Originally Posted by dannyr
I was staying in Bali a few years ago to return home to see my laundry bag (that I planned to take home and launder myself) had been cleaned, and ironed, without me asking. I was never charged for this, but I assumed that my 50 IDR was clearly enough to keep housekeeping in my good books.
Are you sure you don't mean 50000 IDR or at least 5000 IDR? The exchange rate currently is around 10,000 IDR per USD. So a 50 IDR tip is worth less than a penny. Even relative to the low wages paid in Bali, 50 IDR is not a lot of money and probably would be considered insulting -- more or less equivalent to leaving a 2 cent tip at a restaurant in the US for a $100 meal.