How much do you tip hotel housekeeping?

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Same here. Especially on a multi-day stay, want the room clean and the staff feeling good about me as a guest. Don't forget to grease the food service staff if you're staying at a place with "free" breakfast.

How do you do that, logistically? I haven't so far mostly because it never occurred to me, probably because we usually bus our own tables, and often we don't see any employees out at the buffet, depending on chance and how busy or messy it is. But I have seen some serious hustle when I do see an employee around the buffet. So do you usually hand it directly to someone, or leave it on a table? I'd worry about the latter, because the tables are usually packed at hotel breakfasts. (Not just for FlaGator, but anyone who has done this.)

 

[Jerry1]

The only time I’ve seen it the tip was given directly to the person tending the buffet. I guess if that person is not out there on a regular basis, there could be an argument that there’s not reason to tip. Generally, I see someone keeping up the buffet.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Depending on room cleanliness, $10 a day paid daily.

 

[pacergal]

about $5 or more per day, paid every day with a note of thanks.
It's a hard job, and we notice a significant increase in personal service from the housekeepers on our stay.
I ask for extra stuff--water, coffee, creamer, shampoo, etc and they gladly leave it.

 

[Fermion]

Some fast food counters now have tip jars or apps where you can leave a tip when they turn the screen around.

So, when is it ok not to tip?

 

[38Chevy454]

I used to travel for work fairly often. I would always leave $2, sometimes $3, each day for a nice cleaned up room. I figure it meant a lot more to the maids than it was to me, besides being on per diem I was figuring it like part of that.

 

[SumDay]

We stayed in timeshares for 30 years, and got used to not having daily maid service. and learned to love it, especially when the kids were little.

Now when we stay in hotels, we always put the sign on the door telling them we don't want service. I don't need fresh sheets or towels each day, and don't want them "organizing" all my toiletries in the bathroom. We make our bed and keep our clothes up off the floor.

Now I'm trying to decide if I feel obliged to leave a tip since 1) the room was clean when we got it, and 2) they're going to do the same for the next folks to stay in that room.

 

[ERD50]

...
There’s an option for no tipping, but please don’t take the thread off topic with a discussion about the appropriateness of this gratuity. That’s not the purpose of the thread.

Good luck with that! The Genie is already out of the bottle...

wow who are all the skinflints?

The hotel owners. Just pay your staff. Don't charge me $300 for a room, and then tell me I should pay your staff too, on top of what you charge. I have no idea what their compensation/benefits are, that should be between you and your staff. I just want a room, don't ask me to become a middle-man in your negotiations with your staff. I'm on vacation, or busy with my own business issues. Is the hotel manager gonna help me put together my presentation for that business meeting tomorrow? No, so why should I help him, with his business dealings? Leave me out of it, just give me a clean room, pay your staff, and charge me accordingly.

I don't stay in hotels very often but when I do I will leave a $1 or $2. They don't get paid much and do more work than many(most) who make several times their income so even though I don't make much either I will always leave at least $1.

I recall a thread in this topic a while ago, and I was surprised by how many responders said they did not tip. I'm of the same mindset as Kelor. Hotel housekeeping is a tough job; I know I wouldn't last a day doing it. I'm happy to leave some extra money for them.

Do you monitor the salary and working conditions of everyone who provides a service for you? Many are "behind the scenes", so how would I even tip them, if I thought I should? I don't know how hard people work, or what they are paid. That's between them and their boss. It all seems so random to me.

To each their own, but I don't see a reason to tip hotel staff so never have. They're already being paid an hourly wage by the hotel. Albeit, it's not a high wage - but it's a wage that's in most cases commensurate with the skills required to do the work.

Tipping because the job pay is low? There are thousands of low paying jobs, I know I had a number of them, that tipping would not even be considered.

Never. We never have and we have never even considered doing so.

Marriott did send us a note a year or two suggesting that we consider tipping. I replied and suggested that the satisfy their payroll expenses without depending on our tips.

+1

-ERD50

 

[Fermion]

I mean if we are tipping to make up differences in pay, we should be hunting down the migrant workers who harvest the potatoes we buy in the grocery store and tip them. Or to make it easier, perhaps the grocery store could have a tip jar in the produce section?

That is a good question. Would you put a tip in a jar in a grocery store for the low paid migrant workers?

 

[Midpack]

It's interesting those who are surprised - tipping in restaurants, travel (incl housekeeping) and hair/nail salons has been the norm for more than a hundred years. Other avocations have gotten in on the act, but they're optional. And there have always been customers who can't be bothered for whatever reasons.

The practice of tipping may have begun in the late Middle Ages when a master gave his servant a few coins as an expression of goodwill. By the 16th century, guests at English mansions were expected to give a "vail" or a small amount of money at the end of the visit to compensate the owner's servants who did work above and beyond their ordinary duties.

Before 1840, Americans did not tip. But, after the Civil War, newly rich Americans visited Europe and brought the practice back home to show that they had been abroad and knew genteel customs.

By the 1900s, Americans considered tipping to be the norm and were frequently criticized for overtipping.

Benjamin Franklin said, "To overtip is to appear an ass: to undertip is to appear an even greater ass."

https://www.tripsavvy.com/a-brief-history-of-tipping-1329249

 

[Bestwifeever]

I don't care or notice what other people tip. We scrimped for a few years while the kids were at home and in college, and now we don't have to, so we've kicked up our donations, including what some people would consider overtipping. If you want or need some warm fuzzies once in awhile, hand a $20 to a restroom attendant in an airport. Sorry MichaelB for veering off topic a bit!

 

[Cobra9777]

DW and I travel very light and never use a bell hop. Almost never use valet parking, mostly using Uber/Lyft to get around when traveling. In fact, we rarely stay at hotels in the US. We prefer Airbnb, B&Bs, and VRBO for longer stays. Plus we generally carry no cash, certainly not a bunch of small bills.

So this whole topic of tipping hotel staff is rather foreign to me. I'm not against it, just don't really have the opportunity very often. If we do stay at a hotel in the US, it's typically one night before a cruise or something similar. We've been treated badly more than once in these instances, often getting bumped to a lesser hotel if we arrive after 8-9pm. When I pay $300 for one brief night at a hotel near the cruise port or the airport, I feel no obligation to tip anything, since I really haven't requested or received anything beyond the basic room.

I seem to recall tipping one time when we stayed at a resort in Hawaii. We were there for 9 days and the housekeeping staff was very good to us and especially the kids. That was 15 years ago and I think we tipped $5 per day.

 

[Sunset]

We tip daily. We hang up our towels because of the drought. My mom always put the money on the pillow so it’s obvious it’s for them.

On a cruise ship, I got the room early, before it was cleaned. There was some cash lying on the dresser, an extra tip for the steward.

When I returned to the cleaned room, the money was still there. So I told the steward it was for him, as he had left it alone, thinking maybe it was my money, even though I had not yet occupied the room (just left my suitcase in it.)

I was really impressed with his honesty.

 

[Sunset]

I generally tip a little extra in cash directly to the room steward when on a cruise, no putting it in an envelope for someone else to hand to them. Seen too many times folks take advantage of that type of situation.
I feel the room steward works a pretty crappy job compared to the restaurant servers on the ship, but maybe I'm wrong.

However, I normally don't tip a hotel cleaner or the guy raking the grass outside the hotel, or the check-in person at the hotel counter. Perhaps tipping holds people back from realizing getting a better job.

I can't easily recall where I got a tip for doing my job, but if someone does extra for me, I'll consider tipping.

 

[Teacher Terry]

On cruises the tip is added to the bill and if service is great we tip again the room steward, favorite bartenders and waiters. We tip daily in motels.

 

[nancyfrank232]

On cruises you can go to the customer service desk to remove the mandatory tip charge in order to tip staff that serve you personally and at your own discretion

 

[jollystomper]

If the room is clean, you have towels and TP. What more do you need?

All kinds of extra considerations above and beyond the basic service. Word can go out beyond housekeeping.

 

[gerntz]

The thought never enters my mind unless I've made a big mess.

 

[Sunset]

On cruises the tip is added to the bill and if service is great we tip again the room steward, favorite bartenders and waiters. We tip daily in motels.

On cruises, when you buy a drink, 18% is automatically added to the charge, some folks don't notice that and then tip on top of that, so it could easily end up a 40% tip.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Sunset, I know that but people that work on cruises work long hours and hard. If someone remembers what I want to drink and gives great service we reward them at the end.

 

[frugal-one]

Just to add.... maid service is not considered a tipped profession (as categorized by the Dept of Labor).

 

[COcheesehead]

All kinds of extra considerations above and beyond the basic service. Word can go out beyond housekeeping.

Like what? Tell me what I get for tipping beyond warm fuzzies.

 

[Squirrel]

Don't forget to grease the food service staff if you're staying at a place with "free" breakfast.

My youngest worked breakfast at a hotel with "free" breakfast.

She laid down the law to us before we went on travel:
Tip the breakfast crew -- Each one? Yes!

At the hotel, laundry staff never got tips. One day, someone was putting sheets in the wash, and a DIME fell out. The staff got excited, and someone taped it up on the wall, with a note: Our first tip.

 

[Midpack]

Just to add.... maid service is not considered a tipped profession (as categorized by the Dept of Labor).

Rationalize all you want. Tipping in restaurants, travel (incl housekeeping) and salons has been customary for well over a 100 years in the USA.

 

[Gumby]

Like what? Tell me what I get for tipping beyond warm fuzzies.

I don't expect to get anything from tipping. It is mainly just a recognition that life has been good to me and a desire to share some of that bounty with people who often are underpaid and unrecognized.

That said, service providers do remember the good tippers and may be more willing to go above and beyond for you if necessary. It's almost never necessary for me, but I do appreciate the option value.