When you are on a roll, as Cristiano Ronaldo surely is, a little bit of money goes a very long way.

Hotel staff in Greece discovered this to their great delight when the world’s most marketable footballer checked out of the exclusive Costa Navarino resort in the western Peloponnese leaving a tip of €20,000 (£17,850) tip.

His one requirement was that the staff who had made his holiday so enjoyable shared it equally.

“The 10 employees, who had been tasked with providing services to Ronaldo’s family and to keep them away from the paparazzi, each received €2,000,” the Greek online sports magazine, Sportime.gr, reported.

The parting gift was apparently spurred by the 33-year-old Portuguese striker’s favourable impression of Greek hospitality. He checked into the resort after his team were knocked out of the World Cup, spending 10 days with family and friends in its Royal Methoni villa, which comes with round-the-clock butler service and sand dunes to keep the photographers at bay.

“It was an honour and a great experience for our team to look after Cristiano Ronaldo and his family,” staff wrote sharing pictures on social media with the superstar. “A big thank you @Cristiano for being part of our story.”

Previous guests have included Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.



Ronaldo uploaded holiday snaps from the resort on Instagram raising a glass, bobbing around in a dinghy and showing off his body in a romantic pose with his girlfriend Georgina.

The resort was the backdrop last week for the deal that sealed the forward’s transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus, where he will earn about £26m a year. After leaving the villa, he flew to Italy to cement what his agent called “the final club of his career”.

Costa Navarino deferred to its guests’ insistence on privacy and refused to comment.

However, the staff who shared the bounty - which came after the footballer’s transfer deal to Juventus from which he could earn £510,000 a week - were not so coy. “It was an honour and a great experience for our team to look after Cristiano Ronaldo and his family,” staff wrote, sharing pictures of the sports superstar on social media. “A big thank you @Cristiano for being part of our story.”