Tipping Mousekeeping didnt work for us!

[marijeff]

Well, we used the envelopes and tipped mousekeeping. The first day we got a small towel bird, but the next 5 days we got nothing. We were at POR/CSR/POR (don't ask...see my other post) and while walking from our lodge towards the food court, we passed whole units where the maids had opened the blinds and arranged all the kids stuffed animals and dolls with a large towel elephant (there was a ledge right under the window) to welcome the guests home. It was really neat to see rows of windows like this. My kids were fairly disappointed that we did not find that at our room. I suppose it depends on your mousekeeper and perhaps how busy they are. Just FYI.

 

[melindaandrob]

We didn't have much luck with Mousekeeping either. The first couple of days we had stuffed animals arranged on the beds. The kids loved it. I think the housekeeping person changed though because the room deteriorated the rest of the week! Garbages weren't emptied, it looked like they made the beds and that was it. There were 5 of us in the room so I was diligent about putting things away, if the room had been a wreck I could see how housekeeping wouldn't want to come in LOL.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We have NEVER had towel animals at ANY of the Disney resorts during ANY of our numerous stays ! And we have tipped. Did no good. We did see a display of them in the windows at a mansion room at PO. We finally figured out this room was unoccupied and they were just there to amuse us all !

 

[DisneyMim]

I know how disapointed kids can be when they look forward to something and also see other people's rooms looking so cute. From my own experience, MANY visits to WDW since 1970's, everywhere from value to deluxe. we always tip and have found that it really really depends on the CM from mousekeeping. Some trips we get tons of attention from them, other times nothing. This past April we stayed in AKL and tipped very well. We had one CM who was a doll, every day she left us little "surprises", tons of extra soap, towels, etc. Our room was spotless. Well, one day the room as not quite the same. We didn't think too much about it, have way too much fun!! LOL!!, BUT two mornings later our regular mousekeeper stopped us in the hall and apologized for the poor job the day before. She had the day off and another CM took her place. When she went into our room the next day (after her day off) she said she noticed things weren't done right and fixed them. What I'm trying to say and probably too long-winded (LOL!!!) is that this story really showed us is how much of a difference the right CM makes. Also if you are really unhappy you can call mousekeeping and ask for extra things. They have always been very accomodating with us. Sorry mousekeeping wasn't all you expected. I'm betting next time it will be different.

 

[Peter Pirate]

IMO, leaving tips for mousekeeping & having the little towel animals made are two completely differnt issues. Tip's should be left in gratitude for the mousekeepers good work in the cleaning of your room. Anything extra that comes your way is a bonus and should not be construed as something you "purchased" with your tip. (BTW marijeff, I'm not saying you had this specific mind-set, just in general)

These boards do a lot of good but they also lead us to expectations that are sometimes out of the ordinary, IMO. If someone gets something special, all of a sudden everyone EXPECTS it...

 

[wdwnutze]

We only had special things done by mousekeeping on our '96 trip. The kids loved coming back to the resort(CBR) to find what was waiting for them.
I will say that I was more disappointed that we never had them again on our other trips than the kids were. Reading these boards does raise your expectations. It does depend on who is cleaning the room and tipping has nothing to do with it. I am now just happy when I come back to a clean room and find everything in order. After all, that is their job, not making towel animals. Anything besides a clean room and fresh towels is a bonus. If you get them enjoy them and if not--oh well!

 

[DisneyDazed]

Back in December my boyfriend and I stayed at CBR over Christmas thru New years. We loved the resort and in the spirit of the season tipped generously. It went unappreciated by our reg mousekeeper. I got REALLY sick 4 days into the trip and had to have a doc visit the room only to tell me I had strep! The next 3 days I was in bed and totally did not want to be disturbed... we told the maid personally and called mousekeeping to also let them know. Despite all that AND the DO NOT DISTURB sign... she would kncock on our door very early in the morning...in the after noon and once again before she left! She even had the nerve to tell me I should get out and go get a bite to eat so she could clean! I found it irritatting and rude. Well I got better after 3 days and we still had 7 days left on our trip so we politely asked mousekeeping if we could have a different person and told them what happened. They were great apologized and gladly gave us a new person. WHo was fabulous and was appreciated greatly by us. Sorry so long. I guess I got long winded *S*

 

[BCV23]

Sorry for your disappointment, but what I tip for is a clean room done in a timely manner. The towel animals are so cute and certainly fun to get but I'd hate it if the towel animal thing prevented a tired family just arriving from getting in their room earlier or slowed down daily service so that our room wasn't serviced by the time we got back to it after lunch. Over many trips, mousekeeping has almost always accomplished the latter which is why we tip. It must have been very hard for your little ones to see all those windows, though.

 

[Poohbear123]

My last trip in February, housekeeping was horrible.. I arrived on Fri. and when I returned to my room on Sat. I tipped the girl in person, seeing she had just finished my room. The next day, Sunday, I came back, and my room was ONLY vacumned....that was it! So, I put the DO NOT disturb sign out for the remainder of my stay, and DID NOT tip when I left!

 

[Ted and Holly]

Thank you Peter Pirate for so nicely putting my thoughts into words!! I do not like this thread!!

Housekeeping CM's are there to keep your room shiny and clean. I think they do a great job with that!! IMHO, they deserve to be tipped for good service, not because you expect something in return, whether it be extra soaps or towel animals. The CM's that do those things are not required to, and I HOPE do not do this on the basis of if and how much they were tipped!

Please do not go to Disney expecting all of the housekeepers to decorate your rooms if you tip them!

Holly

 

[Disney1]

"Housekeeping CM's are there to keep your room shiny and clean."

"Please do not go to Disney expecting all of the housekeepers to decorate your rooms if you tip them"

If this is the case, then housekeeping should not be tipped. I have never been to any other five star resort, paying these prices and had to pay extra for regular maid service. Regular Maid service is included in the cost of the room.

Please do not encourage Disney visitors to tip if they can not expect extra service.

Thanks

 

[Ted and Holly]

Disney 1: It is completely one's choice to tip housekeeping. I am simply saying that tipping is to reward good service. If you believe that and you tip, do not expect anything in return. Otherwise, it is no longer "tipping."

If anyone wants to hire someone to come make little towel animals while you are on vacation, I'd be happy to volunteer! Airfare and lodging a must!

 

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by Disney1
If this is the case, then housekeeping should not be tipped. I have never been to any other five star resort, paying these prices and had to pay extra for regular maid service. Regular Maid service is included in the cost of the room.

Please do not encourage Disney visitors to tip if they can not expect extra service.

Thanks

I know many frequent travelers who do not tip for maid service. The rationale is that it IS part of your expected services.

IMO, leaving tips for mousekeeping & having the little towel animals made are two completely differnt issues. Tip's should be left in gratitude for the mousekeepers good work in the cleaning of your room. Anything extra that comes your way is a bonus and should not be construed as something you "purchased" with your tip. (BTW marijeff, I'm not saying you had this specific mind-set, just in general)

My good friend Mr Pirate states it perfectly.

Tip for above average service but expectation can wreck your vacation.

IMO, get the towel animal and tip accordingly but to tip and expect something is way off base.

 

[marijeff]

I, too, agree with everyone that tipping is completely optional and should be in reward for a clean room. Our mousekeepers all kept our rooms very nice, so we did continue to tip. It was just a bit difficult to explain to our DSs, 5 and 8, why some rooms were so obviously displayed with items and ours was not. Perhaps mousekeeping shouldnt do that, but keep things inside for that particular guest's enjoyment. Point of the thread wasn't to blast mousekeeping, but just as an FYI to people. My kids seemed fine with the explanation that our mousekeeper was too busy and had too many rooms to clean and wouldnt want to hold people up. But....the question would not have even been asked if that one entire lodge hadnt been set up in that particular fashion.

 

[Bob NC]

LOL....My opinion is that it isn't 'magic' if it's a scheduled policy.

Memo: "Everyone will receive a towel muscrat in their room at 2 pm".

Lets not bring this down to the lowest common denominator of, "Unless everyone can receive the same magic, there will be none for everyone".

 

[dcgrumpy]

I don't think you should tip with the expectation of getting towel animals. I tip housekeeping whenever I stay at a hotel and never expect extras because of it.


Maybe not all of the maids are talented enough to make towel animals. Plus I am sure they are on some sort of a time schedule. If they spent all of their time making towel animals in every room, they wouldn't have enough time to clean.

 

[AllyandJack]

We got a cute towel animal that held our toothbrushes and we kept it for the entire trip. One day we ran into our maid in the hallway and she thanked us and said not many people leave a tip and she really appreciated it. That meant a lot because it's nice to know that, even though I don't assume all maids are poor and need tips, I was able to make someone feel appreciated for the work they do. However, my favorite was at YC. At the end of our trip our maid left us a note thanking us and wishing us a safe trip home. This was in November of last year and the wish for a safe trip home was really moving. We didn't get any towel animals, but we didn't care and we still have that note from the maid.

Having said that, we don't have kids who might look forward to it and I can see that it might be hard for the kids who see that other rooms have fun things from the maids while theirs doesn't. I'm sure they'll get over it though - they're in Disney, afterall and towel animals aren't exactly the main attraction!

 

[Ted and Holly]

Nice Story AllyandJack!

And good point, BobNC! Disney magic should not be scheduled or "paid" for!

Better luck next time on the towel animals!

Not to start a new debate, but when we have had male housekeepers, we do not get towel animals!

 

[Gagebre]

I don't really care about towel animals and such, although I think my kids would probably get a kick out of them. I also saw rooms with the open curtains with stuffed animals. I was just disappointed that they hadn't been to my room when I returned around 5:00pm to get ready to go out to eat.

 

[Disney-Kim]

Our mousekeeping was poorer by comparison to past years. I figured it was due to cutbacks.
At the CSR our room was never done before 4pm. this is pushing it imho. we had no animals or anything...room cleaned fine.

at the Polynesian I felt the mousekeeping was a little below par as I noticed they left fewer towels as the days went by. the last day we had no hand towels or washcloths.

last year at the CBR and the BC we got small animals and cards left on the bed saying have a great stay and stuff.......