The following is a list of recurring and minor characters in the Disney Channel Original Series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. These characters were regularly rotated, often disappearing for long periods during the series.
Tipton staff
Arwin Hochhauser
Arwin Quentin Hochhauser (played by Brian Stepanek) is a wacky Greek-American inventor who works as a stationary engineer for the Tipton. He is friends with Zack, Cody, and Maddie in the series. As shown in many episodes, he has a massive crush on Carey but is too afraid to act upon it. He hates carrots and is allergic to horses, as shown in "Free Tippy". Every time Carey kisses him, he faints, as seen in "Kisses & Basketball", "Bowling", and "Going for the Gold". His affection is also shown in his office which has a picture of Carey, as well as a cardboard cutout of her, which he claims to his cousin is his wife. Arwin was a professional bowler, as illustrated in "Bowling", but quit when he lost his ball on the backswing and hit his mother in the head, shrinking her by a foot during a championship match. He is also known for being obsessed with his mother; he lived with her his whole life until she got married and moved out. Arwin is considered childlike by many characters in the show; he enjoys picture books, sleeps with a sock monkey, and eats a lunch packed by his mother. However, Arwin is much loved by Zack and Cody. A spin-off television series was planned about him, where he goes to live with his sister to help her take care of her children. The series name ideas consisted of "Arwin" and "Housebroken", though it was never picked up.
Arwin makes a guest appearance in The Suite Life on Deck via web chat on Cody's laptop in the episode "It's All Greek To Me". Also, in the episode, it's revealed that he has a cousin named Milos in Greece (also played by Stepanek). In the episode "Computer Date", Arwin boards the ship and creates a supercomputer dubbed "Cal" (until he found out it was female, renaming her "Callie") to make the SS Tipton run more efficiently. However, it all goes downhill when Callie develops romantic feelings for Cody, causing her to go haywire and start to remove everyone else, and Arwin is forced to shut her down. At the end of the episode, Arwin attempts to get off the ship by using a giant magnet, but it fails, and he falls into the ocean. In "A London Carol", Mr. Moseby mentions Arwin when London Tipton gets stuck in the past. Arwin makes his final appearance in "Graduation on Deck", finally meeting the twins' real father Kurt, and briefly claiming that he is their stepfather.
Esteban Ramírez Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramírez (played by Adrian R'Mante) is the head bellman at the Tipton. His signature quotes are "This is a disaster!" and "Oh, Mr. Moseby!" He is very close to his heritage, which is revealed to be Peruvian in "I Want My Mummy". He is friends with Zack, Cody, and Maddie. It is revealed during the series that his full name is "Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramírez". He owns a domestic chicken with blue feet named Dudley. Esteban wants to manage the Tipton, and he is a gifted dancer. He addresses the twins, Zack & Cody, as "little blond peoples", even when he is only talking to one of them, in which case he often has to correct himself. Though he frequently does stupid, naïve, or clumsy things, he is more intelligent than he is given credit for and has a huge heart, which is shown throughout the series. In the dancing episode, after he and the nurse, Shannon Quine, dance, they are briefly shown kissing. It is also stated he is descended from royalty in several episodes and in one becomes temporarily rich because of his royal family. However, his royal family is deposed. In "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Hotel" it is revealed that Esteban has a crush on Carey. He guest-stars on The Suite Life on Deck in which he has his wedding on the SS Tipton with Francesca (Marisa Ramirez). It is also revealed in that episode that he has been promoted from bellhop to assistant night manager of the hotel. Being a recurring character, Esteban has appeared frequently throughout the show, only absent in a handful of episodes.
Lance Fishman Lance Fishman (played by Aaron Musicant) is the Tipton's handsome if somewhat slow-witted young lifeguard, who projects a relaxed and easy going demeanour, but harbours an almost unhealthy obsession with water. He is frequently shown in scenes trying to steer even the most mundane everyday conversations to swimming, the ocean, or sea creatures in some respect. He disrupts Maddie's student film ("Back in the Game") by insisting that she change his character to a merman, and suggesting she replace the front walk with a pool so that he can swim, rather than walk, to the hotel entrance. Later, during London's Halloween party he appears as "the Mighty Lobster". Nonetheless, Lance exhibits remarkable ease with picking up women, scoring dates with both Maddie (who at first had a crush on him) and London (despite her aversion to dating "the help"). Holding onto said women is another story: Maddie dumps him because she finds him dull, and London agrees to break up with him after he meets a woman called Wanda.
Wilfred Tipton Wilfred Tipton (voiced by Bob Joles on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and played by John Michael Higgins on The Suite Life on Deck) is the owner of Tipton hotels & resorts and father to London Tipton. Until The Suite Life on Deck episode, "Twister: Part 3", his face had never been shown. He is usually surrounded by his bodyguards, with only his hand shown. It is not clear how he became the owner of the Tipton, because London mentions many times that her father bought the hotel. However, in a few episodes, it is said that Tipton's ancestors owned the hotel first before he did. This may yet be another example of London's ignorance, or a continuity error or that the Tiptons have not owned it for some time and he bought it back. In the episode "Rock Star in the House", Wilfred is very strict about London's behaviour when it comes to celebrities, and has much concern for her education and growing as a person. His hand was once seen in the episode "Lip Synchin' in the Rain", in which he was wearing a diamond ring. Wilfred Tipton also has a history of marrying much younger women without London's consent, most of whom do not last long. The warranty of Wilfred's wedding gifts (given by Mr. Moseby) lasted longer than the marriages.
In The Suite Life on Deck episode, "Twister: Part 3", Wilfred Tipton (played by John Michael Higgins) finally reveals himself, who is called by a reluctant Cody trying to rescue the Pickett Farm, although Wilfred Tipton buys the destroyed house to build a plastic bag factory. Cody tries to force Mr. Tipton out of the area by saying the dirt in the area contains powerful diseases, but Zack and Woody ruin the plot when they used peeling skin (Mr. Tipton said he watched a movie involving peeling skin). However, his daughter, London, seeing the strong emotions from the group, blackmails Wilfred. After the blackmail, Mr. Tipton leaves, but not before telling London he is proud of her.
Muriel Muriel (played by Estelle Harris; young Muriel played by Ashley Tisdale in flashback in the episode "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Hotel") is the saucy hotel maid who conceals her goodly nature beneath a veneer of acidic sarcasm, and spends more time sneaking in naps and robbing guests of loose change than doing any actual cleaning. She is a constant presence in Carey and the twins' suite, ostensibly "babysitting" but loitering on their couch watching TV and eating chocolates long after Carey has returned home. In "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Hotel", the cast discovers that Muriel once dated mobster Alphonse "Hot Peppers" DeLeo before joining the Tipton in 1938; Maddie and the twins easily spot her in an old newspaper clipping when they notice that the young lady in the picture is sitting with her feet up. In "Big Hair & Baseball", Muriel claims that she knew Babe Ruth and was the first one to call him "Babe". Her catchphrase is "I'm not cleaning that up." She was specially called out of retirement in the series finale "Mr Tipton comes to Visit", by the twins, when they heard the reason for Mr. Tipton's visit is to fire an employee, in order for her to "get fired" instead (using her catchphrase), sparing the other characters their respective jobs.
Nia Moseby Nia Moseby (played by Giovonnie Samuels) is Mr. Moseby's niece. She has a part-time job at the candy counter, filling in for Maddie during her absence. She has come to work at the Tipton so that Mr. Moseby can get her to behave like a responsible girl. One of Nia's aunts, named Aunt Lilly, was supposed to take on this task, but Nia frustrated her so much that she changed her name and moved to Alaska. Nia appeared in seven episodes in Season 3. According to Mr. Moseby, she was expelled from her last school for fighting with the cafeteria lady because she was out of matzo ball soup. In the episode "First Day of High School", she is seen defending Zack from a bully. She is shown to be quite good at cheerleading in the episode "Benchwarmers".
Norman Norman (played by Anthony Acker) is the doorman for the Tipton Hotel, Norman's first appearance was in the episode "Free Tippy". He is also usually a background character, but is shown to have a hiding spot for Zack's belongings when he skips school in "What the Hey". Norman has four speaking parts in the episodes, "Neither a Borrower Nor a Speller Bee", "Ask Zack", "Nurse Zack" and "The Arwin That Came For Dinner".
Patrick Patrick (played by Patrick Bristow) is the maître d' for the Tipton Hotel's restaurant. One of the most sarcastic characters on the show, he treats everyone with disdain, especially Zack and Cody. However, in "Kisses and Basketball", he says to Zack "Take this from someone who cares about you, she is so out of your league" on Zack's date with Max. He likes coconut flavoured chewing gum, and dislikes Maddie because she does not stock it (as shown in the episode "Big Hair and Baseball"). He is seen in the Tipton Commercial in "Commercial Breaks", and has a girlish shriek, as shown in the episode "Heck's Kitchen". Due to London's generous tips, Patrick has been able to afford a foreign sports car (indicated in "Twins at the Tipton"). However, Mr. Moseby claims that Patrick wrecked it by crashing into fellow waiter Rich, and when the ambulance showed up, another waiter Gary got hit by the ambulance, leaving Mr. Moseby to take Patrick's place at the Tipton Restaurant. His favourite musical is Bye Bye Birdie as revealed in "Birdman of Boston".
Chef Paolo Chef Paolo (played by Jerry Kernion) is an Italian-American chef of the Tipton, seen in three episodes: "Heck's Kitchen", "Health and Fitness", and "Foiled Again". He is easily very insulted when people dislike his cooking. He is specialized in Italian food. Paolo enjoys eating, and bacon bits were found in his blood during a cholesterol test. Cody helped Chef Paolo overcome his eating issues in the episode "Health and Fitness". He is close to Cody and refers to him as "my little protege", because of Cody's natural talent for cooking. Paolo has quit his job several times (mostly due to London insulting his food), but always returns eventually. He names almost all of his foods after himself, except for one named after Cody.
Irene