Mousekeeping tips?

[canwegosoon]

As a former hotel owner I know many times a guest doesn't leave a tip, it's not a big deal. The staff always does their job, and they get paid their straight salary (unlike a waitress), and will get fired if they do not perform up to standard. Many times that $4-5 dollars is truly appericated and can do a lot to brighten someone's day. IMHO I think that $ 35 for the week(we generally do $5 a day for 2A/2C in a fairly neat room) of picking up, providing fresh towels, and making beds for 15-20 rooms while trying not to disturb guests is a difficult thing to do. I was impressed with the good service we recieved. We had a large number of towels provided every day, and never had to call for extras. There were always a couple of soaps and shampoos each day and on the last day there were several more and toothbrushes. There was also a very creative pool scence out of towel animals. I did have to speak with a room supervisor to get new clean chairs at the table, and also felt the carpet needed a deep cleaning. The supervisors handled this very quickly. I never left the tip in an envelope, just placed it on one of the sinks, only one day was the tip not taken.

Just FYI...I tip the bellperson $1-2 a bag, but not the person who greets the car. (I was told by the carperson(doorman), on my last trip, no thanks...just tip the bell person). But it drives me crazy when you receive your bill at a buffet eg. Chef Mickey or Beirgarten and there is a note reminding you to tip 18-20%. I tip that for sitdown service, but I feel at the buffet where the demands of the waitstaff are not as great, should be more like 10%(I believe this is customary for buffet), but perhaps I am wrong. Does any one know?

 

[Disney4me04]

I like the envelopes you can print. I think I am going to make my own with Disney Stickers I have. Something to do for me to get ready for the trip. Heck I have over a year. I could have those filed and ready to go to!

Now that I have the budget I am going to get the savings going and be ready to buy my airfare asap!

 

[mc97]

Originally posted by Zoesmama03
As a former mousekeeper(All Star) I can say that about 80% of the guests tipped. $1 or $2 a day or $10-$20 at the end. If you choose to tip I would recommend daily because it will be different mouskeepers.

Finally the "inside scoop" on tipping! We usually just tip once upon departure, but we'll try daily this time and see if anything is different/better! We never get the towel animals I'm guessing it's because we don't have kids...what about those of us who are kids at heart?!?!

 

[floridagirrl2]

If you tip daily rather than just at the end of your stay, you are more likely to get better service (I'm speaking about hotel/motel housekeeping in general, not specifically Mousekeeping). (Besides the fact that you may have different housekeepers on different days, and it would be unfortunate for one to get all the money at the end, and the others to get nothing.)

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by canwegosoon
Just FYI...I tip the bellperson $1-2 a bag, but not the person who greets the car. (I was told by the carperson(doorman), on my last trip, no thanks...just tip the bell person). But it drives me crazy when you receive your bill at a buffet eg. Chef Mickey or Beirgarten and there is a note reminding you to tip 18-20%. I tip that for sitdown service, but I feel at the buffet where the demands of the waitstaff are not as great, should be more like 10%(I believe this is customary for buffet), but perhaps I am wrong. Does any one know?

"Customary" is somewhat in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes ot tipping. I figure since they're generally paid the same (below minimum) wage as a "regular" server, I'll compensate them the same as a regular server. Particularly at Disney buffets I've been to, this seems fair to me, since they are way more involved than one trip by the table to drop off refills. My aunt and I ate dinner at the Cape May Cafe in February, and our waitress, Karen, was one of the best we had all week. Very attentive, friendly and talkative without being annoying, etc. My aunt paid, but I think Karen made out like a bandit from our table.

 

[TheJungOnes]

My DW brings a stuffed Disney animal with us on our trips (last year was “little Mikey”, this year was “Safari Goofy”). She leaves it on the bed so the mousekeepers have something to work with.
We tipped $2 per day (left on the pillow) and then $5 on our final day.