HotelChatter

Not to the best of my knowledge, in Europe tipping is usually completely discretionary unlike the US where this practice is quite common in some hotels.

The answer to all of this: owners: pay the staff a living wage and stop gauging customers. And if there is a tip make sure it ALL goes to the staff!

Does tipping make any difference to the service? Not really.

Including gratuity is actually quite common in Miami, not just at hotels, but its stand-alone restaurants too. I believe (part of) the thinking was that many of our guests from Europe and Latin America do not have a culture of tipping as we do in the US (presumable because their wait staff makes a decent wage?), where waiters live off tips.  So gratuity has been included at many establishments to not "punish" staff for a difference in culture.

That being said, the Miami area has not great service for US standards.  Though I'm not sure there's a causal relationship, since service is also sub-par at retail and other establishments where tipping doesn't occur.

The lesson is: Look at your bill (I've seen tourists tip on top of a bill with gratuity included), and don't be ashamed to adjust the tip according to service (and perhaps explain to the waiter why you have adjusted the gratuity).

I am European myself and I know for a fact that gratuity is NOT common in Europe at all. You leave whatever tip you want which by far is not as much as here in the United States. The reason behind it is that the employer pays a good salary (min. wage is much higher in Europe than in the US) to their staff and they do not depend on gratuity. Part of the revenue goes to staff's pay-roll.
However, it is not mandatory to pay for the included gratuity, no business can force you to pay it. It is included for your "convenience", but if you don't think it is up to service you can ask to have it taken off.
At many touristic businesses it turned into an automatic inclusion due to the fact, that the non US-tourists, especially Europeans were not leaving any tip behind.

Forgot to ask, why you write an article published on June 9, 2011 stating that you were there recently at that location showing a receipt with a date from 2007???

My experience with gratuity automatically added on is that you tend to get below par service. In these cases I ask for the tip to be removed and I will add on. Often it is the same amount. Frequently it is lower. Very occasionally it is higher. Stick up for yourself!!

The lesson is: Look at your bill (I've seen tourists tip on top of a bill with gratuity included), and don't be ashamed to adjust the tip according to service (and perhaps explain to the waiter why you have adjusted the gratuity). However, it is not mandatory to pay for the included gratuity, no business can force you to pay it like you can learn at <a href="http://www.biotinhair.org/">Biotin Hair</a> . It is included for your "convenience", but if you don't think it is up to service you can ask to have it taken off.

including the tip in the bill will not necesserally make the service better.... Also, sometimes you buy food to go and they leave the gratuity space in blank for you to fill out. Why tip if all they did was take our order and charge us? http://www.curefungustoenail.org/treatments/toenail-fungus-2

I've worked for tips for years, and I think an included gratuity is an unnecessary practice here in the USA. It could rightfully offend a customer (especially with an $18 pina colada order) and its always best to play it safe in customer relations.

I work at a hotel and frequently hear the servers in room service complain because there is a service charge and automatic gratuity. They have to hear customers complain about high prices and don't receive a great tip that they might otherwsie and this creates a tension between the customer and server.  

I stayed at the W South Beach in Miami recently and they levy a 20% gratuity for poolside service.  The service was competent and friendly, the first time I have ever experienced that with a built-in gratuity.  My experiences with the same in Europe have generally not been so great.  Kudos to the folks who run and work at the W!  

Working as a server I know that tip is not the only way a guest voices their displeasure.  Believe me the North American client knows the word "manager" and "get me the".  Show me a hotel that doesn't have a comment card wall for good and bad and I'm sure it won't be in North America. Most places I"ve worked, even resorts rely on repeat guest for some income.  The starting comment made it sound like these poor helpless guests were all of a sudden getting horrible service because tip was included.  That they would loose their voice as a guest if they weren't allowed to arbitrarily withhold their tip.  In the US were Min wage for servers is often around $2 or $3 I think there is no problem with requiring a mandatory tipping % or increase food prices and work the wage increase in for servers. You'll get professional people who value the steady paycheck and increased security from a more stable income.