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Post by lucyg on Aug 24, 2019 4:59:44 GMT
I’m in my 60s, and my parents and grandparents always tipped housekeeping as far back as I can remember. After I replied to Patter the first time, I was wondering if maybe this was regional. But if I remember right, you live in CA. Is that where you grew up? If so, that blows my theory out of the water since I grew up NH. About as far apart in the US as you can get. Yeah, but my mom grew up in Buffalo, New York, and we spent lots of time there growing up. So I always felt we had a combination California/Northeast upbringing.
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Post by juliet on Aug 24, 2019 5:34:08 GMT
I’m in my 60s, and my parents and grandparents always tipped housekeeping as far back as I can remember. Very, very interesting. Now I grew up in Europe so maybe that's why my family has never learned to do that. European Peas, is that something that's done? Nope, we don’t tip over here (in The Netherlands at least). Hotels just pay their employees a fair wage.
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joelise
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Post by joelise on Aug 24, 2019 8:03:24 GMT
I’m in the UK, I have travelled a lot all around the world and I have only ever tipped the housekeeper once, in Dubai, it was a long stay and she was exceptional. As far as I know none of my friends tip housekeeping. I don’t think that it’s something British people do generally.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 6, 2024 3:36:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2019 8:36:42 GMT
I've never tipped anyone in a hotel, never even heard of it till the Peas brought it up. I have no intentions to start doing it either.
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Post by Patter on Aug 24, 2019 10:30:45 GMT
Thank you, thank you lainey, joelise, and juliet. It definitely must be a "regional" thing because I grew up in England and Germany, and we never did this. I was never taught it either. Glad to know it's still not something done in Europe. Now I wonder if it's regional in the U.S.
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ddly
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Jul 10, 2014 19:36:28 GMT
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Post by ddly on Aug 24, 2019 14:54:19 GMT
we typically tip $5/day, but we are two adults who clean up after themselves
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Post by katlady on Aug 24, 2019 15:11:29 GMT
I tip once upon leaving. I leave the do not disturb sign up for my whole stay. I don't like the idea of housekeeping coming and going while my stuff is in the room. Hotel soul mate! I recently learned, though, that the sign is not necessarily 100% effective. On my trip to Vegas earlier this month, I happened to be in the room when someone from housekeeping tried to enter for a "welfare check." I get that it was probably really more about security, especially since I had a strip-facing room, but I was still a little annoyed. They didn't bother me after that, though. I have seen a couple of times that some hotels now have a note on the “do no disturb” sign that says that if the sign is out for more than a couple of days, they will come into the room to do a “welfare check”. Sign of the times I guess.
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Post by katlady on Aug 24, 2019 15:13:46 GMT
I had no idea. We have never tipped for housekeeping. Yep, tipping is out of control. My husband always traveled the world, and it was never anything he felt he was to do. When did this become a "thing"? Just curious. I’m in my 60s, and my parents and grandparents always tipped housekeeping as far back as I can remember. West coast gal here, near 50, and my parents did too. I learned from them to leave a tip. I always just thought it was what you did. ETA - I remember they always left it on the bathroom counter under an ashtray, back in the days when there were ashtrays in the rooms.
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RedSquirrelUK
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Aug 24, 2019 15:22:03 GMT
I’m in my 60s, and my parents and grandparents always tipped housekeeping as far back as I can remember. Very, very interesting. Now I grew up in Europe so maybe that's why my family has never learned to do that. European Peas, is that something that's done? No. Tipping in Europe in general is not expected, just appreciated. Service charges are included on restaurant meals, and there are minimum/living wage laws. The US tipping culture and wage laws are very different from where I live. What with rabies, pit bulls, cats being allowed to fly in plane cabins and the fear of being shot for not tipping correctly, the thought of visiting the US scares me slightly!
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snyder
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Apr 26, 2017 6:14:47 GMT
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Post by snyder on Aug 24, 2019 15:29:12 GMT
We do a lot of road trips, so it is like 1 or 2 day stays. Even with longer stays, we rarely use maid service as we don't need clean sheet everyday or our bed made. Once in a great while we ask for towels. I have never tipped, parents never tipped. I don't see doing your job of bringing me a set of towels is going above and beyond. They may make minimum wage, but there are a lot of people out there that make minimum wage; clerks in department stores, fast food workers and they don't get tips.
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Post by walkerdill on Aug 24, 2019 15:39:06 GMT
If I have cash on me I tip. If I don't then I don't tip. I wish you could add a tip on your bill like at restaurants. That would be way more convenient & they would probably get more tips.
My mother was a housekeeper at The Grand Floridian for Disney for years. She NEVER got a tip left in the room. Weather nobody ever left a tip or if managers went in & took tips before housekeeping got there we will never know.
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Post by lucyg on Aug 24, 2019 17:17:14 GMT
If I have cash on me I tip. If I don't then I don't tip. I wish you could add a tip on your bill like at restaurants. That would be way more convenient & they would probably get more tips. My mother was a housekeeper at The Grand Floridian for Disney for years. She NEVER got a tip left in the room. Weather nobody ever left a tip or if managers went in & took tips before housekeeping got there we will never know. I find it extremely unlikely that no one ever left a tip so I’m going to go with management stealing the tips. (For every one of you saying you never heard of tipping housekeeping before the peas ... well, we’re even. Because I never heard of NOT tipping housekeeping before the peas.) I always leave a note with the tip that says “for housekeeping — thank you!” because someone once told me that the manager at our local nice motel here in town always goes in first and claims the tips for “lost & found” before housekeeping can get in there, unless it’s specifically labeled for housekeeping.
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Post by just PEAchy on Aug 24, 2019 18:10:22 GMT
Now, I’m intrigued. For those of you (especially the European peas) who don’t tip housekeeping, do you tip skycaps, bellhops, valets or the person who brings something you request to your room? We tip all of these people, that’s what I was told to do way back when I started traveling regularly. I’ve been doing this for many years, so I don’t think it’s part of the “tipping is out of control” issue.
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sassyangel
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Jun 26, 2014 23:58:32 GMT
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Post by sassyangel on Aug 24, 2019 18:12:26 GMT
My parents were here for five weeks and were so confused by tipping. I gave them a google printout to help them of what should be tipped, and told them acceptable tipping rates for each, but from their questions it didn’t cover everything. They kind of felt like people had their hand out for almost everything, this time. 😕 And this is their third trip here.
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sassyangel
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Post by sassyangel on Aug 24, 2019 18:22:03 GMT
I’m a very frugal person, but I tip housekeeping. They work hard and deserve anything they can get. Do I think the fancy waiter deserves 20+% for the expensive meal? No. It’s no more work than serving at a humble establishment. I hate that they expect a percentage. But housekeepers do often unpleasant work, and people begrudge them a few dollars a day. People who are spending hundreds or thousands on treating themselves. On gambling, drinks, meals, shows, shopping, amusement parks. I agree that the American system of businesses underpaying employees and expecting their customers to make up the difference is ridiculous. This money is usually not reported, so taxes are not paid in it, social security is not factored in, all in all it’s a stupid system that is good for no one but the businesses. But while this system is in place, I will absolutely find money for the housekeepers. This is kind of how I feel. I don’t like the system, and I don’t like that it’s seems it’s only getting more widespread. But as long as it is the system, then I’ll do it.
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Post by librarylady on Aug 24, 2019 18:29:42 GMT
We usually put do not disturb on during the stay and then when we leave, trash is in containers, towels where the staff instructs etc. I think $5 is OK for that.
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mallie
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Post by mallie on Aug 24, 2019 19:59:37 GMT
I am from NYC and we started being able to do road trip travel in the 1970s. My father, although an asshole in general, was always a gentleman when it came to service staff and a generous and thorough tipper. He never failed to tip when appropriate. He never once tipped housekeeping and I am sure if he thought he should do so, he would have. I remember one time, he forgot to tip a waitress and he drove back an hour each way to give her a tip because he felt so bad. So if hotel housekeeping had been a thing, he would have done it.
For myself, I used to travel for business in the 1980s--approx 2005 and I never tipped housekeeping because I simply never heard of it. I never heard of it until 2peas.
I know people who have been mousekeeping at Disney hotels and they say tips are quite rare even in the most expensive locations. It is far more common for people to leave food behind -- which mousekeeping is allowed to take. Often people will leave a note with the food they leave behind telling the staff to have it. I can remember one girl telling me how thrilled she was because a family left behind cases of food in their room and she was allowed to keep all of it. She called that "the best day of work ever." If she'd been getting money tips, I doubt that would have been her reaction. So money tips are quite uncommon.
I am still not fully on board with it to be honest. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't.
I do not consider housekeeping a valid comparison to a valet or a bellman. I consider tipping a valet a cost of using the optional service. Same with a bellman. Or bringing towels to the room (because I could go down and get them if I wanted.) I am not sure why I should tip a housekeeper and not the front desk staff who check you in or the guy who cleans the hotel pool or the lady who makes the breakfast included with the room or the guy who stokes the premier members pantry.
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Post by dewryce on Aug 24, 2019 20:04:25 GMT
If I have cash on me I tip. If I don't then I don't tip. I wish you could add a tip on your bill like at restaurants. That would be way more convenient & they would probably get more tips. My mother was a housekeeper at The Grand Floridian for Disney for years. She NEVER got a tip left in the room. Weather nobody ever left a tip or if managers went in & took tips before housekeeping got there we will never know. I find it extremely unlikely that no one ever left a tip so I’m going to go with management stealing the tips. (For every one of you saying you never heard of tipping housekeeping before the peas ... well, we’re even. Because I never heard of NOT tipping housekeeping before the peas.) I always leave a note with the tip that says “for housekeeping — thank you!” because someone once told me that the manager at our local nice motel here in town always goes in first and claims the tips for “lost & found” before housekeeping can get in there, unless it’s specifically labeled for housekeeping. That seriously ticks me off and I had no idea it occurred. Thank you, I will start addressing my notes. Or better yet, hand it to them as we are leaving. We almost always check out at the last minute and always see their carts in the hall as we are heading out.
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Post by lucyg on Aug 24, 2019 20:09:59 GMT
I find it extremely unlikely that no one ever left a tip so I’m going to go with management stealing the tips. (For every one of you saying you never heard of tipping housekeeping before the peas ... well, we’re even. Because I never heard of NOT tipping housekeeping before the peas.) I always leave a note with the tip that says “for housekeeping — thank you!” because someone once told me that the manager at our local nice motel here in town always goes in first and claims the tips for “lost & found” before housekeeping can get in there, unless it’s specifically labeled for housekeeping. That seriously ticks me off and I had no idea it occurred. Thank you, I will start addressing my notes. Or better yet, hand it to them as we are leaving. We almost always check out at the last minute and always see their carts in the hall as we are heading out. I know, it really made me mad, and I don’t know if it’s common or not, but I don’t want to take a chance on it ending up in the manager’s pocket.
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Post by juliet on Aug 25, 2019 5:07:45 GMT
Now, I’m intrigued. For those of you (especially the European peas) who don’t tip housekeeping, do you tip skycaps, bellhops, valets or the person who brings something you request to your room? We tip all of these people, that’s what I was told to do way back when I started traveling regularly. I’ve been doing this for many years, so I don’t think it’s part of the “tipping is out of control” issue. No, we don’t do that either. But we seem te have a lot less (which seem to me) useless jobs here. I can press an elevator button by myself, I can carry my own suitcase etc. Same as in restaurants. Over here, you enter a restaurant and a waiter will point you to a table, serve you and clean out the table afterwards. In the US there are greeters and busboys (?) and whatnot, all work is stretched over so many people that I keep wondering if efficiency might be a key to more normal wages and less needed tipping!
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Post by pattyraindrops on Aug 25, 2019 7:00:10 GMT
As a former, hardworking housekeeper for a summer I don't tip. If housekeeping got paid like waiting tables does I would tip, but I hope that never happens.
That summer I might have been tipped twice (though people did leave food for us like mentioned above). My friend who worked at nicer hotel up the road in the expensive rooms got tipped more often, but no where near often.
I know how hard the job was by experience. I actually didn't feel like it was hard when compared to fast food and other jobs I've had. I still don't feel a need to regularly tip housekeeping just as I don't tip fast food workers, grocery stockers, etc.
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RedSquirrelUK
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Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Aug 25, 2019 9:48:16 GMT
Now, I’m intrigued. For those of you (especially the European peas) who don’t tip housekeeping, do you tip skycaps, bellhops, valets or the person who brings something you request to your room? We tip all of these people, that’s what I was told to do way back when I started traveling regularly. I’ve been doing this for many years, so I don’t think it’s part of the “tipping is out of control” issue. I don't know what a skycap or bellhop is, and have never used a valet or had room service. We take our own luggage up to our rooms. On a couple of holidays, we've stayed in a villa on the grounds and they drove our bags in a little buggy to the accommodation - we tipped them a couple of dollars.
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RedSquirrelUK
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Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Aug 25, 2019 10:00:48 GMT
Now, I’m intrigued. For those of you (especially the European peas) who don’t tip housekeeping, do you tip skycaps, bellhops, valets or the person who brings something you request to your room? We tip all of these people, that’s what I was told to do way back when I started traveling regularly. I’ve been doing this for many years, so I don’t think it’s part of the “tipping is out of control” issue. No, we don’t do that either. But we seem te have a lot less (which seem to me) useless jobs here. I can press an elevator button by myself, I can carry my own suitcase etc. Same as in restaurants. Over here, you enter a restaurant and a waiter will point you to a table, serve you and clean out the table afterwards. In the US there are greeters and busboys (?) and whatnot, all work is stretched over so many people that I keep wondering if efficiency might be a key to more normal wages and less needed tipping! We don't have greeters, bellhops or skycaps (I just looked all those up). We carry our own luggage. In hotels, housekeeping will empty bins, sweep the floor, make the beds (not every day) and clean the bathroom. We make our towels last several days to save water. They don't tidy up after us. I have had pretty towel designs, chocolates on pillows and complimentary gifts but that is not normal.
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Post by Patter on Aug 25, 2019 10:11:54 GMT
As a former, hardworking housekeeper for a summer I don't tip. If housekeeping got paid like waiting tables does I would tip, but I hope that never happens. That summer I might have been tipped twice (though people did leave food for us like mentioned above). My friend who worked at nicer hotel up the road in the expensive rooms got tipped more often, but no where near often. I know how hard the job was by experience. I actually didn't feel like it was hard when compared to fast food and other jobs I've had. I still don't feel a need to regularly tip housekeeping just as I don't tip fast food workers, grocery stockers, etc. Thank you for this perspective. I truly have never heard of tipping housekeeping until this thread. I feel as you have posted. Thank you!
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breetheflea
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Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Aug 25, 2019 13:56:34 GMT
I just stayed in a hotel (rare) for four days.
We found out the first morning we didn't have any towels. When we asked the front desk they were kind of snooty that they can't provide unlimited towels, we just wanted one! So later as we're leaving the room (after towels arrived), the housekeepers stopped us in the hall to ask if we found the towels. I felt bad we had to ask for towels at all and housekeeping might have gotten in trouble... but I can't dry off with a washcloth!
There was a tipping envelope with the house keepers names on it, I noticed it got straightened every day when they were in the room...
They also had a notice that they don't change the sheets daily, if you want that service more than every three days there was a laminated paper to leave on the pillow.
I left a tip, but who knows if it was the right amount or not.
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Post by ~Sherri~ on Aug 25, 2019 13:58:36 GMT
Many years ago, I worked in a nice hotel. I was the assistant head housekeeper. My job was to clean rooms, inspect rooms after cleaning and doing laundry when our laundry person was out. If anything was found or not to the hotel standards, we had to send the housekeeper back to redo it. Our housekeepers had about 15 to 20 rooms to clean each day. Cleaning at our hotel included daily changing of queen/king beds. The only time they were NOT changed was when specifically asked not to by the guest. If a housekeeper was found to NOT be changing sheets, they were fired on the spot.
Our hotel only gave 22 minutes per room to be cleaned. That included cleaning the bathroom, cleaning/replacing coffee, cups, creamer/sugar, bags,toiletries, towels and doing the fancy folds on the towels,toilet tissue and Kleenex. Changing sheets on both beds, emptying trash and cleaning coffee pots, all surfaces and mirrors and vacuuming. It may seem like 22 minutes is a lot of time, but try it someday.
Most of the time, the rooms were not bad and didn’t require a lot of extra cleaning. But twice a year, NASCAR came to town. And rooms were trashed, more often than not. And trashed often when large groups rented rooms.
I always tried to empty checked out rooms for my housekeepers to help them. I stripped beds, towels and trash cans. Seldom did I find that a guest would leave a tip. And if they did, I always told that particular housekeeper so she could get her tip. It was seldom more than $1.
When we stay at hotels, we put up the do not disturb sign. If we need towels, we ask for them and return the used ones to a housekeeper. We bag up the trash and sit it outside the door. I always bring extra trash bags to use. On our last day, I strip the beds, put the dirty linen in the bathtub and bag up all the trash and try to leave as little mess as possible. I always leave a thank you note and tip.
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Post by chlerbie on Aug 25, 2019 20:15:29 GMT
We generally are more "road trip" than week long hotel stayers. I put the Do Not Disturb sign up for most of the visit--we don't need our bed changed and usually with the two of us there's already extra towels. At the end of the stay, I'll usually leave a few dollars even though they generally haven't done anything for us.
That being said, I agree that in some ways, it's odd to tip them. Many other jobs are minimum wage, tough to do jobs and we don't tip. I do it because it seems like a nice gesture, but I don't tip the workers at Target who help me find a product or who are extra kind and careful with my purchases.
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Post by Jockscrap on Aug 25, 2019 22:47:01 GMT
Scottish pea here and I normally - but not always - leave something in the hotel room for the cleaner at the end of the stay, home and abroad. However, when I read up on tipping before going to NYC on holiday a few years ago, the sites I read advised tipping daily to get the best service so that’s what we did. I left a few dollars with a note of thanks on the table. I probably wouldn’t leave a tip in a room I’ve stayed in for one night but I always leave one at the end of a week in Spain.
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