I'm really pleased to see my fellow American FTers generally supporting the housekeeping tip.
I used to live on
minimum wage plus tips when I was a young single guy. To think that most of these people are trying to support a family on $5.15/hr ($10,000 per year), and the VAST majority are friendly, honest, and try to be helpful despite language barriers, what is a few bucks to me?
Our economy, and our wealth as a nation, owes much to a regular supply of immigrant workers attracted by the opportunity of the U.S. Someone supported my people a few generations ago, and I consider it a privilege to be able to do the same to a hard working newcomer.
(And yes, I'd withold a tip for sub-par service, but that is extremely rare. Says a lot about the immigrant work ethic, IMHO.)
Just my .02.
Originally Posted by yashan
What does you mean by "I pay the hotel"?
At the end of a 6 night stay, very happy with housekeeping, I told the front desk clerk I wanted to leave $5 per day, so please add $30 to my folio and have the HK mgr distribute it.
Clerk: "We can't do that." = "I don't know how to do it and I'm a lazy FD clerk unwilling to find out."
Me (direct to FD manager): "I'm sure you can find a way to do it." And I returned to my room to pack.
I also called the HK mgr, who said of course we can do that (confirming my interpretation of "We can't do that.") and she assured me she would distribute it to the maids that tended the room during my stay (and was proudly pleased to hear that I was a satisfied customer).
Bottom line: tip to the deserving, and I get the points for having it on my folio!