Tipping Mousekeeping in a DVC unit

[bytheblood]

couldnt do it. Was paying my tab via credit card and there was no spot for a tip. I asked the server and he said they didnt take tips?

That is interesting. I have never seen any of them refuse a tip. We did the KTTK Tour in December and saw people tipping the guide; they accepted it as well. We were told here on the Dis that they couldn't, but that did not seem to be the case.

 

[disneynutz]

That is interesting. I have never seen any of them refuse a tip. We did the KTTK Tour in December and saw people tipping the guide; they accepted it as well. We were told here on the Dis that they couldn't, but that did not seem to be the case.

Everything at Disney seems to be changing. At one time Walt would not allow tipping or CM's with face hair and long hair cuts.

Latter Disney had a policy that the CM had to refuse the tip three times, but could accept it on the fourth offer. Their logic was if a Guest was that insistent, rather than upset the Guest, let the CM accept it.

I don't know what the policy is currently.

Bill

 

[magicaldisney]

On one of our trips roughly three maybe four years ago, we tried to tip the gentleman with Bell Services and he said they were not allowed to accept tips. We tried a second time and he said "no" again. Too bad for him I didn't know about the rule of "three". In all seriousness though, we were so surprised he said that, because we certainly tipped on other trips before and since.

 

[JWG]

My struggle with tipping mousekeeping is it's not rewarding spectacular service, but in the hopes of getting good service.

If we check in to a fabuloulsy prepared room and I leave a tip on T&T day, the wrong person likely gets the tip. If I leave a tip at checkout I'm gone and there's no knowledge on my part if they provided good service or not for the next guest.

I've ridden both sides of this fence as I do tip service providers fairly aggressively if they do a fabulous job, especially at holiday times. I have no way to gauge service rendered or who rendered in the mousekeeping scenario.

The solution is to call and ask who cleaned the room and leave that person a tip in their name. Which, admittedly, I should do more.

Some hotels I do know and can tip because we get the same housekeeper each day, so I know that I can tip the next day for great service the day before or at the end of a stay.

This has always been the tough one for me.

 

[disneynutz]

I still don't think that we should tip just because someone did their job. Do you get tips from your customers because you did yours?

With all of the Guests who tip Mousekeepers at DVC resorts, why so often are the rooms not cleaned properly?

It also bugs me when a DISer writes that they handed a Mousekeeper a tip and received special visits and extras. We pay for the cleaning and supplies with our dues, so indirectly Mousekeepers are our employees. I would rather see the time spent cleaning everyones rooms instead of giving special attention to someone who influences them with a tip.

Bill

 

[wheredreamsbegin]

The solution is to call and ask who cleaned the room and leave that person a tip in their name. Which, admittedly, I should do more.

This is a great idea.

I am glad that I am not the only one who struggles with this topic. I have enjoyed the dialogue on tipping mousekeeping and am looking forward to reading more. Thank you to everyone who has thrown in their two cents!

 

[DenLo]

Leaving a tip at any resort or hotel does not mean that the person who cleaned your room will receive the tip. Maids have days off and shift changes. Besides I'm leaving the tip for the person who will be cleaning my room on the day I leave the tip. That's why I always tip daily in a regular hotel/motel although some guests tip upon checkout. While at WDW that means on trash and towel day, full cleaning day or check out day. Perhaps it can be considered a bribe to get better service, but it also shows that I appreciate that the maid is doing the work and I'm not.

 

[dianeschlicht]

There is one other little rub... Some hotels specifically discourage leaving tips for housekeeping. The thought there is that it encourages housekeepers to expect that any money left anywhere in the room is theirs for the taking.

DH used to travel a lot for work, and their corporate policy was NOT to tip housekeeping also for that reason. Frankly, if housekeeping did something special for me like bring an extra blanket, or something not normally provided in the villa, I'd tip them at the time it was delivered. That, in my book, is above and beyond. Now if that item I requested was simply missing from the room when it was supposed to be there...nope...no tip.

I hear a lot of people complain about housekeepers knocking on their door early on check out day. Do you thinkg THOSE housekeepers are expecting a tip? I'm guessing if they wanted a tip, they'd leave you alone!

 

[AndriaRose]

I get frustrated because I tried to read the boards and take note of the "should do's", including tipping suggestions. I even made up cute little tip envelopes, and set aside tips for Bell services, Mousekeeping, and made sure I had plenty of ready cash for ADR tips.

The only easy tip situation outside of meal service was our arrival at OKW, where bell services drove us and our luggage to our room. But most others have just been confusing and frustrating. The special envelope marked for mousekeeping and carefully laid out for T&T days, just sits there. So I put that money with the last day envelope and leave it, and hope the right person gets it after we're gone.

Leaving we always carry our luggage to the ME bus, no one comes and gets it. And arriving at BLT it was in the room before we were. So mostly I feel like I'm tossing cash into the great unknown, with no clue if it ever rewards anyone who actually did me a good service

 

[disneynutz]

The tip for your luggage delivery to your room if you use DME is paid to the contractor by Disney as part of their contract. That is why you don't need to be in your room to receive your luggage.

The only reason that you need to be in your room with Bell Services is so you will tip them. The policy is a agreement between Disney and their union.

Bill

 

[Dean]

I have two questions regarding tipping Mouskeeping in a DVC unit:

1. I have read that it is customary to tip $1/day per person in the room. So...if cleaning is done one time during the stay for a family of five, should that family leave $5 on cleaning day or is it more appropriate to leave $5/each day between arrival and cleaning day?

2. Is it customary to leave the same tip for a towel service day and a cleaning day?

Thanks!

Hotel tipping is one of the most difficult things about traveling. I saw a study a few years ago that said that basically 50% of the hotels in the US paid their employees as tipped positions and the other half did not. For timeshares it is definitely not expected unless specifically stated so and I'm not aware of any in the US that expect it. As noted, mousekeeping is not a tipped position at WDW. IMO, the pay scale is irrelevant. I don't think anyone should go around tipping based on their interpretation of the perceived underlying salary of the person, that'd surely make daily life confusing. Tipping for poor or average service in the hope of getting better certainly makes no sense for someone on either side of the isle. OTOH, if they do something specific for you, that is a different ball game. Anyone can tip if they want, however, it might ultimately lead to the position being converted to a tipped one.

 

[Nonsuch]

I most often stay at the Grand California, either hotel or VGC. It seems to me tipping is expected. I tip the valet, bellman, and housekeeping. Generally $5, which is not much considering the price of the hotel.

 

[dbriggsq]

Hotel tipping is one of the most difficult things about traveling. I saw a study a few years ago that said that basically 50% of the hotels in the US paid their employees as tipped positions and the other half did not. For timeshares it is definitely not expected unless specifically stated so and I'm not aware of any in the US that expect it. As noted, mousekeeping is not a tipped position at WDW. IMO, the pay scale is irrelevant. I don't think anyone should go around tipping based on their interpretation of the perceived underlying salary of the person, that'd surely make daily life confusing. Tipping for poor or average service in the hope of getting better certainly makes no sense for someone on either side of the isle. OTOH, if they do something specific for you, that is a different ball game. Anyone can tip if they want, however, it might ultimately lead to the position being converted to a tipped one.

I agree with this particularly the last statement. In modern society we shouldn't put people in the position where they have to rely on hand-outs from complete strangers to make a living.

I think we should be trying to move away from tipping to a society where people are paid a fair wage by their employer and are therefore answerable to them.

Tipping in some circumstances seems to have become more of a bribe and we certainly don't want to go down that road.

I certainly feel uncomfortable pressing money into the hands of people I encounter - it makes me feel as though I'm acting as 'master' and treating the other person as a servant - which is where tipping is thought to originate from - the British class system where one only tipped one's social inferiors.

 

[AndriaRose]

The tip for your luggage delivery to your room if you use DME is paid to the contractor by Disney as part of their contract. That is why you don't need to be in your room to receive your luggage.

That makes me feel better about the luggage. When I got to my room and saw everything already there I was looking around feeling guilty because I didn't know who was supposed to get the tip.

Its frustrating when I feel like I'm supposed to tip, but I never see the person providing the service. Maybe they should all leave signed server cards, then we could decide if and how much their service warrrants a tip - and drop the tip off in their own drop boxes. It would sure make things less confusing for me.

 

[Run Driver]

When I stay in other hotels I customarily tip $2 per day and I leave it on the bed. I want to make sure that I tip the person that is actually making up my room. If I wait and leave it at the end, I may be overtipping one person and not tipping the person that's actually doing the work each day.

I try to apply the same principle when I leave. The only difference is that I don't have to tip each day. I just leave the same tip at the end. I don't tip the T&T service since there isn't really much for them to do since we keep up with our own trash. It's usually bagged and ready to be picked up. Our towels are usually piled in the bath waiting to be picked up.

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[dduffin]

We recently stayed at AKV and on trash & towel day mousekeeping did not come until 4 pm. when we were already back an getting ready for our dinner reservation. When I answered the door and told her we were leaving shortly, she did not offer to come back but just handed me towels and trash bags. Therefore, wound up doing our own mousekeeping. Also when we were checking under chairs, beds, sofas etc. when checking out to make sure nothing was left behind. We found trash and old juice boxes which were certainly not ours. Needless to say, this was the first time we did not leave a tip when staying on our DVC points. When using regular hotel rooms where housekeeping comes every day, we always tip generously and with DVC normally leave some tip but not as much because obviously they are not cleaning after us every day.

 

[Brian Noble]

For our typical trip---four people in a 2BR---I tend to tip $10 on trash & towel day, and $20 for the full service clean.

 

[MIDisFan]

For our typical trip---four people in a 2BR---I tend to tip $10 on trash & towel day, and $20 for the full service clean.

This is exactly how I handle the tip, except we are a family of 5.