How much do you tip hotel housekeeping?

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Well everyone is different.I would never ever in 1000 years make my bed while staying at a hotel unless I had visitors coming by.
I tell housekeeping when I see them in the hall we are good.You do not have to come in my room for 4 days or whatever it is.I hang the towel just like at home and leave the bed.

You're still not getting it. Someone else stays at a hotel. They check out. Then you check in to the same room where they just slept. Do you not want new sheets, new towels, the bathroom wiped down, the toiletries refreshed? The turnover cleaning is far more labor-intensive than the cleaning during you stay, and you are always getting that cleaning no matter whether you hand the "Do not disturb" sign during your stay. You can tell yourself that you don't need housekeeping all you want, but you're still benefiting from their labor.

 

[Paulz]

I view tipping hotel cleaning staff as the result of corporate theft. Instead of paying these folks a sustainable wage, they are now viewed much like waiters and waitresses, as the tips are part of their salaries. The hotel chains pay them less and feel the tips make up the difference. Pretty sad....

Don't get me started on retail stores that solicit to "donate to a charity" at checkout! The funds do go to the charity, but the store gets the tax deduction.

 

[Paulz]

You're still not getting it. Someone else stays at a hotel. They check out. Then you check in to the same room where they just slept. Do you not want new sheets, new towels, the bathroom wiped down, the toiletries refreshed?

Isn't that what the paid rack rate covers? When I stayed at a hotel last night didn't the cost cover all the labor, electricity, water, TV, TV subscriptions, etc? Things that are not covered in the rack rate are spelled out and charged as resort fees.

 

[JJpop]

You're still not getting it. Someone else stays at a hotel. They check out. Then you check in to the same room where they just slept. Do you not want new sheets, new towels, the bathroom wiped down, the toiletries refreshed? The turnover cleaning is far more labor-intensive than the cleaning during you stay, and you are always getting that cleaning no matter whether you hand the "Do not disturb" sign during your stay. You can tell yourself that you don't need housekeeping all you want, but you're still benefiting from their labor.

I get it and of course the room is cleaned after we leave.It is not my duty to pay the housekeeping.I do make their job as easy as I can by organizing any trash,dirty towels etc.

 

[dixonge]

We use AirBnB and not sure if tips are even needed, or how much maids/cleaning services are paid...

Ever since AirBnB we avoid hotels like the plague

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I read the original question and my answer is $5 each time the room is serviced. When I stay for an extended period, I tend to only have service once every 3 days. I don't see much point on a daily cleaning since DW and I aren't very messy people.

Since this is at 155 posts, I can only assume (I haven't read most of them) that there are lots of arguments for/against tipping.

 

[Sunset]

And the minimum wage for tipped positions, like waiting tables, has been at $2.13 since 1991!

Only if you have an employer that wants to break the law and be subject to lawsuits. So the minimum is really $7.25 with/without tips.

1. Fact Sheet - United States Department of Labor
   
   https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.htm
   If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct (or cash) wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour, the employer must make up the difference. Retention of Tips: A tip is the sole property of the tipped employee regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit.

 

[JJpop]

Only if you have an employer that wants to break the law and be subject to lawsuits. So the minimum is really $7.25 with/without tips.

1. Fact Sheet - United States Department of Labor
   
   https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.htm
   If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct (or cash) wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour, the employer must make up the difference. Retention of Tips: A tip is the sole property of the tipped employee regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit.

The rich get richer,the poor get poorer and the middle class gets to feel guilty about how they tip.Everything is set up to enrich the wealthy and we are so programmed that it just goes on and on like an energizer bunny.
I choose to tip who and how and when.I do not expect to be told I have to tip so a worker can have a less poor wage.I resent a system created by people with a lot of wealth who want me to pay their employees salary.Pay them a decent wage and charge me more for my food if needed.That is the right way.
I actually got into an argument with a airport parking van driver last year.I did not have anything smaller than a twenty by chance so I did not tip him for taking my suitcase off the van and placing it on the curb.The guy said no tip?I told him I had nothing but large bills and would catch them on the return trip and he got angry and inappropriate.Now I am not obligated in any way to tip the guy,but in his mind I am.I was pissed and told the manager to control his employees when I got back.This is what our culture has become.Pay us because our company doesn’t.It is completely turned around and absurd.You pay your employees,not me.

 

[Red Badger]

I tip for largely the same reason that I donate and volunteer. I'm not trying to subsidize any industry - and I don't have a dog in that hunt. If someone in the service industry has treated me well, I enjoy reciprocating.

I grind my ax with the industry if moved to do so. Not the front line.

 

[Montecfo]

Who do you think cleans the room before you check in? If nothing else, that cleaning is usually more work than the typical cleaning during anyone's stay.

That is just part of providing the product to you. No personal service by definition. I would not tip someone whose job includes clean sheets and cleaning the room before I got there.

While you are at it, should the night clerk be tipped on the way in?

 

[JJpop]

I tip for largely the same reason that I donate and volunteer. I'm not trying to subsidize any industry - and I don't have a dog in that hunt. If someone in the service industry has treated me well, I enjoy reciprocating.

I grind my ax with the industry if moved to do so. Not the front line.

Yes but we are subsidizing the industry and it goes on and on.Tipping is expected.A hotel charges $40 for valet parking and you are suppose to tip the valet after paying the hotel $40 to park your car.Corporate America has set up a system of low wages subsidized by it’s customers.Amazing

 

[Music Lover]

Only if you have an employer that wants to break the law and be subject to lawsuits. So the minimum is really $7.25 with/without tips.

1. Fact Sheet - United States Department of Labor
   
   https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.htm
   If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct (or cash) wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour, the employer must make up the difference. Retention of Tips: A tip is the sole property of the tipped employee regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit.

Then in reality a server only "needs" $5 an hour to come up to the minimum which is probably paid to many non-serving staff in the same restaurant. It may only take 3 or 4 tables tipping 20% in a full shift to accomplish this.

I'm not a fan of tipping at all but I do it because I'm "forced" to do so. But the percentage drops as the bill increases. On the very rare occasions we go to an expensive place there is no way I'm leaving a $20 - $30 tip to someone who did roughly the same amount of work as the person who served me the $8 breakfast special.

 

[Argus]

No tip. At Marriott properties you can defer room cleaning for additional points (if your a Marriott member). We always do this and if we need anything like coffee for the in-room brewer, or a clean towel we just ask the front desk or if we see a cleaning person on the floor.

 

[rk911]

Then in reality a server only "needs" $5 an hour to come up to the minimum which is probably paid to many non-serving staff in the same restaurant. It may only take 3 or 4 tables tipping 20% in a full shift to accomplish this.

I'm not a fan of tipping at all but I do it because I'm "forced" to do so. But the percentage drops as the bill increases. On the very rare occasions we go to an expensive place there is no way I'm leaving a $20 - $30 tip to someone who did roughly the same amount of work as the person who served me the $8 breakfast special.

my wife and i are very fortunate. we’ve worked hard, saved, invested and lived...and still live...well beneath our means. we were able to retire at 55 and are, to use a well worn phrase - living the dream. we feel blessed to be able to share what we have and so are generous both with our support of many charities and with our tips. might sound strange coming from an economic conservative but there it is.

it’s likely most of us who contribute to or simply lurk on this board have “made it” or on our way to, as Bob Brinker puts it, “the land of critical mass”. generously tipping folks who are starting out or are stuck in minimum wage jobs or who may not be as fortunate as we are will not negatively impact either our lives or net worth and in fact may have just the opposite effect.

not trying to imply or suggest this is an obligation on the part of the wealthy. you do what you think is right. but for us generously tipping...$20 to hotel housekeepers and sometimes as much as 100% of a restaurant check, etc...lifts our spirits.

 

[JRon]

We tip $5 per night and we don't leave a huge mess. Housekeepers are hard workers and I have seen rooms after someone left that no one on this forum would want to touch.

 

[JJpop]

my wife and i are very fortunate. we’ve worked hard, saved, invested and lived...and still live...well beneath our means. we were able to retire at 55 and are, to use a well worn phrase - living the dream. we feel blessed to be able to share what we have and so are generous both with our support of many charities and with our tips. might sound strange coming from an economic conservative but there it is.

it’s likely most of us who contribute to or simply lurk on this board have “made it” or on our way to, as Bob Brinker puts it, “the land of critical mass”. generously tipping folks who are starting out or are stuck in minimum wage jobs or who may not be as fortunate as we are will not negatively impact either our lives or net worth and in fact may have just the opposite effect.

not trying to imply or suggest this is an obligation on the part of the wealthy. you do what you think is right. but for us generously tipping...$20 to hotel housekeepers and sometimes as much as 100% of a restaurant check, etc...lifts our spirits.

That is very nice of you,however a better system would be that the workers are paid a decent wage by their employers and tipping is not obligated or expected.You know there are actually countries where tipping is not a thing.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

That is very nice of you,however a better system would be that the workers are paid a decent wage by their employers and tipping is not obligated or expected.You know there are actually countries where tipping is not a thing.

I would prefer that system, too, and I am fighting for that change. The difference is, I'm not willing to make the hard-working people who perform services for me proxies in my fight, like a child in a nasty, acrimonious divorce. I prefer to push for living wage legislation and tip generously while the current system is in effect. If I stopped, it would theoretically put pressure on the system to change, but some of the workers would be crushed by that pressure, while the corporations likely would not even notice the difference, or at least not before it destroyed livelihoods.

 

[JJpop]

I would prefer that system, too, and I am fighting for that change. The difference is, I'm not willing to make the hard-working people who perform services for me proxies in my fight, like a child in a nasty, acrimonious divorce. I prefer to push for living wage legislation and tip generously while the current system is in effect. If I stopped, it would theoretically put pressure on the system to change, but some of the workers would be crushed by that pressure, while the corporations likely would not even notice the difference, or at least not before it destroyed livelihoods.

More proof of how corporate America has conditioned the masses.I am also suppose to double or triple the wages of a waiter who works at a mid to higher priced restaurant compared to the waitress at the local coffee shop with a cheap menu who probably works harder.

 

[nancyfrank232]

More proof of how corporate America has conditioned the masses.I am also suppose to double or triple the wages of a waiter who works at a mid to higher priced restaurant compared to the waitress at the local coffee shop with a cheap menu who probably works harder.

+ 1

There’s no incentive for the system to change so it won’t

For eats, I do take out. No tip

 

[JJpop]

+ 1

There’s no incentive for the system to change so it won’t

For eats, I do take out. No tip

They are asking for tips on take out now too.

 

[Montecfo]

They are asking for tips on take out now too.

Asking? How so?

If you mean by the tip spot on a receipt, why would you allow that to guide you for a transaction for which there generally should be no tip?

 

[JJpop]

Asking? How so?

If you mean by the tip spot on a receipt, why would you allow that to guide you for a transaction for which there generally should be no tip?

I am talking about the cashier asking or pointing out that you can leave a tip.Not everywhere but a few places I have been to recently.

 

[Montecfo]

I am talking about the cashier asking or pointing out that you can leave a tip.Not everywhere but a few places I have been to recently.

That just sounds like seat-of-the-pants entrepreneurism to me. And somebody that would point that out obviously missed out on etiquette training.

 

[braumeister]

Around here we have a number of drive-through $tarbucks places and the drive-through window always has a tip jar prominently displayed. I've always thought that showed a lot of effrontery, but I'm sure they get a fair amount dropped in those jars. I guess the saving grace is that many people (like me) just use their $bux card to pay, and it would be most inconvenient to have to get cash out while buckled in the driver's seat.