I really need to understand this mousekeeping tipping business.

[jkovick]

My parents always tipped for good housekeeping, I always tip for good housekeeping. Housekeeping is generally an underpaid job that can be a lot of work. I don't like to clean my own messes so I appreciate anyone that cleans up after everyone else day after day.

 

[Princess Dot]

Funny Pete, as I was reading this thread I was thinking about how Disney reccomends that you tip the cabin steward on the cruise(and I believe even tells you the reccomended amount!) when the steward is basically the same as the housekeeper. But that is the custom throughout the cruise industry.

I never used to tip when it was just me and my dh, but now with 3 messy kids I most always tip, especially after an extended stay and usually on the last night.

Tipping is a topic that many feel so strongly about. But I believe that if you or a member of your family has ever worked in a service profession, you woudl have a different outlook on the tipping issue.

BTW, how would you go about tipping the front desk clerk? Slide a $20 across the desk as you say "I'm here to check in"? I have visions of every comedy I've seen where the usually clueless character tries to bribe the maitre de at a restaurant for a table and gets laughed at!

 

[maryliz]

I usually tip ... but if the table in the room still has crumbs on it, and there are still crumbs on the floor, I won't leave a tip the next day. The unfortunate thing about that is that the mousekeeper who did the lousy job got the tip that day, and when I don't leave one the next day, it could be a totally different mousekeeper. Now the day the mousekeeper knocked on our door and said "do you really want your room cleaned today, or do you just want me to leave fresh towels", I politely told her that "yes" I wanted my room cleaned, and I did not leave a tip that day. I should have called down and asked if this was a standard practice.

I will also leave a little extra on the last day if my packing has generated a lot of extra garbage.

Mary Liz

 

[frndshpcptn]

In addition to tipping, I always write a letter if the guest service was great. When I was on the WDWCP and working on the Friendship boats, we sometimes used the CM breakroom in the Boardwalk if we were working that dock. When you go into the breakroom area, there is a huge bulliten board that has copies of all the complimentary guest letters that have been written about the hotel staff and many people love to see a letter with their name on the board!

 

[bunnyfoo]

Originally posted by Princess Dot
Funny Pete, as I was reading this thread I was thinking about how Disney reccomends that you tip the cabin steward on the cruise(and I believe even tells you the reccomended amount!) when the steward is basically the same as the housekeeper. But that is the custom throughout the cruise industry.

I've heard that employees of a cruise ship aren't paid very much (I think it was a flat rate amount each month) and so many of them depend on tips... I think one of my coworkers mentioned that to me, I'll have to check with her again

 

[>>^..^<<]

Recently a DIS'er posted when they returned to their room their DD's beanie babies had been tied with ribbons to the ceiling fan

The fan was on the slow speed setting with these toys enjoying the ride, round and round!

I would love for that to happen ~ how fun!

===

Last year at AKL my DD8's toys were always set up in the funniest ways... the housekeeper set the pillows up like "Pride Rock" jutting out and put her Lions at the top looking down,

all the other animals were looking up at them from around Pride Rock.. it must have taken some time to do this and it was magical

I tip - there is usually a card in the room introducing your housekeeper with her name. I gave her 75.00 in person (mid stay) ~ but I was staying for 10 days... those people do a great job and work really hard.

>>^..^<<

 

[schwaa]

I teach English as a Second Language. We have books here that teach foreigners about american customs. I looked up tipping and it said that Americans tip housekeeping at hotels if staying for more than several nights, we do not tip Hotel clerks.

I had to look it up because I always thought that hotel maids were supposed to be tipped.

 

[devine5829]

BTW, how would you go about tipping the front desk clerk? Slide a $20 across the desk as you say "I'm here to check in"? I have visions of every comedy I've seen where the usually clueless character tries to bribe the maitre de at a restaurant for a table and gets laughed at!

YES Princess Dot-

I'm invisioning the Seinfeld Chinese Restaurant scene where they slip the $ and he basically walks away with it.

Yes, I would like to know what tipping the front desk gets you too. Do you say, "Hi, would like a free upgrade to concierge" and flash them a $20.00. I wouldn't want to pass that $20.00 along just for them to smile and say no.

 

[mickeysaver]

I have always tipped housekeepers/maids at the hotels I stay in. My grandmother was the head of housekeeping at the Sheraton at Cypruss Gardens years ago. I was taught that tipping the maids was the proper thing to do.

So, while I don't expect towel animals, I do enjoy a clean room with new towels everyday. So, in appreciation of the work those folks do, I tip at the least $1/person in the room and more if the place is disasterized when we leave it in the morning. Mickey

 

[mom2of2]

We stayed at CBR in March and I had printed out and pre filled mousekeeping envelopes. Each day I would write a little something on the envelope such as "We had a wonderful time down at the beach last night watching Illuminations" and little newsy things about our day. On the 3rd and 4th day our envelopes were moved but not taken. By day 5 I was feeling bad since my DS5 had a little "accident" the night before. Once again mousekeeping did not take their envelopes. I hopped on a bus and went to CH were I asked a CM for a manager. I explained who I was and what bldg I was staying at. The manager was all set to address a complaint since he quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil when I informed him that my complaint was that my mousekeeper was doing a wonderful job but hadn't taken the envelopes that I had left. The look on his face was priceless and he gave me a big smile and told me that he would pass on my envelopes. He then made a phone call and told me if I would just wait a moment I would get a ride back to my room. Sure enough a car pulled up and I was escorted to my room. The next day my mousekeeper knocked on my door and thanked me for the envelopes as well as the kind words that I had spoken to her manager. It made me feel good and helped to make her day as magical as mine was!!!!

 

[safetymom]

mom20f2 that was a nice way to handle the tips. We would write cheery notes to our housekeeper but you went above and beyond. Nice to see someone making a cast members day a little better and sprinkled with magic.

 

[musicmom3]

Originally posted by >>^..^<<
Recently a DIS'er posted when they returned to their room their DD's beanie babies had been tied with ribbons to the ceiling fan

The fan was on the slow speed setting with these toys enjoying the ride, round and round!

I would love for that to happen ~ how fun!

===

The above happened to us at WL last February only the mousekeeper used plastic bags for ribbons. The mousekeeper also had the animals in shower caps having a bath party one afternoon with toilet paper streamers all over the place...and one day we returned home to a towel "HI" accompanied by a huge mouse head made from towels...you know, come to think, I really missed not having towel animals at BC...does anybody ever get them at BC?

 

[DrTomorrow]

That's what it is called in Las Vegas lingo. You simply take a folded up $20 and put it on the counter, usually with your ID, or credit card, or ressie info, or something the clerk asks for. At the same time, you ask if there are any "free upgrades" available. Depending on what is actually open - and the amount of discretion the clerk has in assigning - you might get a larger room, higher floor, jacuzi suite, better view (you often pay for these things in LV). If they can't do anything, they don't take the $20. I've never thought of doing this in WDW - I figure the clerks are just so magical that they want to always give the best room they can!

I do tip housekeeping in larger resorts (WDW, LV) - usually $5 a day. I do it because I want to; it's a dirty job, and I feel that if I've got $60 bucks on one rool at the craps tables, I can give a five-spot to the maid who cleans the shower and toilet. Personal choice only, folks - I don't worry what others do.

OT: The $20 trick works well in LV with maitre d's; went to a show (Legends at the IP if any other LVers are here) - a discretely folded $20 got DW and I up against the stage - she got kissed by Elvis not once, but twice! ::Swoon::

 

[tltjet]

I always tip housekeeping too, but I always wonder if I am supposed to tip if I only stay one night. I feel very guilty if I don't tip.

 

[Tesabat]

I, too, was raised to tip housekeeping on the last day of checkout, based on service.

My mother worked her way up to a supervisory position within housekeeping at a hotel. They have a pretty good forecast of what days have high check in/ check out...and the housekeeper responsible for that section of rooms typically worked high check in/ out days.

I struggle with leaving tips daily when I don't know what the week will bring...so I just do what I always do - tip on last day.

If you never tip anywhere else, I can't see any reason to start just because you are at WDW. And if you always tip everywhere else, then I can't see why you shouldn't at WDW -- despite what's written in their handouts at check in.

The handouts are likely a legality that protects them from having to subtract additional taxes from the housekeeping staff based on a percent of expected tips...which would be hard to calculate considering a good percent of people don't tip this position and it would be quite a learning curve...and a LOT of marketing material...to inform people otherwise. On cruise ships - the position IS considered a tipped position - thus the marketing material and time spent on informing people of that fact.

 

[frazzled one]

We tip $4-5 each day wherever we go (family of 5), unless the service/condition of the room is poor. Then - zip. Since our housekeeping service at Disney has always been outstanding, we've always tipped. We leave something each day with a little note that says "For the housekeeper - thanks." I don't know what kind of schedule the housekeepers work, and I don't want to leave everything for our checkout day in case it's a different maid that day.

Everything I've read about towel animals has been since our last stay in 1997. I kinda hope no one bothers for our November trip, since they'd be wasted on just dh and myself! But the service has always been impeccable, and the maids did occasionally leave cards from the characters or chocolates for our kids. We'd have been happy to tip whether they left little surprises or not.

fraz

 

[ScarletIndigo]

Originally posted by safetymom
We tip because they are cleaning up our stuff. I don't feel that a couple of dollars a day is a big deal. I also don't tip to get towel animals, I tip to show my appreciation just like I tip the waitress.

Ahh, but there's a very big difference there, SafetyMom. Waitressing is a TIPPED position, whereas Mousekeeping is not.

I always try to read the "tipping/non-tipping" debates regarding Mousekeeping, because we never really had excess money in my family, so not only did we not take vacations with multiple-day stays in hotel rooms, but any tipping my parents did -- restaurants, deliveries, etc -- was frugal. I always assumed (correctly) that maid service was not a tipped position, but ever since reading the boards here at DIS, I've been wondering what to do for our upcoming stay at ASMu.

So I downloaded some Mousekeeping envelope designs, and began designing some of my own, but after a day or two my interest waned, because I realized that I was doing it more out of guilt and because I felt that the vast majority of you believe in tipping Mousekeeping, so the maid who takes care of our room will probably expect it.

In truth, I'll probably just wait until our vacation begins to see the kind of service Mousekeeping provides. If it's exceptional, I'll probably leave a tip as a kindness. And since DF and I have never visited WDW together, any towel animals or special touches will definitely come as surprise and a treat. But I think that these touches should not be dependent upon the tip that's left. As stated by the folks at WDW themselves, Mousekeeping is NOT a tipped position. People who don't tip deserve the same level of service AND the same "magical touches" that people who DO tip get treated to.

I guess my point is that I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is trying to bridge the gap between etiquette and guilt. I don't want my Mousekeeper to feel like I'm stingy or stiffing them for the service they provide, but I also don't think that anyone should feel obligated to tip when, according to WDW folks, it's largely unneccessary. Already I feel stingy for even writing this, but given that DF will be spending nearly $2000 of our extremely modest income on this trip, I feel like the magic should be all inclusive!

And that's enough outta me!

 

[safetymom]

This is one of those issues that we need to agree to disagree.

I don't think if the total of my tips is $20 for 5-7 days that it now makes my trip too expensive. It doesn't need to be included in the magic. It is something that I did to show my appreciation for the work that the housekeeper did in my room. If it wasn't done correctly then I don't tip. If you feel that not tipping is the way to go for you then do it.

I think these people work very hard for the low salary that they make and if I can tip them maybe I have done something nice for the day. I realize they aren't considered a tipped position but I am sure that most people that go to Disney make more money than they do.

Consider it my random act of kindness for the day to leave a tip for them. When I am in WDW I try to sprinkle a little magic back to the CM's. One time while getting my Dole Whip I said thank you very much when she handed it to me. Her face lit up like she had hit the lottery. She thanked me again. After that I started listening to customers. Very seldom do you hear a thank you when dealing with a CM. So I consider tipping and thank you part of the way I repay the CM's that work to make my visit a magical one.

 

[ceecee]

So if you tip once a week, a larger amount....what if it's a different mousekeeper that day and not the one who cleaned your room all week? That's why I leave it daily. Personally, I like having my bed made and new towels put out and the shoes straightened!!! It's worth a few dollars extra to me to show my appreciation. I just wish I could fiqure out how to print those envelopes........we had one left from last year. This year I have spent hours and can not get them to print!

 

[peachgirl]

One time while getting my Dole Whip I said thank you very much when she handed it to me. Her face lit up like she had hit the lottery. She thanked me again. After that I started listening to customers. Very seldom do you hear a thank you when dealing with a CM. So I consider tipping and thank you part of the way I repay the CM's that work to make my visit a magical one.

I've had this very same experience. I make a point of being extremely polite and friendly to any CM I encounter, even one who I don't think is all that friendly to start with. The transformation in a CM who is a bit on the "grumpy" side once they see you're not going to take their heads off is just amazing.

Sometimes I think they appreciate polite guests more than a few $$'s in tips! Not that the $$'s don't count, but I bet they see "friendly" a lot less than they see tips.