Any other Disers have problems with hotel theft?

[mikeyas]

I heard it said that if you don't tip housekeeping, they'll use your toothbrush to clean the toilet.

We've ALWAYS left tip only when we check out, which by that time, would be to late for housekeeping to do anything to our toothbrushes. The few times, we've left a couple of bucks around when we've gone for the day, housekeeping never touched it. I don't know anyone who tips daily. Everyone we know tips at the end of the trip.

 

[jory29]

We've ALWAYS left tip only when we check out, which by that time, would be to late for housekeeping to do anything to our toothbrushes. The few times, we've left a couple of bucks around when we've gone for the day, housekeeping never touched it. I don't know anyone who tips daily. Everyone we know tips at the end of the trip.

We always tip daily because you never know if you will have the same housekeeper for the duration of the trip. Better to reward each one daily. It wouldn't be fair for the one who comes in one day gets the tip instead of the one who cleaned 5 days in a row.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I have traveled to at least half the countires in the world and stayed in fancy places to places with a cot and a hole in the ground and never had anything stolen. I do secure my equipment as best as possible. Not once have I ever had anything touched at the places I have stayed at around the resort...but if you a curious as to what goes on in the room, and if you have a laptop with a web cam, set it on the table with the screen up, let the camera run, you will see what the maid or anyone else in your room is doing. Sure hope the ipad issue gets resolved.

Jack

 

[mikeyas]

We always tip daily because you never know if you will have the same housekeeper for the duration of the trip. Better to reward each one daily. It wouldn't be fair for the one who comes in one day gets the tip instead of the one who cleaned 5 days in a row.

Good point! But how does housekeeping distinguish between money left as tip and money a guest as left out after emptying their pockets at the end of the day? Do you leave a note? Just curious.

 

[mystic_path]

I've had important things stolen from hotel rooms, so what I have started to do when I travel is if I have larger items such as a lap top, cameras etc that I dont want to carry with me, I take my small luggage lock and lock my items up in my luggage. I then put my luggage in the back of the closet under blankets and extra pillows. Never had issues after that. Depending on the room, some rooms do no have a safe, or are so small you cant fit everything into it that you want anyway.

 

[davidsprincess]

I pull the covers up on my bed (bed still looks messy, but not like I just rolled out and away I went) and put the tip money on the bed spread. It is the only bed with money on it. That is just the way I have always done it.
I have also done this, when we staye dat the DLH in September I had done up mousekeeping envelopes with the tip money in it and a cute saying on the front, like "Thanks for cleaning up our dust, Mousekeeping!" and have Tink stickers all over it. Anyhoo, twice mousekeeping just placed the envelopes on the night stand without taking them. I had to go down to the front desk and tell them to please give this to our housekeeper (we sealed the envelope and placed our room number and building on the back) and could they let her know that the envelopes are for her!

 

[mystic_path]

I pull the covers up on my bed (bed still looks messy, but not like I just rolled out and away I went) and put the tip money on the bed spread. It is the only bed with money on it. That is just the way I have always done it.
I have also done this, when we staye dat the DLH in September I had done up mousekeeping envelopes with the tip money in it and a cute saying on the front, like "Thanks for cleaning up our dust, Mousekeeping!" and have Tink stickers all over it. Anyhoo, twice mousekeeping just placed the envelopes on the night stand without taking them. I had to go down to the front desk and tell them to please give this to our housekeeper (we sealed the envelope and placed our room number and building on the back) and could they let her know that the envelopes are for her!

Is it possible they didnt speak or could read English? There are plenty of Spanish individuals working for Disney or in the area!!! We had several like that in our last hotel. We personally went to thank our maid as we came back to the hotel a little early and the language barrier was a little difficult. But that was nice that you went back to leave the money anyway. Especially if they did a nice enough job.

 

[davidsprincess]

As others have mentioned before, it doesn't matter where you stay, it can and does happen everywhere! Just be smart and take percautions. If something is that valuable to you, than don't take. The most valuable things we take on vacation are our loved ones. They cannot be replaced. Everything else can. And if you are taking percautions and locking or hiding things, then don't be like me and forget where you placed them and be in an all out panic because you can't find them!

 

[davidsprincess]

Is it possible they didnt speak or could read English? There are plenty of Spanish individuals working for Disney or in the area!!! We had several like that in our last hotel. We personally went to thank our maid as we came back to the hotel a little early and the language barrier was a little difficult. But that was nice that you went back to leave the money anyway. Especially if they did a nice enough job.

I am sure that is what it was. I was just shocked as I have done this a few times now when at DL (although we do always stay on Harbor) and have never had to go and find our housekeeper to make sure she got a tip. There were 5 of us staying in the room and we all felt bad thinking that she didn't didn't know how much we appreciated the work she did on our room.

 

[mystic_path]

I am sure that is what it was. I was just shocked as I have done this a few times now when at DL (although we do always stay on Harbor) and have never had to go and find our housekeeper to make sure she got a tip. There were 5 of us staying in the room and we all felt bad thinking that she didn't didn't know how much we appreciated the work she did on our room.

That is a really great idea though that you make envelopes! I may actually use that idea for when I go. Very very creative, and I am sure that it's very much appreciated by whoever is getting the tip. Honestly if I got that, I would be THRILLED! It gives that extra thank you that you went out of your way to do a little something extra. It's amazing how far even a simple "Thank You" can go, and I dont know too many people who would pass down a tip. Especially when you work in some sort of "people" industry.

 

[jory29]

At Hojo's, I pantomined one day, drinking coffee and getting 'jittery' and somehow, she understood I needed decaff coffee in the room. After that, Lorealle told me how to write out a note (to leave, when we were gone) that I was requesting decaff, in Spanish. Worked very well!

Mousekeeping envelopes didn't do the trick for me, either, they just left them. I leave little Avon products and some cash along with a note that says "For Housekeeping - Thank You!" I make sure that the note is even tucked around everything they are supposed to take. I plan on taking some Aero chocolate bars on this next trip, to leave, as I have heard you can't buy them in the USA and people really love them. I also make sure to tip with little Avon products when they would bring us something to the room, like extra towels, etc. that we had phoned in for.

 

[pixiewings71]

No, we never had any problems with theft at all! And no, we don't lock everything up in the safe or take it with us every time either.....
You can see in my signature how many times we went during a 2 year period...we took a lot of trips, stayed onsite 3 or 4 times, offsite the rest and never had any issues with missing items.

 

[mikeyas]

I pull the covers up on my bed (bed still looks messy, but not like I just rolled out and away I went) and put the tip money on the bed spread. It is the only bed with money on it. That is just the way I have always done it.
I have also done this, when we staye dat the DLH in September I had done up mousekeeping envelopes with the tip money in it and a cute saying on the front, like "Thanks for cleaning up our dust, Mousekeeping!" and have Tink stickers all over it. !

Those are great ideas. Thank you for the suggestions. I really like the idea of tipping daily vs. at the end..just didn't know how to go about doing it so housekeeping would accept it.

Back to the original topic, the only thing I've ever had stolen was my cell phone number (not on a disney trip though). When I was traveling alone a few years back, the clerk at the hotel I had checked into got my cell phone number from the system and sent me grossly obscene text messages and voicemail messages. As a single, female traveler, it freaked me out to say the least but that was the worst travel experience I've had.

 

[lozzypop]

I don't worry about theft because I travel with as few valuables as possible. I only bring a watch, my traveller's cheques and my DS (gaming system) for my daughter. I don't bring my daughter's DS because if mine gets broken or stolen, then I am a big enough girl I can handle being without it for a while.

I leave all valuables in the safe, lock my suitcases (unless I just have clothes in them) and never had a problem. Of course we almost always stay at the HoJo and the housekeeping staff are wonderful there.

As for tipping housekeeping, I do that daily and always leave the money in the bathroom. That way it is obvious that it is for housekeeping (since not a lot of people keep their spare change in the bathroom) and it always is gone when I return.

 

[AustinTink]

How much do ya'll leave for a tip? A couple of bucks daily?

 

[kiwitravel]

I too have travelled most countries of the world and never had anything stolen... The trick is to remove temptation and don't leave anything out...I have always used the safes when available and pack away other valuables too big to fit in the safe inside the bags when away from the room...

Always double check the doors and windows are secure... If no safe then hide your money, passports etc inside a bag of your underwear (clean of course) or try and take them with you..

Check on Trip Advisor, if the hotel has a history of theft it will show up there...

 

[Kittyskyfish]

How much do ya'll leave for a tip? A couple of bucks daily?

I leave $3-4 daily and stick it with the housekeeping card. If that's not available, stash it with the coffee supplies and with a note addressed to "housekeeping".

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Housekeeping and employee thefts are generally pretty rare in hotels and most are one of convenience. Usually stuff gets taken if it is located in the open or in unlocked places. They won't bother (999/1,000) if it is tamper-resistant.

Best bet is to place any valuables in the room safe, keep it on your person, or put it in a locked suitcase. I don't recommend hiding valuables in unlocked areas (like clothing drawers) because those places may be freely searched without leaving any noticeable signs of tampering. At that point, if something goes missing it'll be your word against the staff and administration. "Are you sure you put it there?"

JMO - hiding stuff among clothing is really common tactic and not a secret to hotel staff. Housekeeping won't be discouraged by ladies' intimates. They scrub dirty toilets and handle soiled sheets and towels for a living.

 

[sonnyjane]

I leave $3-4 daily and stick it with the housekeeping card. If that's not available, stash it with the coffee supplies and with a note addressed to "housekeeping".

Yup. If they don't have envelopes specifically for tips (although I have found more and more places are doing that now) I just take a piece of the hotel stationary, fold it in half, put the money inside the fold and write "Thank you" on the paper and leave it on the bed or nightstand. How much I leave depends on the caliber of the hotel. For budget hotels, I'll leave $2/$3 a night. When we were in Hawaii for our honeymoon I left about $7-$10 a night because it was a nicer hotel and the housekeeping did a special turndown service. I think I left $15 or $20 on Christmas once with a "Merry Christmas" note to housekeeping.

 

[ConnieB]

I heard it said that if you don't tip housekeeping, they'll use your toothbrush to clean the toilet.

Ok, but the average person tips at the end of their stay, so how would the maid know on day one that you won't be tipping?