different type of mousekeeping ?

[maroney495]

A coworker was talking about their vacations and mentioned that when they travel especially during the holidays they like to "tip" housekeeping with small gifts each day...Hand made items....candies.....small items from their home town/state...etc. has anyone ever done this at a WDW resort? I thought this sounded a little different and fun. But I don't know if the mousekeepers work alone or in teams of two or more??? Does anyone know?

 

[Villains_Rock]

Yes...in addition to a tip, I take candles that are made from a candle factory that is about 4 blocks from my house. I have had problems with the mousekeepers not taking them, however. I usually leave it with our mousekeeping tip envelopes with a little note. "This is a gift from our home town!"...and I draw an arrow to the candle. I think it is pretty clear that it is for them, however I have had times that they weren't taken.

As for your second question..I don't know if I should be setting out more than one...I never thought of that...lol

 

[minnie mum]

From several similar threads in the past, CMs have said that they either won't take them or will throw them away afterwards if pressured to take them. Any food (candy) would be immediately discarded. Would you take food from strangers? If you want to leave a tip, then by all means do so. Anything else, while kindly intended, would not be really appropriate. Would you tip a bellman with a homemade candle?

 

[goofy4tink]

While it's a nice idea, there is no way I would take something like that if it were left for me. If I did take it, in order to not offend a guest, I would immediately toss it out. Housekeepers have no idea if a stranger means some kind of harm....and most won't take that chance.
If I have groceries that I haven't opened, then I leave a note, telling them to take the left behind groceries. If they don't want to, that's fine.

I think most housekeepers really prefer the cash tips. Much more useful than an actual 'gift' of some sort.

 

[disnut8]

The other thing to think about is allergies. Maybe that nice candle is of a scent that someone is allergic to. I'm sure there are people allergic to money but it's very rare. We just tip each day and be done with it.

 

[TheRatPack]

Yea, I'd be afraid they'd just throw it away too. I'm sure there are those that would take the items and appreciate them but think if everyone started doing that. It reminds me of teachers and all the nick nacks they get over the years. I'm sure they appreciate them but after a while you can only have so many apples and other #1 teacher ornaments LOL

I'll stick with cash for now.....they seem to appreciate that and if there are 2 mousekeepers then they can split that easily enough.

 

[Trajay]

On the same note, what would be a typical monetary amount you tip? I don't want to come off looking unappreciative

 

[francie57]

We had a 2 bedroom villa at the Beach Club last week (reservation through Disney so we had daily housekeeping). We only had one person cleaning the villa each day. The reason I can say that is she was at our door just after 8:15 each day as we were getting ready to head out. I left $5/day since she had the 2 bedroom villa to clean and we left lots of dirty dishes in the sink for her to put in the dishwasher. Our villa was alway spotless when we returned and we had 2 towel animals a day left.

 

[Villains_Rock]

As far as the candles..it doesn't bother me when they aren't taken. I take light clean scents so it keeps my luggage nice too (and I don't mind just bringing them home to use if they are left). I will say that more times than not they are taken. I also leave our normal tip amount...which is $1 per person plus $1. So for my DH, DS and I we leave $4-5 bucks a day depending on how much they need to do (ie more towels, messy beds, etc). I don't think that I would leave more than that if I hadn't brought the candle. I think of it as a bonus..a gift is just that!!

 

[TheRatPack]

Yea, we leave a $1.00 per person as well.

 

[livndisney]

As far as the candles..it doesn't bother me when they aren't taken. I take light clean scents so it keeps my luggage nice too (and I don't mind just bringing them home to use if they are left). I will say that more times than not they are taken. I also leave our normal tip amount...which is $1 per person plus $1. So for my DH, DS and I we leave $4-5 bucks a day depending on how much they need to do (ie more towels, messy beds, etc). I don't think that I would leave more than that if I hadn't brought the candle. I think of it as a bonus..a gift is just that!!

I am pretty sure WDW has a policy about CM's accepting gifts. Given those with allergies, Disney policy and possible language barrier it is easy to see why housekeeping would not take candles. I can honestly say I have never heard of anyone leaving candles for housekeeping. Cash tips are fine.

 

[Deb & Bill]

On the same note, what would be a typical monetary amount you tip? I don't want to come off looking unappreciative

You'll find numerous threads about tipping housekeeping. It really isn't required because housekeeping isn't a tipped position like valet, bell services and food servers. So if you want to leave anything, you can leave anything you like because there isn't a recommended tip like table service dining.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We leave $5 per night each morning. I believe that it buys us excellent service.

In regard to candles or candy or what-have-you, one person's treasure is another person's trash, but cash is always useful.

 

[2Tiggies]

We leave a few souvenir type gifts during our trips because we are international guests. However, that is over and above the tip, not in place of it. Having gone through my college years (many years ago!) relying on tips, I am well aware that gifts don't put food on the table. I do know that they may not wish to keep anything non cash, and I accept that and the 'risk' in leaving it for them. But I like to leave something a little personal rather than just leaving the cash on it's own so I also write them a little thank you message on a nice card and leave that with the tip on it.