Housekeeper Gratuities
 

How much does everyone tip the housekeeper at full-service Marriott properties (per night)? Is there a typical guideline? Is it dependent upon the rate of the room? Your feedback would be welcomed.

When I'm travelling it's usually just me and only for one or two nights so I typically don't tip at all. If something extreme happened (bloody nose that dripped on the floor/sheets/etc or a friend happened to get sick in the room the night before) then I generally tip a couple of dollars just because of the added hassle of having to clean it up. The way I personally see it, keeping the room clean is their job, and they get paid non-commission, hourly for it, so if I'm not requiring anything special, then they are already being paid and there's no need for me to "encourage" them to do their job.

On the few occasions that I travel with family and there are more needs from housekeeping (extra soaps, towels, etc) then I generally tip 3-5 bucks/day.

$1-2 per night, maybe half that amount in a developing country.
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13F

Just me, personally...

I generally tip $2 per night (or equivilent in local currency) in most instances.
I usually go $5 for a suite or if the housekeeping service goes or has to go beyond the normal line of duty. On the flip side, if there's an cleanliness or service issue during my stay directly relating to housekeeping, I don't tip at all.

(I'm also a guy who routinely goes 20% or more in restaurants, but also a couple of times a year will write "not aplicable" in the "gratuity" line of a restaurant bill if the service is lousy).

Again, this is just me. I'm not trying to suggest anything to the next person.

$2 a night or so if I am alone. $3 or so if it is Mr Sophie and I. $5 or so if it is a girlfriend and I - as we always need lots of extra towels, coffee, want the sheets changed more often, need more shampoos and soaps, etc.

I usually tip $5, but I do it because I often push checkouts past the deadline (even for late checkouts). Most of my stays are at the Marriott Suites in Herndon, and I throw out a lot of newspapers and occasionally other packing materials.

I also tip higher at Marriott restaurants than at other restaurants, and I usually get the benefit of the doubt if I show up late for breakfast. However, I will complain if service falls short with regards to housekeeping or at restaurants in general.

I tip $1-$2 per day leaving the money on the pillow so the housekeeper knows to take it even if I am not checking out. That way the person actually doing the work gets the cash.

OK, I make a lot of hotel stays each year and I have never tipped the housekeeper. Truthfully, I've never even thought about it. But, by the looks of this thread it seems that I may be in a minority?

So, do others leave the cash on the bed? Where else? Do you tip every day, or at the end of the stay?

I guess I am in a minority too.

I guess I now know better.

I almost never leave a tip for the housekeepers. So I guess I'm in the minority as well. :eek:

Actually, I think those of us who TIP may be in the minority - and it is probably like most other things - personal preference; and a reason for doing so. As stated previously, I almost always ask for extras - pillows, coffee, towels - and that is my thank you to the person providing that service. I will say that I rarely tip when I am only in a place for 1 night.....

To answer wlciii - I leave it every day, and I leave it on the pillow. I found when I was only doing it at the end of my stay, it always seemed that the person who had taken care of my room all week was off that day!

When travelling on business, generally I don't tip housekeeping. It is too much of a pain to get reimbursed for it on my expense report. That said, recently my company has gone to only requiring receipts for expenses in excess of $25 instead of receipts required for everything, so maybe I should reconsider on tipping housekeeping.

When travelling with my family (wife and daughter), we generally tip 2 or 3 dollars per day but only when we are staying more than one night. If we make an unusually big mess, we will tip more. For one night stays, we don't tip. Currently, we leave the tip at the end of our stay. As others have noted the housekeeping staff changes from day to day, so tipping on daily basis would be better. We just need to keep more singles handy to start doing that.

Begin Rant

Housekeepers should be paid better so that tipping isn't necessary. I am always torn between tipping and enabling the hotel industry to keep under paying them vs. not tipping which at least in the short term hurts the housekeepers and not the hotels. Further I fear there will always be people who have limited skills and/or language barriers and hence desperate enough for any job, that there will always be someone to take the underpaid housekeeping jobs. Bottom line, I wish the hotels would step up to the plate and just pay them a reasonable wage so they didn't need to be so dependent on tips.

By the way, does anyone know what the typical hourly wage is for housekeepers at Marriott properties (yes I realize there will be wide variances based on the location)? Also do they get benefits, what do they need to do qualify for them (e.g. length of service, etc.), and what do they have to contribute to their benefit costs? My step mother is an HR director at an RI but I have never felt comfortable asking her those questions. Her property is owned by a big franchiser who owns about 50+ properties mainly with Marriott and Hilton flags. At her property the housekeepers do get health insurance but are otherwise low paid. I don't have any more details then that...

End Rant

I would agree that housekeepers should be paid by the employers to the extent that they don't have to rely on tips -- cover the expense by including it in the nightly rate; that would be fine with me.

But the fact of the matter is that my not tipping doesn't address the issue -- the hotels either don't know or don't care; my money is on the latter., but I do. (And I'm glad I don't have to do wrestle with mattresses for a living, or worse, contend with the sometimes unspeakable conditions that a housekeeper may have to contend with in a vacated room.)

In return for the gratuity I expect that the proper job of cleaning be done --

I won't put up with the slap-dash "cleaning-rinsing" of bathoroom glasses or the lack of dusting and I expect my "Do Not Disturb" signs to be respected and reasonable requests (like an extra pillow) to be fulfilled.

I don't know -- maybe it's guilt.

I will never forget one night in the Ren Mayflower when we were late getting out for dinner.

There was a knock on the door -- for the evening room refreshment

I will never forget the housekeeper (a tiny girl)) coming out of the bedroom or our suite (Plat upgrade), clutching the two one-dollar bills we had left on the pillow.

She came over to me, bowed, curtseyed and proceeded to move backwards toward the door, she felt it mandatory to acknowledge, via that gesture, her station in life..

She was so grateful, seemed on the verge of tears as the result of receiving from us what we considered a pittance. So, unless a housekeeper does something that I dislike or is unreasonable I will continue to leave that tip every morning -- whether or not it is reimbursable..

I don't tip unless I asked for something specific, or if someone gets sick. Happened to me one time, and I left a 20$ and a note. I'm pretty sure it made up for it.

HTSC

Usually $5 per stay although I agree its much better to tip daily so the person doing the work gets it for sure. Buts it more work for us to remember and get lots of singles.

I recall a stay at the Marriott Orlando World Center where I was so impressed that the maid had propped up my small kids sleeping toys on their pillows each day that I wanted to leave a large tip when departing on a Saturday. I ran into a maid in the hallway when leaving and asked if she had been servicing the room all week. She muttered an unfriendly and gruffly "yes" and I gave her the tip anyway but I really had my doubts since the personality didn't jive with the action.

I'm definitely in the camp that people should do their jobs regardless of tip motivation and we have gotten to a level of where its expected regardless of actual delivery, especially in the restaurant and livery trades. And employers should build their true labor costs into their products - $250 a night for a room and they can't afford to pay their staff appropriately? Not to mention the whole cash / tax avoidance issue. I'm no fan of paying taxes but I have no opportunity to hide a % of my W-2 income from taxation. Didn't the skycaps at Boston Logan successfully sued American Airlines when they imposed a service fee instead of tipping that cut into their income tremendously - and the stories of what they can make?

Usually, this will provoke a response like "you never worked where you had to rely on tips" but this isn't true as I delivered newspapers from 11-16 years old and tips were a big part of my meager earnings for maybe $15 a week total. It was tantamount to child slave labor and I was too young to realize it being out in the elements 8 days a week. Try and find a paper boy today !

I'll leave nothing if there is any issue like not leaving new shampoo and mouthwash daily.

I started tipping on the advice of a college adviser who told me that it was the right thing to do before attending a conference. IMO, I would rather leave $5 than have a 10 % service fee levied each day (like a lot of hotels in Asia do).

I tip $1-3 day depending on the service. I factor in things like how clean the room was when we get there as well as how it is each day. Lately I've been leaving the do not disturb sign out and just straightening up myself in any of the hotels that insist on changing the sheets daily and putting out all fresh towels - it's so wasteful. I really prefer the ones who just change the bed every 3 days and that leave the towels that you hang up. It's what I'd do at home anyway....

I wasn't paying enough attention when I scanned this quickly. I just assumed it was written by a man, and I read "Mrs Sophie" where it says "Mr Sophie". The post had an entirely different meaning when I read it correctly. :)

It depends on the country and the service provided.

If I'm in France, Germany, Belgium then I don't tip since the housekeepers are paid a living wage just as the waiter/waitress in a restaurant is paid a living wage.

If I'm in Eastern Europe and receive good service and the room is clean then I tip a few $'s/day. If I'm in Asia then I generally don't tip as I honestly don't know which countries tipping is accepted and which countries it is frowned upon.

In the US I will tip if I've received good service and the room is clean, but truthfully speaking that is few and far between. US and Western European hotels are the worst when it comes to pounding on doors at 10 minutes to 8am saying "housekeeping" - why can't they just get a printout of guest that have checked out???? Pound on my door and guarantee no tip.

At any hotel that charges a service fee I don't tip. I personally have only stayed at one hotel ever that I felt the service fee was in proportion to the services provided.

me too, when I didn't see a squinty eyed character afterwards I had to reread.

And I am have never tipped before either, hmmm.

Every day, so the person doing the work gets the tip. I generally leave $3/day if I'm alone, more if I'm w/someone.

As far as where to leave it, I have a friend who has been an executive housekeeper for several different properties & her advice re: this was to leave it in a clean, dry water glass on the bathroom counter, preferably w/a note that says 'For Housekeeper' or something along those lines so there is no question in the housekeeper's mind as to whether the $$ is a tip & not just cash left out.

I never expense my tips, either, FWIW.

Well, ACTUALLY...........




(just kidding) :D

Normally $1-2 per day and I leave it on the bed/pillow.

I don't tip in the UK.

One another note, the gf is adamant every where we go the maid goes through her makeup and she swears some things go missing, anyone else get that?

David

I'm confused.. you leave less of a tip in poorer countries? :confused:

I wonder if the glass gets replaced after having that money in it.

Some dollar bills have been in interesting places.

Is your GF on meds? :) Once or twice, might be understandable. Everywhere, I doubt.

I'm sorry but to imply that housekeepers are so underpaid that it necessitates tipping (as seems to be a huge undertone here) is quite frankly a lie. Housekeepers may be underpaid, yes, but many professions are (educators, police officers, etc), but they're not paid so little that they could not make a living if tips were not involved (unless you're talking about supporting large families, of which I know middle class families who still struggle with this). A friend of mine's mom is a housekeeper here in Las Vegas and her dad is a simple mechanic, yet they still manage to get by, her having just graduated from Notre Dame (not a cheap school by any means) and the entire family having just moved to a rather nice (albeit modest) home on the SE side of town.

In terms of benefits, it's plain and simple. If they're full time, they receive the same benefits that every other full time Marriott employee receives. If they're part time, they receive PT benefits. One additional benefit that is pretty exclusive to the HK department (although an employee in any department can partake in it) is English as a Second Language classes.

I don't see the big deal. Some of us tip, and some of us don't. The cat has been let out of the bag, and it is too late to put it back. There was an article that mentioned that this started in the 1970s in the United States.

I don't tip when I pick up food at a restaurant or leave money in a tip jar. I am sure others do.

Correct. If the maid is earning a salary of $300-$500 (or less) per month, receiving a tip of $2 per day per room they service is totally out-of-scale with the local economy. University profs and policemen would be lining up for jobs as hotel maids.
--
13F

I tip $2-$3 per day to housekeeping.

I leave the money on the pillow. Howekeeping always treats me well when I travel, and I appreciate their effort.

I understand the point that you are trying to make, but your example fails to set out a persuasive argument. We don't know what other sources of revenue the family may have such as other familial assistance, the deal/debt that they got on their home, and the sources of financial aid for college that they received. More importantly, we don't know if any of these would have been possible without tips.

A more persuasive argument would be for us to know how much a housekeeper makes before and after tiips.

Business travel - I leave 0$ about 99% of the time. Sometimes there will be something that they will do which warrants a tip and this tends to happen more so with concierge lounge attendants rather than with maids.

Pleasure travel - I leave a tip...2-3$ per day.

I'm bothered ever so slightly by the whole tipping thing....Perhaps part of it is my personal experience with going from poverty and living on foodstamps and not having many luxuries in life to a half decent job and life style, that I look at it as a personal choice they make.

If they want to be successful, they can be and there's no need for me to subsidize their lack of desire for a better future. I tip usually because the person is doing something I don't have the skillset or desire to do. If they are providing a service they are employed to do (be it a Starbucks barrister to a maid) they are only doing their job.

Ditto. I leave it on the pillow, and on the few occasions where I tipped in the UK, I'd return to my room and usually find that the tip had been declined.

To quote yourself, "your example fails to set out a persuasive argument". Since you want to argue logic and linguistics, we is a collective term of which I would be a part of that collection. I DO know these things, as previously stated I have a personal relationship with this person, so it is in fact YOU who does not know not we. Or is the implication here that I am a liar? So go back to tipping your housekeepers and quit trying to dictate what I do and don't know about my own life.

Although earlier in my traveling life I did not tip, I have changed that attitude and am in the $1-2/day camp.

I greatly appreciate the daily tip idea as most of my stays are 6 nites and I do realize that this is not fair to the maid that has been there all week. I shall break a $20 at the beginning of my stays and begin to tip daily

Perry

Dude, Chill. Your reply is ridiculous and your linguistic parsing is wrong. WE refers to the readers of YOUR post. WE, in this instance, does not include YOU.

"We" is actually an ambiguous form which cannot appropriately be used to exclude me without some qualifier which you did not provide (as in fact intent cannot be properly relayed under these circumstances). Since the FlyerTalk community is in fact one and not divided into sects, an ambiguous use of we would include everyone on the boards, which yes would include myself. An appropriate wording to further your case could have been along the lines of "those of us reading your posts" however the manner in which you initially presented it was linguistically inappropriate. I have no problem arguing linguistics. English is in fact my third language and I take great pride in my mastery of it. If you want to continue to argue semantics the go right ahead but I say we keep in the helpful nature of FlyerTalk and put it behind us :)

I will even go so far as to say I'm sorry for my earlier post as I will admit I was a bit quick and brash to fly off the handle...

Agreed. We should let the linguistics drop. And congratulations on English being your third language. ^ I would never have guessed. I wish I had your skills in mastering foreign languages.

To bring it back on target, does anyone know how much housekeepers are paid?. My recollection ( which is often wrong ) is that in San Francisco major hotels, they were making about $11/hr at the expiration of the last contract. Not great money, especially for the Bay area, but not poverty, either.

It really depends but if the housekeeping is just doing their normal job i.e. ignoring the DND sign on the door etc. I don't tip.

Would you consider America to be a developing country? :rolleyes:

I am happy to be a member of the same minority.

Surely the idea of a tip is to give a personal thankyou for a job well done, whether or not you can claim it on your expenses should not come into the equation.

Why single out housekeepers? Everybody should get paid enough not to have to depend on tips.