. Better to tip nothing at all than to tip 2 euro on a 200 euro tour.
IMO it's not necessary to tip the owner of any business since they will enjoy any profit from the cost of the tour (hopefully their tours are priced to make a profit). If the guide is an employee, then I would tip 10-15% if I enjoyed the tour (depending on the cost of the tour and how good the guide was). This is just my opinion and if you really enjoyed the tour and it's worth a little extra for you, then tip according to how you feel, even for the owner.
All good suggestions, thanks. Even though it will be the owner of the tour company providing the service himself, I'm beginning to feel that tipping would still be appropriate. Also, I have no problem with buying him lunch or a mid afternoon coffee or drink out of common courtesy, assuming things are going well up to that point.
Thanks again.
I would be on the tipping side in this case. Just because your guide is an "owner" would not preclude me from tipping for excellent service - especially when it is such a small business. When we owned our B&B we were often tipped by our guests - and we really appreciated it. It let us know that our guests realized that we went above & beyond their expectations and valued that.
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So yes - tip based on the quality of service you feel you received.
