Hotel Staffers, Don't Expect A Tip From Ann Coulter

An angry Ann Coulter went after Vanity Fair writer Michael Gross for his recent piece on Sarah Palin, and in the process revealed that Coulter doesn't tip hotel staff unless she stays several nights or has “left a dead body in the room.”

A Coulter column put out yesterday took VF writer Michael Gross to task for highlighting Palin's alleged lack of tipage, but made clear she is not one to add a few dollars for the hotel help either:

Gross also includes a strange exegesis about Palin's tipping. It seems an unnamed bellman at an unnamed Midwestern hotel “waited up until past midnight for Palin and her entourage to check in -- and then got no tip at all for 10 bags.”

First of all, what does Gross' imaginary bellboy think the entire Palin family and their assistants and aides were doing until after midnight? Bowling? Playing beer-pong at a local pub? They've been traveling -- with kids -- all day, arriving after midnight, and the only thing he can think about is how he had to stay up past midnight.

Assuming the story is true, which I do not, why is it Palin's fault no tip was given? According to the bellboy, there must have been at least half a dozen people in her group. Palin is the “talent.” Other than Trig, she's the last person who should be held responsible for the tip.

Gross was just getting warmed up with the bellboy. “The same went for the maids who cleaned Palin's rooms in both places,” he reveals in a worldwide exclusive: “no tip whatsoever.”

I think most normal people reading that aren't thinking about Palin, they're thinking, “Wait -- do I tip maids?”

I don't on principle, unless I've stayed several nights or left a dead body in the room. Even then, it depends on the size of the body. I also don't leave a tip for the guy who put batteries in the TV remote, the hotel buyer who chose the nice soaps, or the interior decorator who designed the room. That's what I'm buying: a clean, functional room for one night.

Coulter should not be surprised if her next hotel room is, well, not quite up to par.