ebuck

I continue to tip when I leave a hotel, mostly because I know people are struggling with lower occupancy rates and job security. I've actually been tipping more since the pandemic, since I know service workers are being hit hard. I haven't been to a restaurant to dine in, but have done take out, and I always leave a large tip, even though I'm not using the wait staff.

Kacee

When housekeeping will be cleaning the room only once (i.e., upon departure), I leave them one night's tip. It's not like the housekeepers' pay has increased during the pandemic.

flyertalker28120

I might be sort of the odd man out in this thread, as I'm hailing from a European country with not so significant a tipping culture as the US.

Just wanted to throw in that while I'm not an overly generous tipper, I do tend to be more and not less lenient about tipping these days, despite the fact that some services are reduced. I think wait staff and housekeeping are not benefitting from the current situation. If services are reduced, they just get to clean more rooms or the like. It's not that their workload goes down. Also, both housekeeping as well as wait staff are sort of in a high-risk group covid-wise.

Sisosig

In Europe, I think it is not common to leave a tip for housekeeping. In the past I often left a 2 euro coin. But since about 2018 - so even before covid19 - about everywhere I'm paying contact-less. Had to go to a store, buy something for a euro and get two coins in change, so I could leave a tip. Nowadays, even the stores I'm visiting have a sign posted, asking to not pay in cash. So I'm fully cash-less now, all I've got left are some dimes and some car-wash coins, that also work well in supermarket carts.

In my wallet I still had a 5 euro note, a 10 euro note and a twenty. Mostly this year I didn't tip, but I left these notes when I got an upgrade to a far better room with daily housekeeping and Nespresso capsules restocked every night. And I left the twenty, when they completely made the bed with new sheets and took away the empty beer bottles halfway the two night stay. (Also saved 50 euro by not parking at that particular hotel, instead parked for free and walked a couple of kilometers.) But now I'm also out of small bills, so I think no more tips for the rest of the season.

By the way, 9 out of 10 Hilton-family hotels I visited were serving a decent breakfast buffet, you just had to reserve a time slot.

threecap

No. Hotels charge customers enough to maximize RevPAR. Period.

Zeeb

I'll normally tip housekeeping but if they aren't making up the room or otherwise providing any service then I wouldn't be tipping because there's nothing tip them for. I feel like if you're leaving money at that point it isn't a tip, it's just a donation.

hedoman

I'd imagine they are fairly paid. Customers are not burdened. Some on here feel like donating money to housekeeper, for whatever reason. I cannot figure it out.

jeff191

That probably depends on the hotel and what they charge but average housekeeping salary is really low. Sadly it's pretty much how the model works for service industry jobs in US where tips are a part of total compensation. The model irritates me and I hate figuring out who to tip and how much all the time but withholding tips based on a philosophical stance hurts the wrong people. Do I wish it worked differently? Absolutely but until something changes I figure if I choose to stay in hotels, tips are part of the deal.

I honestly feel better tipping housekeeping as they're the ones that have to clean up after me vs. tipping the valet to get my car from sometimes less than 100 ft. away.

azepine00

We try to leave a bit more - hk workload is much less and yet they are not unemployed to get federal relief funds.

seat38a

Outside of the US, many countries automatically add 10% service charge to your bill. If service charge is added per local custom, then I leave nothing. Most Marriott properties are doing on request housekeeping and when I request it, I leave couple of dollars before leaving my room. BearX220 during this pandemic, I've stayed at Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Intercontinental and a bunch of Marriott properties and not a single one of them was as bad as your recent stay. Ice machines were always operational. Are you sure that your hotel wasn't doing housekeeping on request during COVID? Even the Holiday Inn Express's manage something for breakfast. But yeah, no service no tip. There is absolutely no ethical dilemma about it.

IAN-UK

Me neither. But I feel no guilt about not tipping when people DO clean my room, so I'm perfectly ready to believe that those who tip do so whether they receive service or not.

In a US hotel I, and others, got our own (free) breakfasts from the buffet: waiters brought round zero-sum bills and some nutters dutifully tipped. I now accept the concept of tippers tipping, regardless of service.

Close2KADS

I’ve had about a half-dozen hotel stays since April, always two nights or fewer. Typically I would leave $2 per night for housekeeping. Since there’s no daily service, I have been leaving $5 per visit. Someone does still have to clean my room, and whoever does probably has a bit more trepidation about it.

AlanInDC

I've been tipping more in the pandemic. I figure that cleaning a room is more work now than before. Also I'd guess that housekeeper's hours have been cut in general, given the much lower occupancy levels and not doing room cleaning daily. I imagine housekeepers, like wait staff and a number of others, are making somewhat less than pre-pandemic.

seat38a

I used to think cleaning a room is more work now until I stayed at the SF Intercontinental. With the amount of dust on everything, there was no way anyone wipes things down with disinfectant. The bathroom faucet was full of fingerprints and smudges which from what I could tell wasn't from just a single visitor to be that dirty. They got ZERO tip since I went around and cleaned the room myself with my own Clorox wipes.

Eujeanie

I would not have done that...I would have called the Head of Housekeeping and had someone come to look and see and explain. If you do it yourself how do they know or not know what their staff is doing/not doing?