Do you tip your housekeeper?

[Georgygirl]

People were talking about this at another message board I was on. I thought it was an interesting subject. I've worked in housekeeping at a hotel when I was in highschool and when I go back home for college breaks I still work there for some extra money. Before I worked there I never knew that people tipped housekeepers. Granted, if I got $10-15 bucks a week in tips that was a good week, even though I cleaned maybe 80-90 rooms that week. So, I usually didn't get tips. I never expect to get tips and usually the people who gave the tips were the tidiest people I had. It was never the people who dumped a bag of chips on the floor and trampled it thoughout the room, or the ladies who decided to keep the score of their game by writing it on the mirror with lipstick, or the drunk guys who vomited all over the bathroom floor. It was always nice to get a tip, or even a note of appreciation. Just having someone stop me in the hall and tell me what a great job I did in their room made me feel nice. So whenever I stay at a hotel a leave a tip for the housekeeper because I know how much that job is often underpaid and underappreciated.


So, if anyone wants to be extremely nice to their housekeeper the next time you're in a hotel, here's a few suggestions.
-put all your dirty towels in one pile
-put your trash in the trash cans
-if you want your bed made don't put your luggage on it (we aren't allowed to move your things)
-we start work at 8 am so if you don't want us to knock, put out your do not disturb sign
-if you are leaving the room and want housekeeping, put out your maid sign
-note the checkout time and please vacate your room accordingly or speak to front desk about a late checkout

 

[xyourlocaldjx]

i usually leave a dollar or two, but i always hide my expensive stuff. i dont trust them.

As for the mess... i make my mess on the way to the room. I.E. throwing up before i get on the elevator, making a mess while walking to the room

 

[mctraill]

Funny you should say that about tipping the housekeeping, we usually leave money on the bed table when we check out, but we were never sure if the housekeeping staff got it or if they had to pool the money and share it. When we stay anywhere I treat the place like I would my own home.
What do you do if the you have had the same person looking after your room all week and the day you leave that person is on a day off,how can you make sure that they get the money?

 

[Julie]

Great tips.

When we stay in hotels I always ask for a large garbage bag...those tiny trashcans/bags don't seem to hold enough for my whole family, they tend to overflow...and I can't stand that. Anyway I find the dumpster and dispose of it myself.
With the towels I always leave them in a pile beside the sink. Or find someone in housekeeping and trade them for clean.
I always leave my bed made....And wonder if they will actually change the sheets or not. ?
I never use the drawers...I leave my stuff in my suitcase and make sure it is closed when I leave the room. Unless something needs hung up.

Most of the time I don't get the maid service everyday. Usually just when the carpet starts collecting lint and dog hair. :yikes:

 

[Buckshot]

After seeing a documentary using blacklights to find protien stains in hotels I refuse to sleep in a bed other than my own. I would rather sleep in the woods or in my van if I am in the city.

 

[Julie]

I saw that too! Ecoli on the phones...from using the same rag to wipe the bathroom and the phone....:yikes:

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Yes.

I worked at a hotel for awhile (I was in management) and those housekeepers work hard!! REALLY hard! People are nagging, demanding, the room isn't good enough, they want three towels, not TWO. WHere is their shampoo and extra amentities? GAH! Rude, rude, rude!

Now, I leave a tip and it's not just a dollar. These people get paid minimum wage and have to turn around (based on the hotel I worked at which had 194 rooms) 30 rooms in one day? Pfft! It's back breaking work... one dollar is not enough.

When we stay at hotels, depending on the length of stay, we don't normally have service every night. After two or three nights, we will and a decent tip is left. The last day, an even bigger tip is left, because that means more work for them, as the whole room is taken down.. literally...sheets, towels, scrubbed, etc..

 

[Georgygirl]

Well, you guys haven't stayed at the hotel I work at then, lol. We have very high standards of cleaniless. I know some places don't, because I tend to critique them when I get in the room. If you're staying over another night we don't usually change sheets unless you ask (ie write a note) or we think that they look like they need changed. We used to have cards that you put on your bed if you didn't want them changed, but they seemed to confuse people. People who wanted them changed would put the cards down and people who didn't want them changed would forget to put them down. But legally we need to change them every 3 days of your stay. Some people haved gotten quite miffed at us about that.

I've never seen anyone use the same rag for the bathroom as for dusting. That wasn't the way we were shown to clean. But really, those rooms are cleaned everyday. That's definitely more often than I clean my bathroom. I also know how much disinfectant gets used too, at least in the hotel I work at. The fact that I've worked at a hotel for 4 years and haven't contracted ecoli or any other terrible virus should show something. I'm the one on my hands and knees cleaning your toilet and wiping down your bathroom floor. If anyone was going to get it, it'd probably be me.

I really appreciate people like you buddy'sparents! I've noticed that people who've worked in a hotel before seem to understand how much our job can suck! lol! In fact the turnover rate for housekeepers is pretty high I've noticed. Not many people can stand doing it for very long. Every time I go back to work on a break I have to learn a whole new set of names!

Oh and to answer the question about making sure your tip goes to the right housekeeper, sometimes you will have a different housekeeper everyday. If that's the case we look it up in our records and divide the tip among all the housekeepers that cleaned your room.

Do us a favor yourlocaldj, throw up outside!! We still have to clean up the hallways and the elavators!

 

[Dreeza]

I sometimes do, sometimes dont...since i usually travel with my parents, its kinda up to them...

I dont make huge messes though...they only thing that really gets messy is my own clothes, so that doesnt really affect housekeeping. I usually like to keep the "do not disturb" on...i think its unnecessary to have my room cleaned everyday (unless we are there for more than a few days...)

anyways thanks for posting that, I will DEFINATELY be tipping more generously, and more often from now on

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I really appreciate people like you buddy'sparents! I've noticed that people who've worked in a hotel before seem to understand how much our job can suck! lol! In fact the turnover rate for housekeepers is pretty high I've noticed. Not many people can stand doing it for very long. Every time I go back to work on a break I have to learn a whole new set of names!

I've only ever worked in customer service jobs, so I have a ton of respect and admiration for all of these people now. Form people working at movie theaters who have to listen to John Smith and how he hated the lasted Tom Cruise movie and wants his money back because it was awful.. dude, then why did you stay through the whole thing? To people who work at hotels, the houskeeping, the maintenance crew, the wait staff, the front desk staf... ugh, the things and the kind of people we had to deal with! To people who work in retail and have to listen to Miss I'm-Too-Good-To-Shop-Here I demand your attention now....

So, yes, I understand... all too well.

 

[jess2416]

nvr mind...

 

[Georgygirl]

Huh??

 

[Renee750il]

After seeing a documentary using blacklights to find protien stains in hotels I refuse to sleep in a bed other than my own. I would rather sleep in the woods or in my van if I am in the city.

I can't sleep in a hotel/motel either. I will drive all night to get back to my own bed if it's even remotely within range. You can travel a lot of miles on truck stop cappucinos, Pepsi and peanut M&Ms

 

[~Jessie~]

I've never made a mess in a hotel room... besides leaving towels on the floor and the bed unmade.

My parents have always tipped the housekeeper... and the times that I have traveled with Ian, we have left tips as well.

 

[Saje]

I've never tipped hotel staff. It's never crossed my mind. I find tipping to be a tricky subject for me. I mean, you tip your pizza delivery driver but when I worked minimum wage and delivered flowers I got a tip twice in a year. You tip your waitress but not your cashier. I was a bag girl at a grocery store and would haul people's grocery's outside in the worst conditions, piles of snow, sleet, rain... and I think I made about a dollar in change that year. Some people tip hairdressers and some don't. There are many, many jobs that get paid minimum wage and they work really hard under horrible circumstances.

When I went to Japan I really liked their philosophy that nobody tips ever. They take pride in their job and don't need any extras to be encouraged to do good service. And believe me, the waitresses and other lower income people can't even make enough money to move out on their own.

Mostly I just tip waitresses and if I get good services somewhere else I'm always sure to fill out a customer service card if available to let people know.