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Tipping, hotel housekeeping?

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
I never do because I keep the Do Not Disturb sign on my door for the duration of my stay. Never stayed at a hotel longer than 4 nights so there is typically nothing I need from housekeeping.
 
Not under the pillow, but usually $5.
Ya, the under the pillow is IMO a little weird. That's the tooth fairy's domain

$2/day + whatever change I want out of my pockets.
Usually something similar to this. There have been a few times where I've left the room in a slightly worse than normal state (nothing debaucherous, just something like a lot of empty boxes left behind) and I'll leave a $20 since I know I've caused a kink to their tight schedule.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Depends on the number of nights and the service. I like to leave it in an envelope with a thank you.
 
Maybe next time we visit the same room that we left 15 euros under the pillow, the tooth fairy leave us a Barrister & Mann Seville.
 
I never leave a tip unless the staff go above and beyond in service. I tip well at restaurants, although it still increases with excellent service and decreases with lousy service, but no where else.

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I don't. Tipping is virtually non-existent in Europe and the idea of paying someone extra for doing the job they're paid to do baffles a lot of us.

In the hospitality industry in the U.S. it seems staff aren't paid well and the expectations of tips makes up a lot of their wage, is that true of other service industries?
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I don't. Tipping is virtually non-existent in Europe and the idea of paying someone extra for doing the job they're paid to do baffles a lot of us.

In the hospitality industry in the U.S. it seems staff aren't paid well and the expectations of tips makes up a lot of their wage, is that true of other service industries?

There actually is an exception in the U.S. federal minimum wage for employees that "customarily and regularly" receive more than $30 per month in tips. An employer may pay a greatly reduced minimum wage, so long as the tips at least get the employees wages up to the minimum (the employer must make up the difference if not). I am not aware of any go-to list as to who falls under that, so I am not aware to what extent hotel staff fall under that exception. Waiters and bartenders do. I don't know about housekeeping.

So, yes, the USA is a global oddball when it comes to tipping.

When it comes to hotel housekeeping, I'm one of those that keeps the DND on while I'm staying at a hotel. Outside of a cruise, I cannot recall the last time I spent more than two consecutive nights in the same U.S. hotel. That's not because I'm trying to be some sort of miser, but rather because I typically need nothing and would rather not have someone poking around my room. I'm pretty happy with "a pot and a cot." I don't need fresh sheets and towels every day, nor do I need my trash can emptied. If I ask for something or make something of a mess, I'm happy to tip.

On a cruise, I happily pay any "automatic" or suggested gratuity (which is approaching $20/day for some rooms on some lines but also covers more than housekeeping). In fact, I often add to it. Those folks do a great deal, and I most certainly enjoy their services.
 
The longest I stayed in a hotel was about 63 days. I would leave the dnd on the door unless I needed new towels or linens.
When I’m traveling with my family we normally consolidate all the trash to the trash cans in a corner and I’ll leave a few dollars by the tv
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Mac:
The Mrs. and I usually leave $1 to $5 (in a envelope), per night, depending on room rate. :001_rolle

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"Good service should make you feel tip-sy". CBJ
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
I don't. Tipping is virtually non-existent in Europe and the idea of paying someone extra for doing the job they're paid to do baffles a lot of us.

In the hospitality industry in the U.S. it seems staff aren't paid well and the expectations of tips makes up a lot of their wage, is that true of other service industries?
And as the years go by, we are finding out there are more and more jobs out there that are tippable. It is frustrating that we have to keep things straight because companies don't want to pay their employees. Just tell me what something costs, and don't expect me to have to think about additional, mysterious money that I have to provide.
 
I do. Normally $5 a day left on top of a pillow--sometimes more depending on the mess. I'll place their placard on it as well so that there's no question that it's a gratuity (if there is a placard).

I leave a tip because we travel with kids who seem to trash the room. We also leave behind way more garbage than the average guest because of them. And we go through towels like crazy. I feel that a gratuity is the least we can do for making their job a more difficult.

I used to work at a hotel a while ago and while I was there two housekeepers were terminated for taking money out of rooms and their cases were in arbitration. The housekeepers claimed the money were gratuities. At that time there was a huge push for hotel management to set forth standards to determine whether the money left in the room was a gratuity for housekeeping or the guests' money just sitting around.

The big deal was placement of the cash and change. Apparently the industry standard was that $ on top of the pillow or in the ashtray or on the nightstand or in the housekeeper's placard meant that it was intended for housekeeping. I always remember that when leaving a gratuity now.
 
If they clean like the last crew cleaned my house, I look them right in the face and tell them the dozen reasons I'm not paying them at all.
 
I leave $2 to $3 per day for stays of 2 nights or more. I just leave it on the dresser or desk. Sometimes they take it and sometimes they don’t. If they don’t take it one day I add to for the other days until I leave. But if the room isn’t clean or things are missing, I leave nothing. I’m a pretty neat traveler. I hang my shirts and suits and put my shoes in the closet. I unpack my toiletries and shaving stuff in the bathroom. Everything else stays in my bag. If I was messier I’d probably leave more.
 
If staying more than one night, yup we’ll leave a couple bucks on the dresser. Last summer we spent two nights in a Banff, Alberta hotel for a family wedding. Our room had become “party central” for other members of the family and afterwards on the way back home my wife told me she left twenty bucks for the housekeeping to make amends for the sorry state of the rooms. I revealed that I had given the ladies ten bucks the morning we invaded to get lots and lots of extra towels and other toiletries for the five people who were actually registered for that room.
“Why’d you do that?”
“Let’s see, who ended up using our bathroom the morning of the wedding? The five of us...the father and brother of the bride, your other sister-in-law...”
“I wish you told me before, I wouldn’t have left a twenty.”
“My ten guaranteed a continuous supply of fresh towels and toiletries...your twenty apologized for the sorry state of the rooms afterwards. Nobody went after each other’s throats the morning of the wedding...and with the sheer number of empties we left behind, those gals in housekeeping did pretty good by us.”
 
I don't. Tipping is virtually non-existent in Europe and the idea of paying someone extra for doing the job they're paid to do baffles a lot of us.

In the hospitality industry in the U.S. it seems staff aren't paid well and the expectations of tips makes up a lot of their wage, is that true of other service industries?
I've never understood why here in the states customers are expected to fill in the holes for lousy employers. It has gotten worse over the years also. I have heard so many people in the service industry complain about people that don't tip enough in their opinion. Comments like "If you can't afford to tip appropriately don't go out to eat.". I do tip well based on service but the entitled mentality burns me up. You are not entitled to one cent of my hard earned money, if I decided to give you some then that is my prerogative.
 
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