Is it normal to tip at an all-inclusive resort? This is a question that I was thinking about while there. My friend had accepted the practice of always tipping for everything because of the potential in better service. But what does that better service entail? Stronger drinks? I mean those are included.

I think tipping culture in Canada has gotten a little out of hand. There’s been a lot of news about this recently since legislation was passed that finally pays servers minimum wage which is excellent news. But that then begs the question – why are we still tipping? Historically we tipped because servers were somehow allowed to be paid below minimum wage and our tips were to help compensate that.

That’s a different topic though. Of course employees in Mexico for the most part make significantly less than Canada (Google indicates that they make around $500 – $800/month). From that perspective, tipping would seem to make sense to help support the hard workers who are tending to your needs while you’re on vacation. It seems to be an awful and demanding job with probably a lot of hard work and very long hours.

On the other hand though, you probably paid a decent chunk of change to go to an all-inclusive resort where meals and drinks are included. So do you have to tip all the time on top of that?

My thinking has always been – tip the cleaners (because that job is probably so brutal), tip the employees who are very friendly to you and offer great service, but I probably wouldn’t tip a server who didn’t come by at all until I finished my meal. It would be the same in Canada where I would base my tip on the quality of service that I received. Everybody has their own method and reasoning and I’m curious to hear other people’s opinions.