How much did you tip the AMC croo at your Hut stay?

[Alligator]

Hikers getting work for stay are in the minority of folks staying at the huts.

[Monkeywrench]

Itsmy impression Monkywrnch, when you are a paying customer you receive among other amenities, a clean bed and sheets, etc. Now if you are a entitltement demanding thru hiker (as some are) then you get the floor, whether deserved or not.

Your impression is wrong. There are no sheets. You get a blanket, which was clean at the beginning of the season.

[Prime Time]

Tipping is, as always, a personal decision. These kids sweep the floors, clean the bathrooms, cook the meals, serve the meals, clean up after meals, pick up after all guests, including thru hikers, carry up supplies, carry down trash, maintain the facility and it's systems, give advise, occasionally participate in mountain rescues real or imagined, and many other sundry duties as required, and all with a smile. That's worth a few buck to me whether I'm a paying guest or a thru hiker sleeping in the building for free. Also, thru hikers are quick to talk negatively about a "little space on the floor" as though this is somehow different from the shelter or ground they've been sleeping on for the last 4 months? If you don't like the arrangement, then do what every other hiker in the Whites does if they don't want to stay in the huts. Hike down to the various tent sites and other shelters available to you for $8. For cryin' out loud (so to speak), you've walked close to 2,000 miles by this point and spent over $3000. Think you can handle this?

[SunnyWalker]

Thanks for the info RickB and Old Hillwalker.

[Digger'02]

I like this poll and as an ex-thru hiker and ex Croo member I thought I would offer what my croo's perspective was:

If you are a thru-hiker tip if you really want, but its no big deal if you don't and its unexpected of you. You're doing a work for stay, 'nuff said. Good Croos make BANK from the Bostonian high-rollers so getting or not getting a $5 tip from a thru-hiker is no big whup.

From a thru-hiker's perspective I don't know why anyone would do a work for stay, go thru during lunch, help them eat leftover pancakes and then camp. you can legally camp all over the place and there are some great spots if you can find them.

Its no big deal right?

[DavidNH]

Given the outrageous prices of AMC huts.. I wouldn't tip them a dime. Not a dime. And as for work for stays.. hikers do chores for those. The work for stay is a courtesy. Leave the tipping to those Bostonians with the six figure salary!!

[miloandotis]

I find this thread interesting....so many comments about the price of the huts and not giving the croos a tip cause of it....as if they have anything to do with the prices!

[Jack Tarlin]

No, they indeed have nothing to do with setting prices, but they do indeed voluntarily decide to work at institutions that cater to the well-to-do, and they do indeed know that a great deal of their income derives from placating, catering to, and schmoozing up the Huts' wealthy clientele. Merely because these kids elect to spend their summers swaddling rich people's behinds does not mean that everyone they meet is somehow in their debt. As I've said before: If you get a work for stay at an AMC facility, be friendly, co-operative, and helpful. Do what you're asked to do, and do a bit more. This is a nice thing they're doing for you.....you're not entitled to it. But you are indeed a second-class guest there: The primary purpose of the Hut croo is to take care of their dues-paying member guests and select additional people. These folks get special treats, gifts, care, and favors. The croo provides this service willingly and intentionally. The purpose is to keep these people happy, to get them to keep their memberships current, and to get these folks to tip well when they leave. This isn't exactly a secret......the croos pamper and coddle these people, kiss their butts, and put up with all sorts of rudeness, attitude, and outrageousness......because taking care of these folks is their bread and butter. It is why the Huts exist in the first place. They exist to provide a faux wilderness/mountain experience for rich people. But the people that sleep on the common room floor and eat leftovers are well advised to distribute tips and largesse elsewhere.

[miloandotis]

Jack Tarlin you sound angry at my comment. I did not say anything about work for stay. Take a chill pill. I merely commented on the multiple comments about how much the huts cost in relation to tipping. Sheesh! If you pay to stay in a hut and enjoy the "services" it is interesting to me that as a thru hiker many feel exempt from tipping because they are not "rich folk".

[rickb]

Jack Tarlin you sound angry at my comment. I did not say anything about work for stay. Take a chill pill. I merely commented on the multiple comments about how much the huts cost in relation to tipping. Sheesh! If you pay to stay in a hut and enjoy the "services" it is interesting to me that as a thru hiker many feel exempt from tipping because they are not "rich folk".

To my way of thinking, thru hikers would be well advised not to arrive at a hut with the sort of "us vs. them" mentality that seems to have crept into some of folks hearts. If you get there on your own, so be it. We are all entitled to our own perspective.

In my experinece, hut croo members have always been welcoming-- whether I was a 23 year old kid without 2 nickles to rub togther or a middle-adged homeowner. I have also enjoyed the company of the so-called rich people I have met at the huts, as well as those rich in ways that can not be measure on a balance sheet.

If a thru hike is about new experience and meeting different people along the way, you can have fun at the huts have a great experience. What's more, you can enjoy all that without staying at them on a thru hike.

One regret, I will share. While I didn't stay at any huts during my thru, I stopped at most of them along the way. In the 30 years since, I have been back to them many times, and even paid to stay at them a half dozen times or so. Over that span of time, I have come to appreciate them more for all sort of reasons. But here is my regret: I never wrote anything in registers that are still maintianed on site decades later.

How fun it would have been to pull out those logs and read a message to myself-- or at least a detailed entry. Oh well.

Have fun, and remember that the college croo members are on thier own journey. If you dont think they deserve your money, that's OK. But they do deserve your respect and thanks, by and large. My opinion.

[Digger'02]

No, they indeed have nothing to do with setting prices, but they do indeed voluntarily decide to work at institutions that cater to the well-to-do, and they do indeed know that a great deal of their income derives from placating, catering to, and schmoozing up the Huts' wealthy clientele. Merely because these kids elect to spend their summers swaddling rich people's behinds does not mean that everyone they meet is somehow in their debt. As I've said before: If you get a work for stay at an AMC facility, be friendly, co-operative, and helpful. Do what you're asked to do, and do a bit more. This is a nice thing they're doing for you.....you're not entitled to it. But you are indeed a second-class guest there: The primary purpose of the Hut croo is to take care of their dues-paying member guests and select additional people. These folks get special treats, gifts, care, and favors. The croo provides this service willingly and intentionally. The purpose is to keep these people happy, to get them to keep their memberships current, and to get these folks to tip well when they leave. This isn't exactly a secret......the croos pamper and coddle these people, kiss their butts, and put up with all sorts of rudeness, attitude, and outrageousness......because taking care of these folks is their bread and butter. It is why the Huts exist in the first place. They exist to provide a faux wilderness/mountain experience for rich people. But the people that sleep on the common room floor and eat leftovers are well advised to distribute tips and largesse elsewhere.

Absolutely correct. Croo get enough tips from elsewhere, tip them in tales of adventure.

and most importantly: CAMP CAMP CAMP CAMP CAMP

[SunnyWalker]

Rickb: wow, that was a great post. Thanks.

[Sclark9082]

.....tip the readers of WB? next.......

[Jack Tarlin]

Milo: With all due respect, I'm not sure I'm the one that needs the chill pill. Instead of arguing, why don't we both defer to Digger, above, who actually has Croo experience. But in case you missed it: Yeah, if someone gives up a couple of hours of manual labor, including unpleasant labor, like cleaning public bathrooms, in return for sleeping on the floor of a dining room and eating leftovers an hour after the "real" guests have dined....well, first of all, other than a toilet and a roof that doesn't leak, I'm not sure how this constitutes using "services", and no, I don't think it requires a tip, and it's nice to see actual Hut employees agree with this. Again, I defer to THEIR perspective, perhaps others should do likewise.

[rickb]

While staying at a hut is a choice (despite any protestations to the contrary) bypassing one of the AMC's Clivus Multrum commodes (or even one of Mr. Crapper's designs) is simply impossible.

in the modern age, no contemporary thru hiker has ever been able to resist their siren song.

I would suggest that when you find yourself so moved, you remember Mr. Tarlin's wise observation about the unpleasant task of cleaning that public stool.

Especially if it is beneath you.

Not with the idea that you should feel compelled to leave a tip, but rather that you leave with just a small bit of gratitude for the crew that made it possible. And all the others who did similar service on your behalf along the way.

[Jack Tarlin]

This is becoming a foolish argument. Despuite a comment made above, the crew at the Huts did not make much possible for long distance hikers. They are college students who know exactly what is expected of them. They know that a significant portion of their potential income comes from buttering up (nice way of saying "sucking up") to the clientele. This is why they do their cute "tip hustling" theater skit every night, reminding their tony guests to toss a double sawbuck in the big jar. Sorry, Rick, but even longtime croo members will happily acknowledge this. The croos of Huts, by and large, enjoy the efforts of the hiker work-for-stay people because it saves the croo from doing things (i.e. nasty daily chores) they'd rather ignore. And that's pretty much it. If people wanna tip these kids, well have at it, but in truth, and I suspect I have more experience/knowledge here than some folks.....this is neither required or expected. The croos are generally much too be busy ingratiating themselves with the "real" people, i.e. the moneyed AMC members, etc., who are happily enjoying their faux wilderness experience and are delighted to compensate those who spend the summers caring for them. But to pretend that these kids performed some sort of "service" on the behalf of the long-distance hiker is a long stretch. You do a couple of hours of work. You get a bunk that was empty anyways, or you sleep on the common-room floor, with an admonition to get up well before the "real" people see you there. You maybe get fed scraps or leftovers, maybe not. This is a "Service" that these people perform? I think I'm missing something here. The notion that one is performed a "service" on their behalf by the AMC or their croos is kind of a long stretch. Hut stays for thrus: Here's the deal---- Hikers get out of the weather for a night. Hut croos get a day off from sweeping bunkrooms and cleaning latrines for a day. That's pretty much it. Let's not overly romanticize this because real hikers......as well as real croo members (many of whom ARE former thru-hikers) know the facts here.

[rickb]

know the facts here.

I am not sure the suggestion that croos treat thru hikers in the manner the Thenardiers treated Cosette qualifies as a fact.

Oh well.

[JAK]

I've never tipped any Croo, but haven't had an opportunity to do so yet.

Is it like tipping cows?

[mikec]

It sort of like going to church. If you like the service and you have a couple of bucks, contribute. If you don't, then don't.

[JAK]

We've opened up a new drive-thru communion here in town. One of those partnership arrangements with Tim Horton's. Seems to be going well.