Tipping and "neatness"

[Tara]

NOTE - this is not a thread about whether or not it is appropriate to tip housekeepers in hotels. All controversy-seekers, kettle-stirrers and devil's advocate players please direct your attention to the approximately 87 different refillable mug threads going at any one time.

So -- I am almost obsessively neat when I am in a hotel. All clothes get hung up or put in drawers, dirty clothes go in a bag in the closet, suitcases are stowed in the closet or under the bed, we keep toiletries put away when we aren't in the room and I don't leave a bunch of stuff out. I don't make the bed, but I also don't leave it all jumbled.

That said, we tip $1 per person per day. I wonder if those who decide to tip mousekeeping take into consideration the amount of cleaning that needs to be done and tip accordingly? If so, what sorts of things would make you tip extra? Just curious...

edited because somehow I deleted my winkie face at the end of my note

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We tip $1 per person, per day. I actually print out my tip envelopes, fill them, and seal them before we leave. Then I just set out a new envelope each morning before we go to the parks.

We aren't that sloppy, and there are just 3 of us. DS is 9 so he doesn't leave crumbs all over or anything. We don't have diapers in our trashcan, we don't leave clutter all about the room, we put wet towels in the tub, etc. We don't make the beds but we don't tie the sheets in knots, either.

If there was some sort of extraordinary mess we would probably add a couple of $ to the tip. I know we aren't obligated to tip, I just think it is a thoughtful thing to do. If the service is just horrid then I would call and complain, but since you never know if the same person is cleaning each day I would still continue to leave the tip.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

We arent neat. But we arent slobs either. There were a couple days that I left more than the $5 that I had envelopes made for. The kids decided they wanted to sleep on the floor and took the blankets all the way off the bed and had half the sheets torn off. The other time was when I was drinking out of my refillable mug while in bed and I spilled it all over the comforter

 

[mickeysaver]

We usually do leave $1/person/day too, but we do leave an extra dollar or two, if we have been particuarly messy. We had left tips for the Mousekeepers when we stayed in December, but only twice out of 7 days did they take it. The day that we were surprised with the gift of towel animals, the mousekeeper did not take the tip that we had left for her/him. Maggie

Edited to include....
We always have clearly marked envelopes that are laying out in the open with the tips in them. I have no idea how they could have been mistaken as anything other than a tip for Mousekeeping.

 

[experiment626mom]

I clean up before we leave too, and still leave a dollar a day. I would say that if something needs to be done other than the bed making, vacuuming and bathroom clean up, I would leave more.

 

[pandora174]

We usually do leave $1/person/day too, but we do leave an extra dollar or two, if we have been particuarly messy. We had left tips for the Mousekeepers when we stayed in December, but only twice out of 7 days did they take it. The day that we were surprised with the gift of towel animals, the mousekeeper did not take the tip that we had left for her/him. Maggie

That happened to us too at the BWI that they never took the tip even when I left it day after day ? We never understood that. I left it on the table, clearly visible.

 

[Lewisc]

Disney doesn't consider housekeeping a "tipped" position. For some (many) guests extra is anything more than zero.

I increase my housekeeping tip when we ask for and receive extra towels. I'd increase my tip if we left an extra mess such as spilling something or even if someone got sick.

Some hotels supply coffee. I'd increase me tip if I got extra coffee.

 

[sugermouse]

We do the same..........................

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Unless the money is clearly labeled as a tip for mousekeeping it doesn't surprise me that it wasn't taken. Not everyone leaves a tip and you can just imagine the stink if someone took money that wasn't intended for them!!
We leave our tip in a clearly labeled envelope in a spot they can't miss - Usually propped up in front of the phone.
We left $5 a day for 3 of us - I'm neat DH isn't and we only got towel animals when a certain mousekeeper was working. I would imagine that not all mousekeepers know how to make them!

My dd5 added the smilies! She thought they were silly

 

[Tetonman]

We just returned. We tipped extra for mousekeeping to clean our room before 1:00 pm each day instead of the normal 3:00 for our floor. We wanted our children to nap without interruption when we left the parks around 1:00 or so...

We also tipped extra for our sheets to be changed early after our 2 yr old spilled his milk in our bed.

Good service that goes beyond the ordinary is what tips are for imho.

 

[swilphil]

We usually do leave $1/person/day too, but we do leave an extra dollar or two, if we have been particuarly messy.

This is what I did also. With a 2 year old and 4 year old, things can definitely get messy in such a small space when I'm rushing to get out of there in the morning. I did notice that when I tipped a little more at the beginning of our trip, I received lots of extra towels and toiletries for the rest of the trip.

Our tip was always taken. I left it next to the ice bucket and glasses.

 

[jonestavern]

$5 per day & we are very tidy. If the room was left nasty--bathrm unscrubbed, no vacuuming, no clean towels, no shampoos--I would call manager but still leave tip for next day, as not always same Mousekeeper
I would like to see the towel animals!
While back at the ranch, I personally, have never been left a tip for 'Momkeeping', however!

Jean

 

[cowtownmom]

We tipped $4 a day - a dollar for each of us. I left the tip envelope on the bathroom counter/ledge each day where they were easy to find. Since the glasses are changed out each day, I knew the envelope would be spotted there. On our first day, the person doing mousekeeping even left us a note thanking us for the tip! She made us animal towel toothbrush holders the next day!

 

[skiwee1]

We are very neat too. We tip $5 a day for two adults and one child.

 

[Julia M]

Disney doesn't consider housekeeping a "tipped" position. For some (many) guests extra is anything more than zero.

I increase my housekeeping tip when we ask for and receive extra towels. I'd increase my tip if we left an extra mess such as spilling something or even if someone got sick.

Some hotels supply coffee. I'd increase me tip if I got extra coffee.

Lewis, I do the same thing. I tip $5 per day for the 5 of us. If I would have extremely poor housekeeping, I'd reduce it, but that hasn't happened.

I sometimes request "extras". If they are given, I often add a buck or two. If our room was "trashed", I'd leave more, too, but that doesn't usually happen. If I wanted extra coffee, I'd request that, too.

As a side note.....in Vegas a few years ago, at Mandalay Bay, I left a tip and asked for some extra bath crystals (I LOVED that big soaking tub!!) Not only was I left the bath crystals, and extra towels, I was given the upscale toiletries from the spa.....it was a nice treat. I met a housekeeper, who let us peek in one of the suites, and he told me that they got their best tips from the "regular" rooms, not the suites.

 

[WDWBetsy]

We leave $2 a day (there's 2 of us) and I also tidy up the room a little bit. I also make up special mousekeeping envelopes to thank them for their service. If I recall, we received at least one thank you note in return.

 

[Brina]

we have 3 kids under the age of 5 - things get pretty messy. we usually tip a dollar or two extra per day.

 

[ducklite]

Tara, I'm like you.

We are also very neat and tidy. You generally wouldn't even know we were there if you didn't open a drawer or closet.

We generally leave $1-2 per person per day, depending on the type of room we're in.

We tip $2-3 per day for turndown as well.

Anne

 

[pyrxtc]

I'm definately leaving a tip but what are my chances of getting towel animals if I'm staying on points? I only get mousekeeping once while I'm there.

 

[ducklite]

We've been DVC membres for seven years and have never gotten a towel animal while staying at a DVC resort.

Anne