Do you tip the mousekeepers?

[luvthemouse71]

[/IMG]Our Mousekeeper last trip was a sweetheart-we got towel animals every day. We left her 5.00 a day, and also some candy from MNSSHP...this was at POR.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I always had a personal problem with tipping. PLEASE try to understand what I'm saying. I do tip at restaurants, but I always resented the reason that I felt I HAD TO tip. If a person is doing their job, and doing it well, they should be paid A FULL WAGE by their employer!!! It should NOT be the customer's place to pay their wage. I understand its incentive for a great job "above and beyond", but thats what pay raises are for! Poor workers should be fired, and workers who go above and beyond should be advanced in the chain and given promotions. It should ALL be done by the EMPLOYER. I always felt it was unfair to those other employers who DID have to pay their workers full pay. Ive always wondered how restaurants and hotels got that cheapscate way out of paying their employees in the first place. Why did our government allow this in the first place?

I do tip at restaurants, but I do it FIRST.
T = To
I = Insure
P = Promptness

As I once heard; a wise man doesnt take a chance on bad service... he INSURES great service from the very beginning by giving his tip (or part of it) up front.

The money is given to charity.

that might be the policy but... I imagine the charity most tips see is the employee's children! When i worked at a grocery store MANY years ago (my first job at age 16) the official policy was ALL tips had to be reported, and turned in. Do you really think it happened?

BTW, I had a lady tip me $100 the other day after doing some plumbing for her! I tried to give it back, and she refused. Demanded I took it. I didnt argue for long.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I tip my contractors and tip some guys at the local hardware store who send me work, often actually, but have never tipped the mousekeeping. I have however left them things. Bottles of unopened Salsa, misc food items (unopened of course), and on one trip we brought about 100 energy bars, and didnt eat half of them. We left the maid some of them too.

 

[hvivona]

I ALWAYS tip mousekeeping. Its just something I like to do. Its a personal choice. I do have to say though, last year I had heard mixed things about tipping so I called WDW and asked them directly because I too had heard that they were not allowed to keep their tips. The CM I spoke with said that tipping was not expected and not required, but if we felt led to do so then yes they are allowed to keep the tip I leave. I think anyone who goes above and beyond to clean up after us, deserves a little extra--even if its their job to do so. Who knows, maybe they had been saving up for something for a while and my $35 in tips for the week helped them reach thier goal sooner than they would have. It may not seem like a significant amount of money, but every little bit adds up.

 

[cabanafrau]

Wow, I guess I do learn things here I would never learn about otherwise.

 

[jamimb]

We always tip mousekeeping!! Those who think its stupid have obviously never worked as one.

My mother worked as a hotel maid and said it was the hardest job she has ever had. The stories she told me were terrible. Even if you dont leave a huge mess its still a huge job!!!!!

I figure I have spent thousands on this vacation what's another 30 0r 40 bucks over the course of a week and that money might really brighten up someone else's day.

at the end of our stay I always put all the towels and washclothes in one pile, completley srtip the bed, put everything back where it was, and gather up all the trash in one bag and tie it together. Some people think im crazy but this takes me all of five minutes but I guarentee it brightens up someone elses day when they walk in and discover I have helped them out a bit. For all I know the room they just left had been trashed. (happens alot!!).

 

[hollyb]

If the money goes to chartiy someone still wins.

 

[Live4FW]

We normally camp at Fort Wilderness so my mousekeeper is my wife. I tip her by handing the room charge and saying get whatever you want "we are on vacation"

Last weekend we stayed at Doubletree DTD. I was really torn on whether to tip or not. This is a fairly new concept (in my mind) that I haven't really bought into. I know it is done on cruise ships but I don't ever see/hear of my colleagues tipping housekeeping on business trips. I stayed over 100 nights in hotels last year and never saw this practiced or expected. It is only here at Disney that I hear about this as widely practiced. \

My original reason for reading the thread was to see how many people said they did/didn't tip and it seems a majority do

 

[teslaaunt]

I printed some of the envelopes from one of the previous replies and I cant tell you how helpful they were. What an awesome idea!! Thanks you so much for the heads up

 

[cornflkgrl]

Tipping is not a MUST. We don't tip unless I have asked them to do something special. A clean room is included in the room rate that is what you are paying for and a tip is not needed to get your room cleaned!

Someone on another thread said housekeeping is not a "tipped" position, so the are paid accordingly and if all of you are leaving $2-$5 a day per room these folks are really adding a lot to their income and probably tax free! I really don't understand the need to tip if they are just doing the basics of their job, do you tip the ride CM's who are making the same amount? Or the housekeepers in the park?

I TOTALLY agree and I worked in housekeeping at a large resort in the past and tips were an EXTRA not expected. If someone tipped for an extra good job, that was great but you are being paid a salary to do that job. If that is not enough money for you, you should not take that particular job. It states in the literature in the room that mousekeeping is not a tipped position, therefore I am assuming they are being paid a salary and were aware of what that salary was when they took the job so they are okay with that.

We tipped mousekeeping on one day of our stay because they left cute little towel animals in the room. I thought that was a little above and beyond, enough for us to leave a little something extra. As far as just having a clean room though, that is expected.

I've gotten into this before. It seems to be a controversial topic. I simply do not tip people who are being paid a salary to do their job. Now, in the state I live in, waiters and waitresses only make $2.50 an hour PLUS tips. Tips are, in fact, PART of their salary. Without tips they would not make even minimum wage. I tip waiters and waitresses an adequate (15-20%) amount for an adequate job and very well for an extra good job. I do watch for the small print "gratuity included" in different places though because I don't believe in tipping someone twice.
I wish the U.S. would adopt what is a common practice in europe where the tip is already included in the price of things. That way there is no akwardness about should you or shouldn't you tip. If the tip is already included it means the employer feels it is PART of the salary and a must.

 

[Trixie15]

I never meant for this to become a heated thread but I will admit I've learned so much from the replies. Now I just need to decide whether we will tip or not.

Thanks for all the replies - I do love to read others' opinions!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

There are 3 of us and I tip $3.00 a day. The way I look at it is that I am paying thousands for a trip and another $21 won't kill me but might make someone else's day a bit brighter.

 

[Ilovefozzie]

We always tip mousekeeping!! Those who think its stupid have obviously never worked as one.

My mother worked as a hotel maid and said it was the hardest job she has ever had. The stories she told me were terrible. Even if you dont leave a huge mess its still a huge job!!!!!

I never said it wasn't a huge job. Heck I'm a stay at home mom. Believe me I know. We have 3 bathrooms. I understand the concept. Nor did I or most people here say that we think its "STUPID" to tip.

I don't do it because its a at least minn wage job. They get paid to clean toilets and change my sheets. I'm not being rude here, its part of their job description. I was a waitress for many years and I tip wait staff very very well. When deserved, otherwise they get the basic 15% tip.

Feel free to tip, I'm not telling anyone not to. Nor has anyone else. Just don't expect me to tip a job that probably makes more than I do in my part time out of the house job.

 

[disjointed]

We're usually not on a budget, so this might not be the best advice, but it could give you an idea:

- We get our room cleaned everyday.
- We leave $3-$6, depending on how messy the room is.
- We usually leave the money on the bed, bedside table, the tv stand, or the table with chairs. Where ever we leave it, we're sure to leave it in plain sight.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

I'm a tipper.
I tip just about everyone who makes my life easier or gives me great service:
Hairdresser
Maid or Cabin Steward
Mailperson
Garbageperson
Newspaper Carrier
Housekeeper
Bellhop
Valet
Waitstaff
Maitre D
SkyCap
Delivery Person
Bathroom attendant
Mechanic
Concierge
etc. etc.
It's not a hardship on me, and it makes someone's day a little brighter. So it comes as no surprise that I tip mousekeeping, I tip them $5 per day in the cutesy preprinted envelopes.

I don't feel that I HAVE to tip all of the time, it's just something I like to do.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I would never consider not tipping unless the room was not cleaned properly. In that situation I would forgo tipping. Our best housekeeper was at a hotel in Hawaii and we tipped her $10 per room for the 2 rooms that we had for 7 of us. I had a house keeper in California who did not do a good job(we found underwear under the sink) and crumbs everywhere. We had the room recleaned and did not tip her for what she found to be acceptable(she took an attitude that we called the housekeeping manager about this to get it corrected). Over all for me just a good old clean room is enough for me to tip.

 

[goofy4tink]

Technically, housekeeping is not considered, by Disney, to be a 'tipped' position. I have seen lists, put out by Disney/resorts that tell you who should be tipped and housekeeping is not on the list. But....we usually tip. I have found that we usually have to same housekeeper during the week. Now....there have been times that I have left a tip ($5 for 3 of us, and we are very tidy) on the sink, and come back to the room about 3:00 to find that the room has not been done yet. I always take that tip away. The day I am checking out, I find that the housekeeping staff is knocking on my door at 8:00 asking when we are leaving. Then, they reappear about an hour later!!!
So...if I get less than desirable housekeeping the tip goes away!!! Same thing for my checkout day. I've had great housekeeping during the stay, but been hounded to death about when we're leaving. That extra tip just isn't going to materialize!!!

 

[hollyb]

We always tip mousekeeping!! Those who think its stupid have obviously never worked as one.

My mother worked as a hotel maid and said it was the hardest job she has ever had. The stories she told me were terrible. Even if you dont leave a huge mess its still a huge job!!!!!

I never said it wasn't a huge job. Heck I'm a stay at home mom. Believe me I know. We have 3 bathrooms. I understand the concept. Nor did I or most people here say that we think its "STUPID" to tip.

I don't do it because its a at least minn wage job. They get paid to clean toilets and change my sheets. I'm not being rude here, its part of their job description. I was a waitress for many years and I tip wait staff very very well. When deserved, otherwise they get the basic 15% tip.

Feel free to tip, I'm not telling anyone not to. Nor has anyone else. Just don't expect me to tip a job that probably makes more than I do in my part time out of the house job.

Your a SAHM and have 3 bathrooms, how can you compare that to a maid cleaning 20 rooms a day? If you can afford a house with 3 bathrooms surely you can tip $5 a day. Then again maybe thats how you can afford your house because you don't tip.

 

[Ilovefozzie]

Your a SAHM and have 3 bathrooms, how can you compare that to a maid cleaning 20 rooms a day? If you can afford a house with 3 bathrooms surely you can tip $5 a day. Then again maybe thats how you can afford your house because you don't tip.

Wow!

What a jump in logic you just made. Yes I am a SAHM, my DH works and works VERY VERY hard so I can raise our children. How dare you equate tipping a maid with what we can and cannot afford!!!! I tip waitstaff, I tip my hair gal, I tip those who are to be tipped. Mousekeeping is not a tipped position. Disney says so.

What does questioning someone's financial status have to do with tipping????

 

[cornflkgrl]

We always tip mousekeeping!! Those who think its stupid have obviously never worked as one.

My mother worked as a hotel maid and said it was the hardest job she has ever had. The stories she told me were terrible. Even if you dont leave a huge mess its still a huge job!!!!!

Your a SAHM and have 3 bathrooms, how can you compare that to a maid cleaning 20 rooms a day? If you can afford a house with 3 bathrooms surely you can tip $5 a day. Then again maybe thats how you can afford your house because you don't tip.

Whoa. I thought everyone was being pretty respectful in this thread. That was a bit rude.

I just wanted to say that while maybe SHE can't compare cleaning 3 bathrooms to cleaning 20 rooms a day, I CAN. I worked in housekeeping at a large resort (3 hotels within the one resort). While a tip is nice to get if you have done a very good noteworthy job, it is not a right or a given. When one accepts a job as a housekeeper, knowing it is NOT a tipped position, one is generally well aware of the amount of money one will be making. The difficulty of the work matters not, you accepted a job under a certain salary so to imply that other people are responsible for making your job better or worthwhile by tipping you is ridiculous. If you (or anyone else) is not happy with the pay provided for your job description, get another job! There are plenty of jobs out there where you can get paid more or be in a "tipped" position (ie. a waitress or waiter).