All inclusive??

I will preface this entry by saying that this is in no way outlandish. This system could easily be implemented and would help with some glaring problems that I experienced during my stay at an all-inclusive resort.



I'm not trying to bash the resort for it's shortcomings, or deter from staying at an all inclusive, I just saw some problems that could easily be fixed with simple, readily available technology. The main problem I saw was with the service in the restaurants at the resort I stayed at. It boasted 6 restaurants and had bars at every corner of the magnificent beach resort. My resort is pictured, but for the sake of being fair I will not say which one. It was a great resort, and this should have no affect to the painstakingly difficult job it is to run a first class resort like this one.

Anyway, the service, at the restaurants, was not very good to say the least. Because I do not speak Spanish (Cancun, Mexico is where the resort was) I can blame a little of this service on the language and culture barriers that made transactions more difficult than they needed to be, but the service in general was less than par. The staff was very courteous, helpful in times of distress and made a general effort to supply ample food and plenty of drinks. But it was slow, and sometimes waiters would ignore you, or hand you off to other waiters, or the host would have to take your order because he was the only one not seemingly preoccupied with TWO tables full of people.

I have never been a waiter, nor do i ever want to serve food to people, but have had friends that boast of it's generous pay and often demanding work. Not to sell this profession short, but it is not a very painstaking job and requires little or no mind power or skill other than having some solid people skills. But once again, I do not want to downplay the job, it takes a lot of patience dealing with people and customer service skills are vital to being a good waiter. Regardless, I believe the problem with staying at an all inclusive resort is the fact that waiters are often stiffed tips and do not get the sufficient supplement to their salary as deserved. Yes, I can admit that I might have not left waiters a large enough tip, but I always leave them a tip. I expected exemplary service and when I got it, I was very pleased, and when I wasn't happy I left a smaller tip.

I believe that the tipping problem could be a factor in the level of service that the waiters provided, and could be easily remedied to provide more motivation. The easiest way that I see possible to increase tipping would be to not just have room numbers jotted down in a record book, but to have a simple computer system installed, like those in most restaurants and bars across the USA and keep electronic journals and tipping based on room number. This could be kept quite easily using the same type of system that resorts and country clubs use with Member Numbers.

Although this may be a minor problem, it could help to increase service by giving customers at the restaurants a chance to write their room number, sign a receipt saying that it was them eating, and a spot for a tip. Although this would increase effort, it could also easily increase the level of service that waiters provide because of the greater allure of tips from customers that are given a glaring reminder with a spot for tip. This vacation long tip calculator could be paid at the end of the stay and could easily boost service and satisfaction from this customers point of view.