Hotel tipping: how much, when and how?

[Iceman93]

I have never tipped housekeeping in my life, nor known anyone to do it. We try not to leave a mess, though.

That's me as well, at least until I found out that my older sister generously tips housekeeping whenever she stays in a hotel (we're talking $20 per night or more). Her rationale is similar to ShaunaM's, that housekeepers are some of the hardest-working and lowest-paid employees at a hotel.

I just found it interesting that my sister and I, raised by the same parents with the same values, ended up with such a dichotomy on the subject of tipping housekeepers!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We keep our room tidy. We tip usually around $10 a night , every night. These people work hard for not very much. They clean my sink , clean my toilet, empty my garbage can. They are as deserving as restaurant wait staff and spend a lot more time looking after my needs; just because I don't actually see them does not mean they do not deserve a tip. I leave it smack in the middle of the made bed with a note.

Like! People often don't understand that a housekeeper's salary is kept low on the assumption that s/he will receive tips. They have to work just as hard to clean every room, tip or no tip. When there are no tips, they are working very hard for low, low wages.

 

[minneylovesmicky]

I had never stayed anywhere that tipping staff was the "norm", so not really knowing what to do and being from another country, we took over some packets of Aussie chocolates and little goodie bags. To give house keeping a "taste" of Aussie chocolate.

In the goodie bag, we put a $5.00 note, a 2pk of tim tams (we took various favours, so they didn't get bored of the taste) a caramello koala, a small crunchie bar and a few others chocolates (can't remember them all, there was about 4 or 5 different ones) and left it on the pillow with a note - "just a little thank you to you from us, for all you do, to make our holiday so wonderful" (Or something to that effect)

We hope our house keeping enjoyed our offerings.

Might seem silly to some, but we thought it nice to offer a taste from here to those over there.

 

[McNs]

I usually tip $3 per night, $3 for valet, and at least $5 for bell hop.

I get Single Anxiety when running low on those valuable dollar bills! It normally takes a couple of days to remember to not spend them elsewhere!

We don't tip here in New Zealand, even in restaurants unless it has been exceptional service.

 

[Tigerlily75]

When I was in the US I tipped daily, $3-5 (depending what I had). I left it on the pillow and it was always taken.

 

[kwdw]

When it's just me - or as a couple - I tip $3 per night. We aren't messy room folks. There's usually note paper in a hotel room - and I use that to say it's tip and leave it by someplace obvious. I admit - I only tip when I am staying multiple nights. I also didn't know that tipping a housekeeper at a hotel was a thing that people do until I traveled professionally for work one time and had a roommate who insisted we tip.

 

[Baklava]

$1 per person, per day unless I'm alone, in which case I do $2 or if we make a mess in which case we raise it.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

We tip $3-5 per night, for two tidy adults. We put our toiletries away and towels in the tub before we head out, plus the room is picked up so they don't have to move much around when vacuuming.

 

[Jaina]

That's me as well, at least until I found out that my older sister generously tips housekeeping whenever she stays in a hotel (we're talking $20 per night or more). Her rationale is similar to ShaunaM's, that housekeepers are some of the hardest-working and lowest-paid employees at a hotel.

I just found it interesting that my sister and I, raised by the same parents with the same values, ended up with such a dichotomy on the subject of tipping housekeepers!

That is very interesting! (the difference) Now I'm curious to ask my siblings. My mom worked in hotel housekeeping in college, and she's never mentioned it. We stayed in hotels several times a year growing up. I feel it's strange I know all the other tipping "things" (bell hop, valet, dining, obviously) but haven't had any experience with this! Is it a new thing in the last 10 years or so?

 

[kirstie101]

We tip about $5 per day but I usually just leave it at the end of the trip. I realize it may not be the best way to do it, but its usually when I remember that I need to leave a tip so...

 

[Shanti]

DH thinks it's silly to tip each night because it's probably a different person each day in your room.

The reason you tip daily is to reward that day's cleaner. We tip $10 - 20 per day.

 

[cruisehopeful]

It looks like I tip on the high end. I'll probably lower it based on this thread.

 

[offwithyourhead]

Out of curiosity - WWYD in this situation? We stayed two weeks at a place in the same room and didn't have anybody come in to clean the entire time (at our request, we brought cleaners and cleaned the bathrooms ourselves). We asked for TP when we needed it and washed the towels provided in the room with our own laundry on-site. We left our garbage bag outside the room mid-stay so they could take it. We are pretty clean people and the only cleanup that needed to be done when we left was the typical room reset; bedding, towels, restock toiletries, etc. We didn't leave the place any messier than we found it.

Our last trip, we didn't tip because we didn't realize that that was a thing. But for next time, if we only have one cleaning, what should we tip? A few dollars or more because we didn't have them clean/tip them any other days?

 

[dawnball]

There are three of us, and our standard tip range is $3-5/night. I've never had a problem with leaving it on the pillow of an unmade bed, but frequently I leave it with a note. We'll tip more for special circumstances or if my note asked for something special/extra.

 

[katiz]

Depending on my length of stay, I either tip when I leave (1-2 days) or daily if I am staying for a week. Regardless, always tip. They are in the service industry and have earned that tip (hopefully!) Love the envelope idea on pinterest. I now want to print a different one for every night of our stay. Have a little fun and brighten someone's day

 

[lightsofmine]

I work in housekeeping for a major chain. The way we do tips is that you don't immediately take home what you find, everyone puts all tips together and it gets divided at the end of each month, you get tips based on the amount you've worked that month. Every month is different obviously. I know not all hotels do this but keep it in mind. Its also not the same person in your room every day most often.

 

[kathy884]

$5 a night -- leave it each day after you head out for the morning. $10 if you have a suite. I just leave cash with a note on the desk: For maid Thank you!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Out of curiosity - WWYD in this situation? We stayed two weeks at a place in the same room and didn't have anybody come in to clean the entire time (at our request, we brought cleaners and cleaned the bathrooms ourselves). We asked for TP when we needed it and washed the towels provided in the room with our own laundry on-site. We left our garbage bag outside the room mid-stay so they could take it. We are pretty clean people and the only cleanup that needed to be done when we left was the typical room reset; bedding, towels, restock toiletries, etc. We didn't leave the place any messier than we found it.

Our last trip, we didn't tip because we didn't realize that that was a thing. But for next time, if we only have one cleaning, what should we tip? A few dollars or more because we didn't have them clean/tip them any other days?

I would have left a tip ($3-$5, unless there was more mess to clean up) on the day you left because the housekeeper had to clean your room (they can't leave it to faith that your room was cleaned to the hotel's standard) and make it ready for the next guest. That is the same amount of work for a day as it would have been to clean your room on any other day of your stay. As you said, you did the basic cleaning yourself for your stay, so it only makes sense to tip on the day you checked out.

 

[mpadilla89]

We tip every day when we leave for the parks. Usually $2-$3 maybe more on the last day depending on how everything went.

 

[pinkprincess30]

We tip about $5 per day, and put the money in an envelope marked "Housekeeping...Thank you!" (we also include any special requests "more towels, please", etc.). We tip each day because sometimes you will have several staff tending to the room if we are there for a week. I don't think it's fair if we were to give one big tip to the last person who came in to our room. Typically housekeeping does not make much per hour and a tip is really a small amount from our vacation fund. I like to do it, it's a small token but can make a big difference to them. It all adds up! Kudos to the housekeeping staff who didn't take the unmarked money!