Noise Ranks High in Hotel Misbehavior

Hotel guests weigh in on the worst behaviors of other hotel guests.

Inattentive parents who let kids run wild, hallway hellraisers and those who berate hotel staff for minor inconveniences are the biggest annoyances of fellow guests, says Expedia, in its first Hotel Etiquette Study. 

 Other major types of annoying fellow guests include: 

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  •  In-room revelers/noisemakers nearby (52% of respondents); 
  •  Bickerers (26%); 
  •  Poolside partiers (22%); 
  •  The “loudly amorous” (21%); 
  •  Overly affectionate couples in a public hot tub (20%); 
  •  Drunk business travelers (12%); and 
  •  Elevator chatterboxes (6%). 

The survey also found that Americans differ about hotel tipping habits. A full 27% of respondents don’t tip hotel employees at all, 3% have attempted to tip a hotel employee to secure a room upgrade and more than half tip their housekeepers (who are tipped more than any other employee). 

Four out of 10 tip for room service, 31% tip the valet, 21% tip the porter, just 10% tip the concierge and 7% tip cabana attendants. 

 Americans do take discreet—and sometimes indiscreet—liberties when they stay at hotels: 

  •  26% of Americans have hoarded toiletries to take home with them; 
  •  9% have shoehorned multiple people into their room overnight without telling the hotel; 
  •  8% have secretly taken items from their hotel room; 
  •  6% sneak down to the pool first thing in the morning to “reserve” a spot by placing towels on chairs; 
  •  5% have smoked in a nonsmoking room; and 
  •  2% have deliberately eavesdropped on guests in a neighboring room. 

NQ Plan Sponsor to Pay for Failing to Withhold FICA Taxes

Henkel Corp. has agreed to pay more than $3.3 million to nonqualified plan participants for not withholding FICA taxes from their plan contributions.

A court has approved a settlement agreement between Henkel Corp. and its nonqualified retirement plan participants concerning Henkel’s failure to withhold participants’ Federal Income Contributions Act (FICA) taxes at the time contributions were made, as required by the plan. 

The settlement amount is $3,350,000, and includes attorneys’ costs, any award to the lead plaintiff in the case and litigation expenses. The settlement also provides that retirees will receive a 40% gross up of benefit distributions to cover their tax expenses. 

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In February, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found that, rather than properly withholding nonqualified retirement plan participants’ Federal Income Contributions Act (FICA) taxes at the time contributions were made, as required by the plan, Henkel Corp. caused participants to pay these taxes at the time of each benefit payment, effectively reducing their anticipated retirement benefits.

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