What Christmas or New Year gift do you give to your doorman/woman (Portero/a) in Buenos Aires?

[Wally]

Happy holidays to all of you on this fabulous new forum. I just gave my doorman a Christmas gift today. I gave him 50,000 pesos and I was wondering if this was enough? I think I usually give him around $50 USD equivalent and I wanted to see what others are paying their doorman if anything. I think in these difficult times it is important to let them know how much they mean to you. I need to know if I'm paying enough.

Thanks.

 

[Billy Goat]

I give a nice bottle of wine and about $20 USD equivalent. This year I gave 25,000 pesos and a nice bottle of wine.

 

[Che Vos]

My boyfriend and I give ours about 15,000 pesos or about $15 US dollars and I usually bake some cookies which he likes which isn't a lot but all we can really afford.

 

[Larry]

Happy holidays everyone! I am gone much of the year so I really depend on mine that checks in on my apartment all throughout the year. I give my Portera about $50 USD at the end of the year.

 

[Pink Panther]

I give mine about 15,000 pesos or about $20 US as well as a box of chocolates. I wish I could give more but times are tough.

 

[Nasdaq]

I give mine $100 US dollars at least. This year I gave 100,000 pesos and he was thrilled! I always give around $100 US equivalent but some how this year it looked like a lot more! So many more bills.

He is very good and always keeps the building clean. I get a lot of packages on Mercado Libre and he is always making sure to get them for me when I'm at work. Some years I will also get him wine for his birthday. These days I think many would appreciate the money more than anything else.

 

[Avocado]

I gave mine 20,000 pesos this year. About $23 USD plus a card. She has been in the building a long time. Most people in my building give wine or chocolates but I agree this year they really could use a helping hand.

 

[Vero]

I give about $50 USD worth of pesos and he is VERY appreciative of it. I started this many years ago when I first bought my property. The only downside is in years that it's difficult for me like this year, I feel bad if I give less as he always does a great job. I feel like I set the precedent many years ago and it's difficult to give less now.

 

[Silvia]

Wow I need to increase what I'm giving. I only give about $15 US or so. I gave 15,000 pesos yesterday. I guess it's on the low side. Thanks for starting this thread.

 

[Bobbie Burgers]

My wife and I give ours about $100 US which we know is very generous but he does a lot for us. As another mentioned, we get packages almost every day on Mercado Libre and he always gets them. In fact, we live on the penthouse level of our building and we just put his name and floor # as we both work and not in the building all day. He always takes the packages up to our apartment and puts them inside. He has a key to our apartment.

We also own a rental property in Palermo Hollywood and I give that doorman $100 USD as well. Well worth it to us.

 

[Bill]

Merry Christmas to all. I guess I'm cheap. I only give mine around $25 bucks. This year I gave 25,000 pesos.

 

[Soytoy]

I give mine a bottle of wine and 20,000 pesos.

 

[Under the Radar]

I give mine 35,000 pesos this year.

 

[earlyretirement]

Happy holidays to everyone. I always give $100 US dollar equivalent to all my doormen/women at all the buildings where I own properties no matter where in the world my properties are. I feel that's a pretty good holiday bonus. I usually give them a nice bottle of champagne as well to toast the new year.

As others mentioned, the only thing about that is once you do it, then you set a precedent so they pretty much expect that each year around the holidays. I also do a few nice things throughout the year. Typically right after I buy a property, no matter which country it might be in, I ask them for their birthday and I usually get them something on their birthday too.

In all the places I own a property, I rent them out and I depend on the doorman to really help take care of the rental guests to make sure they have a great experience and I find doing these things really help. I will also tip the security guards as well in buildings where I have 24/7 security.

 

[Wally]

Speaking of Doorman. Is anyone watching El Encargado on Hulu? It's really hilarious. I joked with my doorman if any of those stuff is true with all the gossip and he says it is true that doormen all know everything in a building. It's worth a watch if you have Hulu. Great acting!

https://www.hulu.com/series/el-encargado-432a6d95-2447-46e5-976b-8669ca094d54

Guillermo Francella portrays Eliseo, the superintendent of an upscale building. On the surface, Eliseo is cordial and docile in his role, but underneath Eliseo believes himself the omnipotent figure of the community — meddling in the affairs of residents and pulling strings as he sees fit...

www.hulu.com

 

[earlyretirement]

Speaking of Doorman. Is anyone watching El Encargado on Hulu? It's really hilarious. I joked with my doorman if any of those stuff is true with all the gossip and he says it is true that doormen all know everything in a building. It's worth a watch if you have Hulu. Great acting!

https://www.hulu.com/series/el-encargado-432a6d95-2447-46e5-976b-8669ca094d54

Guillermo Francella portrays Eliseo, the superintendent of an upscale building. On the surface, Eliseo is cordial and docile in his role, but underneath Eliseo believes himself the omnipotent figure of the community — meddling in the affairs of residents and pulling strings as he sees fit...

www.hulu.com

I'm watching it and it's really hilarious! I love that show. I love the doorman character in the show.

Doormen are one of the strongest unions in Argentina. Most people don't know but most employees fall into some type of union in Argentina. I heard this while I lived there and I'm not sure if it's true but my doorman in my Avenida Alvear building lived there something like 38 years and told me that all the former governments used to have the doorman spy for them and report on people in the building. Not sure how true or not this is but it is one of the strongest unions.

Doormen/women mostly know everything that goes on in a building. Mine in all the properties that I know always gossip about what is going on. It's pretty comical.

 

[All the Answers]

I'm watching it and it's really hilarious! I love that show. I love the doorman character in the show.

Doormen are one of the strongest unions in Argentina. Most people don't know but most employees fall into some type of union in Argentina. I heard this while I lived there and I'm not sure if it's true but my doorman in my Avenida Alvear building lived there something like 38 years and told me that all the former governments used to have the doorman spy for them and report on people in the building. Not sure how true or not this is but it is one of the strongest unions.

Doormen/women mostly know everything that goes on in a building. Mine in all the properties that I know always gossip about what is going on. It's pretty comical.

I'm watching it and on Season 2. I love the Series. I joke with my doorman about the show.

 

[Digital Nomad]

Do any of you give gifts to the doorman besides Christmas? They are so nice. I didn't know if it was appropriate to tip them or not. Mine in my building is very nice. Sometimes they get packages for me. I didn't know if it was a good idea to tip them or if they would expect that every time I got a package. Thoughts?

 

[Betsy Ross]

Do any of you give gifts to the doorman besides Christmas? They are so nice. I didn't know if it was appropriate to tip them or not. Mine in my building is very nice. Sometimes they get packages for me. I didn't know if it was a good idea to tip them or if they would expect that every time I got a package. Thoughts?

You make a good point. When I first moved in I would tip mine once in a while but then it got kind of backward as I didn't know if they would always expect a tip or not. Instead I moved away from cash and I would once in a while bring her cookies that I would bake or other goodies if I am ordering something for myself. There is a balance.

 

[earlyretirement]

Do any of you give gifts to the doorman besides Christmas? They are so nice. I didn't know if it was appropriate to tip them or not. Mine in my building is very nice. Sometimes they get packages for me. I didn't know if it was a good idea to tip them or if they would expect that every time I got a package. Thoughts?

You make a good point. When I first moved in I would tip mine once in a while but then it got kind of backward as I didn't know if they would always expect a tip or not. Instead I moved away from cash and I would once in a while bring her cookies that I would bake or other goodies if I am ordering something for myself. There is a balance.

What I do when I buy a new property is I will ask for their birthday and I will give them a decent gift on their birthday and also Christmas. You do have to be careful wish cash as it can get tricky if they are expediting cash all the time. I have some apartments that I go use when I am in town visiting or for work and sometimes I will give some cash at the end of the visit. But more times than not when I am ordering food or something, I'll ask if they want something or I will just order a few extra for them. The security guards at some of the buildings where I own love this.

My properties that I own, I rent them out on Airbnb so there is extra incentive for me to keep these guys happy as they are always helping guests out. A happy doorman goes a LONG way with short-term rental guests. Typically doing this keeps the doormen/women really happy and they go the extra mile to help my guests out.

I have made good friends with various doormen in Buenos Aires when I first moved there. For example, in one of the first apartments that I purchased in Recoleta in 2002, I really liked the building and I offered all the owners in the building to buy their units. The doorman would help me with owners and see if they were interested. We ended up buying about 8 units in the building that way and it sure beat paying a realtor a commission. I just gave the doorman some cash.

Although it got to the point where it was annoying as he asked for a loan to buy a new car. LOL. So it is probably good not to get TOO close to them as well. Ha. Call me a sucker but I did help him buy the new car. He paid me back over 3 years.