What do you tip a VIP manager or VIP host/hostess?
RonJax2
Strip Club Connoisseur
I saw a thread a few weeks back on the snoo website where some mongers discussed tipping at clubs. What surprised me was the OP of the post suggested he tips "10%" to the VIP host/hostess. That seemed outrageous to me. Personally, I like to think I tip well in general, especially to dancers, but I have always been pretty light on tipping VIP hosts. To me, they're management, and there more primarily for the clubs benefit than my own. The thread on the snoo site made me consider if I've been leaving a trail of bad feelings in my mongering travels by not taking care of the VIP staff, so I want to start a discussion and hear from fellow PLs (and especially dancers or club managers if any are listening) on what you all think is appropriate.
One thought I have is, 10% of what exactly? To unpack this question, I want to give a few scenarios for VIP rooms across the country, and poll you all on how you would tip in each scenario.
Assume in each scenario that you are having an excellent time at the club, have no complaints, and plan to return. Here goes:
1. NYC Club, like Sapphire. You pay a fixed fee (covering the room, and the dancer), of something like $1250 a specified increment of time, likely only like 30 mins, as NYC is hella expensive.
2. Vegas club, like Spearmint Rhino. You pay a dancer fee of something like $600 for an hour, and in lieu of a room fee, the club requires you to purchase a bottle for $280. In this case, you have potentially two people to worry about tipping, the VIP manager, and the waitress who brings the bottle. What would you tip each?
3. SoFla, Cheetah Pompano. You have negotiated a cash tip for the dancer's services of $600 for a half hour. The club requires the purchase of a $150 of champagne for the room, brought to you by a waitress. Again, you'd have two people to potentially tip here, the manager and the waitress. Do you tip on the total or just the bottle fee, and how much?
4. SoFla, Tootsies. You negotiate a cash tip for the dancer of $750 for a half hour. You are charged a room fee of $100 and there is no alcohol service or waitress involved in this arrangement. How much if anything would you tip the VIP manager who shows you to the room?
5. DTW club, like Flight Club. You negotiate a fixed-price arrangement with the dancer of $500. The VIP host charges you just $40 for the room, but you also wind up being asked by the dancer to pay the club a skip fee of $50 during the dances. What (if anything) would you tip the VIP host in this situation?
BONUS QUESTION: if you are tipping the VIP manager, when are you tipping? Before the dance, or would there be any good reason to wait until after?
I'm eager to hear your thoughts, have at it.
One thought I have is, 10% of what exactly? To unpack this question, I want to give a few scenarios for VIP rooms across the country, and poll you all on how you would tip in each scenario.
Assume in each scenario that you are having an excellent time at the club, have no complaints, and plan to return. Here goes:
1. NYC Club, like Sapphire. You pay a fixed fee (covering the room, and the dancer), of something like $1250 a specified increment of time, likely only like 30 mins, as NYC is hella expensive.
2. Vegas club, like Spearmint Rhino. You pay a dancer fee of something like $600 for an hour, and in lieu of a room fee, the club requires you to purchase a bottle for $280. In this case, you have potentially two people to worry about tipping, the VIP manager, and the waitress who brings the bottle. What would you tip each?
3. SoFla, Cheetah Pompano. You have negotiated a cash tip for the dancer's services of $600 for a half hour. The club requires the purchase of a $150 of champagne for the room, brought to you by a waitress. Again, you'd have two people to potentially tip here, the manager and the waitress. Do you tip on the total or just the bottle fee, and how much?
4. SoFla, Tootsies. You negotiate a cash tip for the dancer of $750 for a half hour. You are charged a room fee of $100 and there is no alcohol service or waitress involved in this arrangement. How much if anything would you tip the VIP manager who shows you to the room?
5. DTW club, like Flight Club. You negotiate a fixed-price arrangement with the dancer of $500. The VIP host charges you just $40 for the room, but you also wind up being asked by the dancer to pay the club a skip fee of $50 during the dances. What (if anything) would you tip the VIP host in this situation?
BONUS QUESTION: if you are tipping the VIP manager, when are you tipping? Before the dance, or would there be any good reason to wait until after?
I'm eager to hear your thoughts, have at it.
16 comments
I’ve also taken to tipping one of the regular managers about $10 before a VIP that will cost me between $350-450 depending on what room I use and how much I tip the dancer. The manager has always looked out for me and I think will do her best to cover for me if a camera catches something it shouldn’t.
Looks like some reddit mongers who would be tipping the manager $35-45 on your $350-450 rooms.
So that extra $20-40 tip I ask for at the end of the dance isn’t even going to me it’s going to the house/host.
There’s also the stories of people paying certain managers so they look the other way while youre in VIP.
And there are clubs where it’s become a formality for dancers to tip 10% of their earnings to the manager. I heard some dancers even tip the DJ at some clubs?
I would still follow basic principles. If you’re already paying say $40 per one song lapdance, Youre already paying above market rate and shouldn’t need to tip. If the dancer or vip manager arent making enough off of $40 lapdances, then its the club/business itself that is probably ripping them off and keeping most of the dance funds. In that case, you can just push for OTC even easier to get rid of the middleman.
If its $10-$20 lapdances, you can tip a $5 per dance.
Just a sidenote i think the business of dancers tipping VIP managers start’s because a dancer wants to get favorable treatment. But then the other dancers all have to also do it otherwise they may not get treated as nicely. The benefits of tipping can include the manager suggesting them more to customers, the manager letting them get away with rule breaking or illegal behaviors… not firing them… etc.
if a manager is getting 10% of the earnings of everything a dancer is bringing into the club, hes not going to want to fire her even if she breaks the rules or does something illegal. Rarely do you see a situation like this in other businesses where the employees or contractors can essentially bribe their own managers.
IMO it’s something thats good for strip club managers because they get extra cash. Its good for strippers themselves because they get job stability and possibly can get away with illegal or rule breaking things.
But all this is basically at the expense of the customers, as well as the owners/shareholders of the club. It makes no difference to the club owner whether the dancer keeps all her earnings or tips out 10% to the DJ or manager.
It’s basically similar to corrupt managers who enrich themselves in ways that hurt the company stock price and customers. Tipping the manager helps the manager and the dancers involved but its overall a negative for the club as a whole… results in reduction of service quality and poorly qualified dancers continuing to remain at the club.
If it is a big club with lots of money flowing: What advantage do you get over other eqivalent OPs? Are you paying "significantly" bigger than what others are giving - to make you stand out? If you are one of the other 100 people who pays, OR (devil's advocate) one of the other 500 people who don't pay - What the heck difference does that do from their perspective to YOU in that specific club? - You innately know about this. Just ask yourselves and answer it.
Longer story:
You have been in this for a long enough time. So, things are very simple. You have a good control of this, no matter what anybody thinks or does. You would have already figured with your experience if you need to increase your tipping for the specific club parameters, or decrease it. There is no right or wrong here.
Tipping on a regular basis increases good will and they will have a chance to side with you and give you "benefits". The same good will can be had with non-tipping as well - Being a good person / Buying them drinks / food / whatever other means.
End of the day, if the staff has good will towards you - you win. Keep in mind - Dancers rotate, but the staff is semi-steady.
Although this was a rare one:
At one club, I had tipped a caretaker of the property, a few times, and eventually he gave me tips and #s that I didn't even expect. Being a good person will earn you brownie points, and I'm not expecting anything in return. If it gives benefit, it is a bonus.
Someone mentioned LD areas (not private), I’ve never tipped anyone except the stripper.
In any case, I'd throw out the percentage based tipping idea in a strip club.
I have been guilted into $20 tips for the waitress who brings bullshit obligatory champagne to the room at one club which I don't frequent any more. They are always punctual though no matter how much you tip, so, I just don't do that kind of VIP any more really.
If she's good at her job she'll make that amount or more in tips from each party that comes through the club on it's busy nights.
You should never tip more than the price of a dance, unless the hostess is able to deliver an itc provider or something to that effect.
1. NYC -- ??
2. Vegas -- Tipping the VIP host seems to be customary here, as @Cruz_LV notes, but I'm still not sure if it's customary or common to tip a percentage. Years ago a co-worker and I dropped several grand at a Vegas club. It was an incredible time, right up until the point where we paid the tab. We tipped the dancers generously, but they wanted us to shell out another 2 or 3 hundy for the host. I offered one of the dancers a $20 tip for the host, but that was not enough for them. It felt like an ambush/scam after all the money we'd already dropped, and it marred the whole evening for me. One reason I avoid Vegas clubs these days.
3, 4. SoFla -- Seems like a small tip of $5-20 is customary and common, definitely not a % though.
5. DTW -- Doesn't seem like anyone tips the VIP hosts here.