Hong Kong Club Reports

[TjBrazil]

I have been in the customer service industry since 21. Relied on tips. I have had some generous tippers in my life that really made my week or night and I was able to pay off needed bills. If you have a great time with a hooker and want to tip 100 or 200 pesos, it will help her out a lot. I don't care how much you think these girls are making.

These girls have a short window to make money and a lot of them are horrible with money to begin with. You are not a sucker for tipping 5 bucks for crying out loud. Only if you send money to them from the US over some sob story. Don't be a dick and tip for great service, and if it's bad just give her what you negotiated. The escort agency takes a cut so they aren't making all of it. Remember one thing, when you die, you can't take any money with you so unless these 5 dollar tips will be needed by you at the end of your life, you won't notice it. Don't be a jerk.

[ScottHall]

Since we're talking about tipping, I'll put this here, although I think it's been talked about in this forum many, many pages ago:

How much do you guys tip a bar girl for good service upstairs? And what about for excellent service?

I'll ask the same thing in regards to escorts, however, l'll put that in the escort thread.

I'm a 20% guy. I'm sure that comes from having dated & been around a lot of women in the service industry who completely rely on tips. Also, being in the entertainment business myself, I understand how a little extra dough helps out a lot.

I know a lot of you guys are going to call me.

1. a fool with my money.

2. an idiot.

3. a liberal.

4. a poor excuse for a human being (same as liberal to some of you).

5. a bad dresser.

And all kinds of other shit you wouldn't say to your worst enemy.

Bring it on. I stand prepared!

Nothing. A session for them is already a good score. In my experience, the great providers have upstanding personalities and are happy to provide. None of them ever push or expect a tip. Bad providers will be pushy and ask for tips. Best to avoid those providers altogether.

[Sean EZ]

Americans overtip. The rest of the world laughs about this. I think it's good to tip well if you liked / appreciated the service (although some people don't being tipped). I wouldn't tip a hooker. Especially that many of them (not just in Mexico) earn more than an average member of this forum.

[Phordphan]

Since we're talking about tipping, I'll put this here, although I think it's been talked about in this forum many, many pages ago:

How much do you guys tip a bar girl for good service upstairs? And what about for excellent service?

I'll ask the same thing in regards to escorts, however, l'll put that in the escort thread.

I'm a 20% guy. I'm sure that comes from having dated & been around a lot of women in the service industry who completely rely on tips. Also, being in the entertainment business myself, I understand how a little extra dough helps out a lot.

I know a lot of you guys are going to call me.

1. a fool with my money.

2. an idiot.

3. a liberal.

4. a poor excuse for a human being (same as liberal to some of you).

5. a bad dresser.

And all kinds of other shit you wouldn't say to your worst enemy.

Bring it on. I stand prepared!

You're tipping the girl because you think she's not charging enough money?

That sort of tipping may be "appreciated" but it's really not part of the Mexican culture. If you contract with somebody to do something for a specific price, you pay it and no more. Unless there's something extraordinary. They don't tip taxis because the fair is negotiated beforehand. They wouldn't tip the plumber or the painter.

Lots of guys say the girls asked for $100, they negotiated down to $80 and then tipped $20. That seems to defeat the purpose.

Regardless, I only use pesos and I would rarely tip the girls, outside of maybe rounding up to the nearest 500 pesos, I. E. If we settled on 1400 I would give 1500. The exception, as stated above, is if she went above and beyond. My last threesome I tipped the hooker (the other was a pseudo-GF) nicely because she went above and beyond, allowing BBFS and other things. IIRC it was around 500 pesos, but we'd all been at it for over an hour.

It's your money, spend it how you wish. But you are a bad dresser.

[LuvMexicanas]

Since we're talking about tipping, I'll put this here, although I think it's been talked about in this forum many, many pages ago:

How much do you guys tip a bar girl for good service upstairs? And what about for excellent service?

I'll ask the same thing in regards to escorts, however, l'll put that in the escort thread.

I'm a 20% guy. I'm sure that comes from having dated & been around a lot of women in the service industry who completely rely on tips. Also, being in the entertainment business myself, I understand how a little extra dough helps out a lot.

I know a lot of you guys are going to call me.

1. a fool with my money.

2. an idiot.

3. a liberal.

4. a poor excuse for a human being (same as liberal to some of you).

5. a bad dresser.

And all kinds of other shit you wouldn't say to your worst enemy.

Bring it on. I stand prepared!

I generally tip 10% for good service and perhaps double that for great service especially if the chica swallows my load or stays longer than the agreed upon time.

[JH 1001]

Since we're talking about tipping, I'll put this here, although I think it's been talked about in this forum many, many pages ago:

How much do you guys tip a bar girl for good service upstairs? And what about for excellent service?

I'll ask the same thing in regards to escorts, however, l'll put that in the escort thread.

I'm a 20% guy. I'm sure that comes from having dated & been around a lot of women in the service industry who completely rely on tips. Also, being in the entertainment business myself, I understand how a little extra dough helps out a lot.

I know a lot of you guys are going to call me.

1. a fool with my money.

2. an idiot.

3. a liberal.

4. a poor excuse for a human being (same as liberal to some of you).

5. a bad dresser.

And all kinds of other shit you wouldn't say to your worst enemy.

Bring it on. I stand prepared!

[StRobert]

Can anybody tell me: are all the beers in HK priced at $4? I think I was paying more for Bohemia's but with all the pussy and drinks going down can't remember. I always tip the meseros $1 for my beer or a ficha. Also $1 for the guy who puts the robe on the chica. When I was in Cartagena almost all the restaurants added on a 10% service charge. I asked the chicas I was with if that was enough to leave and they said yes. I always put in a little more cash to make it 15% because the service was always good and I was eating and drinking great stuff for half the price of San Diego.

Generally the price for a bottle of beer is $ 5. Tecate light and a few other brands I don't remember are $ 4. At every bar in Hong Kong there is an accurate list hanging at the bar with prices for beers, tequila shot, brandy shot, alcoholic beverages etc. You can always check. 1 $ tip is OK.

[ClamSlammer]

Perhaps I've been lucky with the bartender each time, but Tropical might be an exception. When I receive two beers for 72 pesos, I tip 8 pesos. The bartenders don't jump for joy over it, but they're appreciative. A few have even given off a vibe that had a faint feeling of respect kind of akin to they know that I know. I'll explain. A Mexican national buddy of mine who has lived in CDMX and Monterrey once scolded me when I tipped 20% at a restaurant. He told me locals tip in the range of 10-15% and the higher end of that only if the service is amazing. Another Mexican national buddy who has lived in Guadalajara, Tijuana and CDMX said the same thing. In fact, we went to a nice restaurant me, him and another dude and when the bill came it was around 4400. After my buddy meticulously checked the bill, I gave the mesero my card and when he handed the credit card machine back to me, there was a prompt to enter tip amount so I asked my buddy what he would tip to which he replied 550. I entered the amount and handed the machine back to the mesero who had a very normal reaction. He printed a copy for me and we left. Coming back full circle to Tropical, an 8 peso tip on 72 is in line with 550 on 4400, especially when you consider the latter was at a high end restaurant. I get that many of us live in parts of America where 20% is the norm, 25% is a good tip, and 15% is being a Cheap Charlie, but check that shit at Pedwest before importing that insanity to a country not our own.

You're pretty much correct here. 10% tip is more than sufficient in most restaurants. Once a HK puta invited me to El Grill, which is one of, if not the most, expensive restaurant in Tijuana. It was her, two sisters, me, and 2 kids. I ordered something cheap, like $120 pesos because I knew she was paying. The total bill was like $2000. When they came around with the credit card reader, the puta responded "$50 pesos" when asked how much tip to add.

I honestly think Mexicans tip more reasonably than Americans. Americans tip too much. Being a server is a menial job, meant for the underskilled and under-educated. The amount of skill and education needed is not much different than a janitor. They should be compensated as such. A waiter is someone that carries food to your table. They are nothing more than that. To think that they are more than that and tipping more to justify it, well, it is just foolishness. Think about it, tipping 15%-25% for what? Does carrying a plate of $50 tomahawk ribeye require more skill than carrying a plate of $5 nachos? You go to Morton's and blow $200 for dinner for two. So you tip $40. Then you go to Applebee's and blow $40 on dinner for two. And tip $8. Did the Morton's waiter do 5 x more work than the Applebee's waiter? No way. They probably came around to your table once or twice more than the Applebee's waiter but the amount of extra work they did is not 5 x.

Waiters at fancy steakhouses often make more than college educated professionals. Think about it. 10 tables a shift at $60/ table. That's $600 a shift. And $60/ table is a conservative estimate. Those entertaining clients charging the corporate AMEX will ring up bills upwards of $1000 or more when they start ordering fancy whisky. That's a $200 tip from one table. Way too much for a menial job.

[Captain Solo]

Most food carts in Tijuana are owner operated, but a few popular ones, like the HK tacos stand, employ many workers.

I can usually eat only 1 20-peso taco al pastor or 1 cup of birria soup, but I would put all my left over coins into the apron of worker serving me, most times about 2 x or 3 x the taco's price. That usually results in a taco with 2 x or 3 x the normal amount of the seared meat, delicious, not that I can eat that much.

The tacos stand would give a few soup refills free. But occasionally propinas would bring you extra birria in the soup.

[Phordphan]

Perhaps I've been lucky with the bartender each time, but Tropical might be an exception. When I receive two beers for 72 pesos, I tip 8 pesos. The bartenders don't jump for joy over it, but they're appreciative. A few have even given off a vibe that had a faint feeling of respect kind of akin to they know that I know. I'll explain. A Mexican national buddy of mine who has lived in CDMX and Monterrey once scolded me when I tipped 20% at a restaurant. He told me locals tip in the range of 10-15% and the higher end of that only if the service is amazing. Another Mexican national buddy who has lived in Guadalajara, Tijuana and CDMX said the same thing. In fact, we went to a nice restaurant me, him and another dude and when the bill came it was around 4400. After my buddy meticulously checked the bill, I gave the mesero my card and when he handed the credit card machine back to me, there was a prompt to enter tip amount so I asked my buddy what he would tip to which he replied 550. I entered the amount and handed the machine back to the mesero who had a very normal reaction. He printed a copy for me and we left. Coming back full circle to Tropical, an 8 peso tip on 72 is in line with 550 on 4400, especially when you consider the latter was at a high end restaurant. I get that many of us live in parts of America where 20% is the norm, 25% is a good tip, and 15% is being a Cheap Charlie, but check that shit at Pedwest before importing that insanity to a country not our own.

Yes, 10% - 15% is about right for most places. I always ask my GF about it and that's the amount she usually specifies. Small mom and pop places you don't tip anything, or just the coins left over from the change. Now I know I overtip in nice places in Tijuana, mainly because I want to encourage the good waiters. Traditionally good wait staff is very difficult to find in Mexico because it's long been looked down upon as a menial occupation. I was once asked why I wanted to tip so much. They guy brings a plate of food to the table. How hard can that be? But a good waiter is far more than that and I think they should be encouraged. But that's my idiosyncrasy and I know that when I tip 20% it's definitely on the high side.

In bars and clubs I tip 10 pesos per round. Period. Unless the guy does something extra special or I don't have change. Then it might be 20 pesos. I do find that bartenders seem to appreciate tips more than pinche zona norte meseros.

[Jinxx]

Standard tip in all Zona putas bars is $1 dls per round.

And your tip about setting a tone with your mesero, how can that work? Seems like you'd have to set the tone with all 50 meseros that are working because they are not assigned specific tables or areas to work. They all roam freely so setting the tone with 1 mesero will basically do nothing.

Let me say one thing. If you're a regular in the Zona, you'd been ripped off. There may be a vets on here claiming that they've never been ripped off. They're dead wrong. They've been ripped off but never realized it. If you've paid in pesos in CC while the x-rate was 19:1, you've been ripped off. And if you've ficha'd a chica in HK and paid in pesos, you've been ripped off. Allow me to explain El Arte de la Estafa:

This fine art has been passed down from generation to generation of meseros in Zona Norte. The meseros trade tips on how to rip off mongers. Here's how they do it at HK. Meseros realize that gringo mongers are accustomed to paying and receiving change in dollars. Along with the fact that HK's prices are based in dollars and not pesos, this makes meseros hesitant to perpetrate scams in dollars. For example, you buy a beer and a ficha. $4 + $9 = $13. You pay with a $20 and your change is $7. The math is too easy and even most drunk mongers can figure it out.

When gringos start paying in pesos, that is when meseros start licking their chops. The math gets much more complicated. You buy a beer and ficha and pay in pesos. $72 + $162 = $234. You pay with a $500 note and your change is $266. Many mongers won't be able to convert the prices to pesos, add them in their head, then calculate their change. This becomes dramatically more challenging once you've had a few drinks. And becomes near impossible when you add a topless puta grinding on top of you. The meseros know this, and this is when they strike. When you're ficha'ing a puta and paying in pesos, your chance of getting ripped off increases dramatically. The meseros are counting on you not being able to do the math in your head and getting distracted by the puta and not caring or counting your change. You will also notice the meseros will include in your change an exorbitant amount of coins, much more than usual. This is because they know that many mongers, when seated with a chica, don't want to appear like a cheapskate and grab and count every coin. After all, you must count all your change in order to realize you've been ripped off. And the harder / longer they make it for you to count your change, the higher the likelihood of a successful rip-off. I've been a well-known presence in HK for almost 10 years and meseros still try to pull this scam on me on the rare occasions that I actually buy fichas.

This is why I advise newbies to just use dollars when paying for drinks. Yes, if there were no scamming you will save money by paying in pesos. But those savings will easily be negated and then some by all the times you'll get ripped off.

It depends how busy they are if you have the same mesero or not. I've had times in Chicago's where my mesero stayed camped out right by my table anticipating my every move waiting on me hand and foot. At first I found it annoying like this guy's trying to milk me for everything he can get out of me, but then I figured hell I'm a VIP I got my own personal attendant at my beckon call LOL. Actually one night that happened I ended up having one of the most mind-blowing arribas I've ever had with this chica from Rosarito who I forget her name but HOLY SH#T we fucked like wild beasts. Whoo that was a profound experience I'll never forget, man! Not that the mesero had anything to do with that but just saying LOL.

Or if you actually WANT to only deal with that same mesero you can just wait until he comes back around, which totally depends on the situation. I'm usually riding solo so I'm not a big spender compared to say a group of four gringos from out of town celebrating a birthday or bachelor party. Obviously the mesero's going to focus on whoever's putting more money in his pocket. It might depend on the chica too, some times they have their preferred meseros who they scratch each other's backs.

And yes the nickel and diming happens when you pay in pesos. Unless you're rain man or you don't mind looking like an asshole pulling out your phone calculator each time you order a round you'll probably never realize it.

[AmorPorFavor]

Perhaps I've been lucky with the bartender each time, but Tropical might be an exception. When I receive two beers for 72 pesos, I tip 8 pesos. The bartenders don't jump for joy over it, but they're appreciative. A few have even given off a vibe that had a faint feeling of respect kind of akin to they know that I know. I'll explain. A Mexican national buddy of mine who has lived in CDMX and Monterrey once scolded me when I tipped 20% at a restaurant. He told me locals tip in the range of 10-15% and the higher end of that only if the service is amazing. Another Mexican national buddy who has lived in Guadalajara, Tijuana and CDMX said the same thing. In fact, we went to a nice restaurant me, him and another dude and when the bill came it was around 4400. After my buddy meticulously checked the bill, I gave the mesero my card and when he handed the credit card machine back to me, there was a prompt to enter tip amount so I asked my buddy what he would tip to which he replied 550. I entered the amount and handed the machine back to the mesero who had a very normal reaction. He printed a copy for me and we left. Coming back full circle to Tropical, an 8 peso tip on 72 is in line with 550 on 4400, especially when you consider the latter was at a high end restaurant. I get that many of us live in parts of America where 20% is the norm, 25% is a good tip, and 15% is being a Cheap Charlie, but check that shit at Pedwest before importing that insanity to a country not our own.

Can anybody tell me: are all the beers in HK priced at $4? I think I was paying more for Bohemia's but with all the pussy and drinks going down can't remember. I always tip the meseros $1 for my beer or a ficha. Also $1 for the guy who puts the robe on the chica. When I was in Cartagena almost all the restaurants added on a 10% service charge. I asked the chicas I was with if that was enough to leave and they said yes. I always put in a little more cash to make it 15% because the service was always good and I was eating and drinking great stuff for half the price of San Diego.

[Duncan216]

Standard tip in all Zona putas bars is $1 dls per round.

And your tip about setting a tone with your mesero, how can that work? Seems like you'd have to set the tone with all 50 meseros that are working because they are not assigned specific tables or areas to work. They all roam freely so setting the tone with 1 mesero will basically do nothing.

Let me say one thing. If you're a regular in the Zona, you'd been ripped off. There may be a vets on here claiming that they've never been ripped off. They're dead wrong. They've been ripped off but never realized it. If you've paid in pesos in CC while the x-rate was 19:1, you've been ripped off. And if you've ficha'd a chica in HK and paid in pesos, you've been ripped off. Allow me to explain El Arte de la Estafa:

This fine art has been passed down from generation to generation of meseros in Zona Norte. The meseros trade tips on how to rip off mongers. Here's how they do it at HK. Meseros realize that gringo mongers are accustomed to paying and receiving change in dollars. Along with the fact that HK's prices are based in dollars and not pesos, this makes meseros hesitant to perpetrate scams in dollars. For example, you buy a beer and a ficha. $4 + $9 = $13. You pay with a $20 and your change is $7. The math is too easy and even most drunk mongers can figure it out..

I use to get drinks a lot at HK. It would seem the "meseros tax" would go higher and higher every time I went (I always paid in pesos). I just stopped getting drinks there and avoiding the meseros. Maybe if you don't complain, they just keep increasing the tax until you do?

I'll try with dollars next time.

[LivingFossil]

Alright, let make bets. When will HK reopen? I want to arrive to Tijuana a day early, haha.

Imma say May 1st?

[LuvMexicanas]

You will find that in smaller towns, and in Tijuana outside of the gringo-centric areas, service is much better and smaller tips are far more appreciated. The overall service in the ZN and other gringo-fied areas is piss-poor. There are exceptions, but they tend to be just that.

Perhaps I've been lucky with the bartender each time, but Tropical might be an exception. When I receive two beers for 72 pesos, I tip 8 pesos. The bartenders don't jump for joy over it, but they're appreciative. A few have even given off a vibe that had a faint feeling of respect kind of akin to they know that I know. I'll explain. A Mexican national buddy of mine who has lived in CDMX and Monterrey once scolded me when I tipped 20% at a restaurant. He told me locals tip in the range of 10-15% and the higher end of that only if the service is amazing. Another Mexican national buddy who has lived in Guadalajara, Tijuana and CDMX said the same thing. In fact, we went to a nice restaurant me, him and another dude and when the bill came it was around 4400. After my buddy meticulously checked the bill, I gave the mesero my card and when he handed the credit card machine back to me, there was a prompt to enter tip amount so I asked my buddy what he would tip to which he replied 550. I entered the amount and handed the machine back to the mesero who had a very normal reaction. He printed a copy for me and we left. Coming back full circle to Tropical, an 8 peso tip on 72 is in line with 550 on 4400, especially when you consider the latter was at a high end restaurant. I get that many of us live in parts of America where 20% is the norm, 25% is a good tip, and 15% is being a Cheap Charlie, but check that shit at Pedwest before importing that insanity to a country not our own.