A caddie hands back your putter on the 18th at Teeth of the Dog®, and you reach for your wallet — except you have already tipped him, and nobody told you. Meanwhile the housekeeper who reset your villa twice a day for a week gets whatever you guess at on the last morning. And the guesses vary wildly.
Tipping at Casa de Campo® is not complicated. It is just badly documented. The resort publishes almost nothing on it, the review forums contradict each other, and most villa agencies stay vague because gratuities are discretionary. So here are the numbers we give our own guests, role by role, updated for 2026.
Villa Staff: US$40 Per Staff Member, Per Day
Start with your household team, because that is the biggest line by far. Our guidance is straightforward: budget US$40 per staff member, per day. That figure holds across the portfolio, from a four-bedroom villa with a housekeeper and a cook to a twelve-bedroom estate running a full brigade.
Your rental already covers their wages, so you never pay the team by the hour or by the meal. Our guide to what your villa staff actually does explains how the household runs. The tip sits on top. It is also the part your team remembers you by, and Casa de Campo households are small worlds where guests come back year after year.
Working Out Your Total
Count people, not bedrooms. Ask us before you travel and we will tell you exactly who is on your villa’s team.
- Four-bedroom villa with a housekeeper and cook: 2 × US$40 = US$80 a day
- Six-bedroom villa with two housekeepers, a cook and a butler: 4 × US$40 = US$160 a day
- Eight-bedroom villa adding a waiter and the pool and garden crew: 6 × US$40 = US$240 a day
Over seven nights, that six-bedroom example comes to US$1,120. Set against a high-season villa rate, it is a small fraction of the trip. But to the team it is meaningful money, and it is why service here runs well ahead of any hotel floor.
How and When to Hand It Over
Tipping at Casa de Campo works best as one cash payment at the end of the stay. US dollars work everywhere on the resort, and Dominican pesos are equally fine. You have two options. Give the full amount to your butler or villa manager to split across the team, or hand each person their share directly in an envelope. Both are normal, and direct envelopes take five minutes and remove any doubt about who got what.
Then weight the split toward whoever made your week. If the cook learned your children’s tastes by day two, or the butler chased down a tee time nobody else could find, add to their share. Nobody expects a perfectly even division.
Caddies: The Tip Is Already in the Fee
This one catches almost every visiting golfer. Caddie fees at Casa de Campo include the gratuity, and you pay them in cash directly to the caddie at the end of the round. The 2026 rates are group totals, not per-player charges:
- One or two players — US$50 total
- Three or four players — US$100 total
- Walking caddie carrying your bag — US$100 per bag
Caddies are compulsory on Teeth of the Dog® and Dye Fore, and optional on The Links. So a fourball pays US$100 for the round, and the tipping is done. The resort’s own caddie information page confirms it, though the point gets lost on most first-time visitors.
Should you ever add more? Only for genuinely outstanding work — a read that saves you two shots, or a ball found where nobody else looked. Then US$20 to US$40 on top of the group fee is generous without being awkward. Green fees, carts and rentals are separate again, and our Casa de Campo golf green fees guide covers those in full.
Restaurants and Bars: You Have Already Paid 10%
Dominican law requires restaurants to add a 10% service charge — the propina legal — to every dine-in bill, on top of the 18% ITBIS tax. Resort restaurants are no exception, so check the foot of your bill before you reach for cash.
But there is a catch. That 10% goes into a pool, and it does not always reach the person who actually served you. So regulars leave a further 5% to 10% in cash on the table. At a beach lunch that might be US$10. After a long dinner at La Piazzetta or La Caña, US$20 to US$40 is the norm. Bar service works the same way, at US$1 to US$2 a round, left as you go. Our complete dining guide covers where those bills land.
Spa, Crews, Drivers and Everyone Else
Away from the villa, tipping at Casa de Campo follows ordinary Caribbean resort norms. Here is the short version.
- Spa therapists — ask whether a service charge sits on the treatment price. If it does, US$10 to US$20 in cash is plenty. If not, work to 15% to 20%. Our spa guide covers treatments and pricing.
- Yacht and fishing crews — 10% to 15% of the charter, handed to the captain to divide. Charter rates carry 28% tax and service, and that is not crew gratuity. See our yacht charter guide.
- Drivers — US$10 to US$20 for the ten-minute transfer from La Romana airport, and US$20 to US$30 for the hour-long run from Punta Cana.
- Bellmen and porters — US$2 to US$5 a bag.
- Beach and pool attendants — US$5 or so when someone has set up your loungers all week.
- Concierge and guest services — nothing routine. But US$20 to US$50 is fair when they have pulled off something genuinely hard, like a New Year’s Eve table at short notice.
What Tipping at Casa de Campo Costs Over a Week
Here is a realistic worked example. Take a family of ten in a six-bedroom villa for seven nights, with three rounds of golf and three dinners out.
- Villa team, 4 staff × US$40 × 7 nights — US$1,120
- Caddies, three rounds as a fourball at US$100 — US$300
- Restaurant top-ups on three dinners — US$120
- Spa, drivers and odds and ends — US$150
That comes to roughly US$1,690 for the week. Put it beside the villa rate and the resort charges in our cost of Casa de Campo villas breakdown, and it lands at a few per cent of the total trip.
One practical note. Bring more small notes than you think you need. Cash machines on the resort dispense pesos, the nearest reliable dollar supply sits in La Romana, and nobody wants to split a US$100 bill four ways on departure morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I tip villa staff at Casa de Campo?
US$40 per staff member per day is the working benchmark. A four-person team over seven nights therefore comes to about US$1,120, paid in cash at the end of the stay.
Is tipping at Casa de Campo expected or optional?
It is discretionary, and we never add gratuities to your bill. It is also customary, and villa teams here rely on it as part of their income.
Do I tip the caddie on top of the caddie fee?
No. The published caddie rates already include the tip, and you pay them in cash directly to the caddie. Add extra only for exceptional work.
Should I tip in US dollars or Dominican pesos?
Either works. Dollars are the easier currency to carry, and every part of the resort accepts them. Small denominations matter more than the currency.
Is a service charge already included in my villa rate?
Your rate carries an 18% tax and service charge, plus the daily resort registration fee. Neither is a gratuity for your household team, so budget the tips separately. Our access fee guide explains the registration charge.
Related Reading
- Casa de Campo Villa Staff: What Your Household Team Actually Does
- Casa de Campo Golf Green Fees: The Complete 2026 Guide
- How Much Do Casa de Campo Villas Cost?
Get tipping at Casa de Campo right and the whole week runs more warmly. Browse our Casa de Campo villas and we will tell you exactly who will be looking after you before you arrive.