Tipping hotel housekeeping

[Rmay635703]

Yeah, kinda odd tipping a housekeeper used to be regional at high end only that got broadcast to everyone.

Similar to 30% tips at buffet and drivethroughs, which then also nag for a donation to a charity.

Seems like the trend is that every person that does some form of manual labor now needs tips because nobody is paid.

I’ve encountered a GAS STATION, that had the tip functionality turned on if you went inside, I think we are entering bizzaro land that needs to stop.

Similar to delivery drivers all being contractors getting less pay per mile than it costs to drive and then needing a higher than average tip to survive.

Some of the local restaurants are manned by the owners and have the automatic big 30% highlighted when you pay, takes effort to align it to something more normal, since the other options 40 and 50% tips seem silly, I’m not taking the waitress home with me.

Unfortunate we as a country decided companies don’t need to pay for labor making it an adversarial situation between the customers and staff.

In Japan tips are illegal and will get you an ass whupping, should be that way everywhere in that they are paid properly by the place of business and do a good job without requiring a bribe.

 

[c502cid]

Shel,. Your posted a great question, and one I struggle with.

Cleaning hotel rooms is a tough, thankless, low paying, and hard job. And I imagine there is a lot of stress involved at times to turn rooms, and also people can do duscusting things in hotel rooms.

I will likely spend 150-200 nights this year in hotel rooms. Tipping can get pricey over the long haul for a guy like me. At the same time, tipping is a good thing. Leaving a tip at the end of a stay has some risk as the person receiving the tip may not have been the person who cleaned the room in prior days.

I'm in the same travel situation as GON, 150-200 nights per year. It's $1 a day for me. I do however put all my trash cans in the same spot, towels piled up in the bathroom, and anything else my Mom would have yelled at me for when I was a kid. I've talked to housekeepers and housekeeping supervisors about this over the years. Typically the people who leave the biggest messes leave nothing. I also tip the person who manages the breakfast area a buck or two each trip, especially if it's a hotel I stay at regularly.

 

[Rat407]

My mom used to be a housekeeper and then worked her way up to management of housekeeping. She worked at a nice hotel off International drive in Orlando close to Disney. Back then in the 90's the cost of the rooms were $30 to $80 a night. The owner of the hotel said a full hotel every night is better than an half full one. They had 300 rooms and were booked all the time.

The advantage that we had with my mom working there in the beginning and cleaning rooms is that a lot of the guest would leave and just leave their unused tickets to Disney and Universal. Back in the day these tickets didn't have an expiration. So on a 4 day pass and only 3 days were used then the 4th day was still good forever. She was able to collect enough of these over the years that when ever we would visit we got to go to the parks for free. The last time we went, which was a long time ago. The ticket we used to get into Universal was over 15yrs old. They had to call management in to approve it.

So with all that said, I know what housekeeping goes through so I tip. Most of the time we don't want daily cleaning so the room doesn't get touched until we leave so I tip $10 to $20 depending on the rate we paid. Most times we don't stay longer then 3 to 4 nights anywhere we go.

 

[c502cid]

Yeah, kinda odd tipping a housekeeper used to be regional at high end only that got broadcast to everyone.

Similar to 30% tips at buffet and drivethroughs, which then also nag for a donation to a charity.

Seems like the trend is that every person that does some form of manual labor now needs tips because nobody is paid.

I’ve encountered a GAS STATION, that had the tip functionality turned on if you went inside, I think we are entering bizzaro land that needs to stop.

Similar to delivery drivers all being contractors getting less pay per mile than it costs to drive and then needing a higher than average tip to survive.

Some of the local restaurants are manned by the owners and have the automatic big 30% highlighted when you pay, takes effort to align it to something more normal, since the other options 40 and 50% tips seem silly, I’m not taking the waitress home with me.

Unfortunate we as a country decided companies don’t need to pay for labor making it an adversarial situation between the customers and staff.

In Japan tips are illegal and will get you an ass whupping, should be that way everywhere in that they are paid properly by the place of business and do a good job without requiring a bribe.

Even though it's been a couple of years since I've done any international travel. I now always check on tipping culture before I get to the country. My first trip to China I had the can driver throw the tip back at me and start screaming. I insulted him.

I love no tipping countries.

 

[The Critic]

And of note- the people most able to tip a Hotel housekeeper and often the least likely to tip.

Real life.

Here’s Why Hilton’s CEO Doesn’t Tip Housekeeping - The Points Guy

Hilton president and CEO Christopher Nassetta just noted he does not tip housekeeping when he checks out of a hotel.

thepointsguy.com

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

My tips are this:

1. Don’t trash the place
2. Clean up, make it as efficient as possible for them
3. Don’t touch much


I think this is as good as a $10 tip

Same goes for eating out. Ever notice what most tables / etc look like when the average party gets up and leaves? Usually looks like 15 two year olds have been there and it is usually 2-4 adults.

When me and my family eat out, first, we don’t make a mess. Second, we clean up and consolidate stuff so the wait staff/buss staff doesn’t have to spend more time and effort cleaning up a pig pen.

You want to help the service industry? Start by making less of an impact on their labor.

 

[UncleDave]

In Japan tips are illegal and will get you an ass whupping, should be that way everywhere in that they are paid properly by the place of business and do a good job without requiring a bribe.

..and when I'm in Japan I dont tip.

When Im in Europe I tip very modestly.

The US isn't Japan or Europe and I tend to go back to the same places that treat me well and when I'm generous to them they are generous to me.

When in Rome do as the Romans do.

 

[Vil_Riker]

Here’s Why Hilton’s CEO Doesn’t Tip Housekeeping - The Points Guy

Hilton president and CEO Christopher Nassetta just noted he does not tip housekeeping when he checks out of a hotel.

thepointsguy.com

of course he doesn't

 

[SeaJay]

5 a day

 

[The Critic]

of course he doesn't

Although he later changed his position (somewhat), a CEO tipping their housekeepers sends the message that their compensation strategy is inadequate. I get both sides of it.

 

[Wolf359]

And of note- the people most able to tip a Hotel housekeeper and often the least likely to tip.

Real life.

Oh yeah this is the follow up to the end of that conversation in Reservoir Dogs, cough up a buck you cheap bastard.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

In years past, I followed USG reimbursement protocol. During official travel, you could get reimbursed tips on taxis, baggage handling and meals. I had never heard of being reimbursed for tipping housekeeping. As such, it was not considered normal practice by the Government and I never considered it.
I do tip now at the end of a stay, but I'll never consider it mandatory or even normal practice. My opinion only, I respect yours if it differs.

 

[PandaBear]

I will likely spend 150-200 nights this year in hotel rooms. Tipping can get pricey over the long haul for a guy like me. At the same time, tipping is a good thing. Leaving a tip at the end of a stay has some risk as the person receiving the tip may not have been the person who cleaned the room in prior days.

I would let the management deal with who gets rewarded for whose hard work. If there is a pattern of who did a good job and someone doing a lousy job getting the reward, people would complain and quit.

It isn’t different than someone not getting a bonus but a buddy of a boss did. People move around and get what they want, and employers will pay for the consequences of not managing right.

Or it is not any different than a waiter lost her tip because the chef screwed up.

 

[Revving2Redline]

I leave a note, a couple of bucks and tell them about the Grolsch beer in the pucket/icebox. Those who expect nothing are never disappointed but it sure fun to make people feel better. There's nothing to gain by being a"Richard ' to people

 

[PandaBear]

My tips are this:

1. Don’t trash the place
2. Clean up, make it as efficient as possible for them
3. Don’t touch much


I think this is as good as a $10 tip

Same goes for eating out. Ever notice what most tables / etc look like when the average party gets up and leaves? Usually looks like 15 two year olds have been there and it is usually 2-4 adults.

When me and my family eat out, first, we don’t make a mess. Second, we clean up and consolidate stuff so the wait staff/buss staff doesn’t have to spend more time and effort cleaning up a pig pen.

You want to help the service industry? Start by making less of an impact on their labor.

This only works if you go to a restaurant that assume you won’t tip, like a fast casual.

Some restaurants waiters have to tip their chefs out of their own pocket. So even if you don’t make a mess, cutting out the tip would make them go negative in income.

Make sure you know they like your idea first, or you probably should find another place to eat.

Don’t surprise anyone.

 

[Vil_Riker]

Although he later changed his position (somewhat), a CEO tipping their housekeepers sends the message that their compensation strategy is inadequate. I get both sides of it.

That's what I meant as well - the compensation is inadequate but he cannot admit that publicly.

 

[PandaBear]

That's what I meant as well - the compensation is inadequate but he cannot admit that publicly.

This philosophy extend beyond tip based compensation. A lot of jobs out there in the middle to higher pay scale has a lot of bonus at stake based on performance, and performance can be measured as simple as how many assignments you finished to merely how the boss think of you subjectively.

At the end of the day, the only yardstick both sides can agree upon is whether someone will work for the total pay. If the customers are not tipping, the employers have to make up for it, or workers will leave.

 

[y_p_w]

Even though it's been a couple of years since I've done any international travel. I now always check on tipping culture before I get to the country. My first trip to China I had the can driver throw the tip back at me and start screaming. I insulted him.

I love no tipping countries.

I've been to places where there's a culture of no gratuities. Gets a little weird since we insisted once and the servers just smiled, didn't insult us, but the look was of amusement. Once I was at a restaurant in Taiwan and the owner specifically came to me knowing I was from the US. She said in exceptional English "Don't tip my workers. I pay them a good wage and we don't accept tips."

As for the US, I would typically toss in $4-5 at the end of the stay, regardless of the type of lodging. I recently stayed at a motel and dropped $4 in $2 bills on the pillow before I left. I figure that motel housekeeping works as hard as someone at a Hilton and I saved a bit. But I would probably tip about the same at a more expensive hotel.

 

[PWMDMD]

Loaded question because the last few hotels had very limited turndown service restricted to two days per week. So I'll typically leave $20 for each time the room is cleaned but the last few times I haven't been there long enough to actually get the service other than checking out - so I left $20.