Tipping Housekeeping

[HammerNoMore]

I've been involved with several discussions here about tipping housekeeping. Personally I don't think I should tip housekeeping, the guy who makes my sandwich at subway, etc. I do tip my barber, waiters, delivery persons, bell hop, etc.

However, on my next trip I'm going to experement and tip housekeeping to see what kind of extra service I get.

What would be suggested as a reasonable tip for housekeeping?

James

 

[mle_osu]

When we tip housekeeping, we usually only do it at nicer resorts and on cruises... and we tip at the end of the week, so we wouldnt get extra service because we tipped, but our tip is always BASED on their service. Do you get poor service to begin with??

 

[Rondo]

I usually give $2-$3/day,sometimes even $5

The way I look at it most folks will tip a bartender $1/drink for 30 seconds of work,a waiter 15-20% which is usually $5-$10 for 15 min of work.

The maids are most likely the lowest paid workers,good ones always organize my stuff that is strung everywhere,scrub my bathroom spotless,and mop all the sand I've tracked in spending 30min.-45min,I figure they REALLY earn a tip,the other tips are just habit and custom.

 

[HammerNoMore]

Do you get poor service to begin with??

Not at all. But in previous discussions I've seen people mention perks like extra towels, etc, without requesting them.

 

[Firefyter]

I tip $2-$3 dollars a day as well, and get wonderful service. At one resort they even went so far as to put fresh flowers in the room and on the bed, extra towels AND bottled water. The way I look at it, I'm having nothing but fun, an extra $20 for the week makes the maid's day, and it's not anything I'm gonna miss. The little extras, including the smiles you get when they walk past, are well worth it.

 

[DennisS]

I usually just fold a piece of paper, write housekeeping on it and leave a buck a day. It must be enough, I get smiles and "do you need anything". I usually stay at the bargain end of the hotel spectrum, so I guess its appreciated.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

We leave about $2 a day for extra water and always get 4 extra waters, fresh flowers in the bathroom and on each bed and a couple extra towels. We only ask for the extra water, but I guess when you get a tip of almost your days pay you are glad to do a little extra. We never had any housekeeping be rude either. We stay at All inclusive places and it is worth just a couple extra bucks to us. Most people appreciate being acknowledged for their work.

 

[hdtran]

I've been involved with several discussions here about tipping housekeeping. Personally I don't think I should tip housekeeping, the guy who makes my sandwich at subway, etc. I do tip my barber, waiters, delivery persons, bell hop, etc.

However, on my next trip I'm going to experement and tip housekeeping to see what kind of extra service I get.

What would be suggested as a reasonable tip for housekeeping?

James

Well, if the world were perfect, we'd never tip anybody, because everyone would be earning a reasonable wage...

I don't tip McDonalds or Subways. I do tip at salad bar style places, or wherever it's likely the worker is making minimum or sub-minimum wage.

If I'm staying at an upscale US hotel on a business trip, I'm not likely to tip housekeeping.

If I'm traveling in many parts of Asia or Europe, absolutely not. Service charges are included, and housekeeping gets paid a decent wage. Waiters too. (Which is why service is surly in France )

In Mexico, we leave a few $ every day. After a few days, housekeeping catches on, and we don't need to ask them for extra night-time hotel chocolates for the kids

 

[HammerNoMore]

Well, if the world were perfect, we'd never tip anybody, because everyone would be earning a reasonable wage...

I don't want to hijack my own thread. And I certainly don't want to start a political debate. But I do believe, that certain jobs deserve higher pay than others. Currently, in St. Louis, there are a bunch of students holding a sit-in trying to get higher pay for custodians. (I respect all jobs but hate the PC movement, so I hope "custodian" is an acceptable middle ground between janitor and custodial engineer.) Anyway these students are all from very wealthy backgrounds and have no clue how the world really works. They started out by fasting but gave that up after two weeks because it was too hard...

The thing is that they are asking for the custodians to get a higher pay than many professionally trained people in the city make, including nurses, teachers, etc.

I agree with you 100%. Everyone should be paid "reasonably" but not necissarly equally. My original statement on who I tip is not based on who get's paid what. I consider what is widely belived to be the original defintion of tip: "To Insure Promptness".

I tip wait staff very well if I get good service. I tip barbers to make sure they pay attention when dealing with my hair, etc. I've always considered cleaning to be part of the room and hey, as long as they do it daily, I'm ok. In fact I'm not even that particular, I don't change my sheets at home daily, or my towels.

I started this thread, not to argue tips for houskeeping, but to say, I'm willing to accept I may be wrong and see what happens. Hopefully, I will be so impressed by the "extra" service, I'll become a houskeeping tipper for life.

No matter the outcome, I never belive it should be my responsibilty to make up for the fact that an employeer underpays their employees. Though I am always willing to do so if it benifits me personally.

I don't tip McDonalds or Subways. I do tip at salad bar style places, or wherever it's likely the worker is making minimum or sub-minimum wage.

I tip a minumum of 20% for good service at restraunts. I've been known to tip 100% for great service. I've been also known to tip 0% for bad service. At restraunts that are partially "serve yourself" I adjust accordingly.

 

[Rick Inman]

INo matter the outcome, I never belive it should be my responsibilty to make up for the fact that an employeer underpays their employees. Though I am always willing to do so if it benifits me personally.

Who cares? If I'm visiting a foriegn country and it's their custom to tip someone and not another, well, when in Rome... My disagreement with their cultural traditions is not going to change anything, and so I'd rather just relax and go with the flow. Afterall, I'm on vacation!

Not to hijack your hijack, but it's Starbucks that I'm really mad at (whine&Cheese coming). They started the tradition of tipping a dollar for a 3 dollar cup of coffee, which is 33%! Ridiculous! And now they've got those tip cups everywhere.

....We now return you to your original thread...