Am I the only person on earth who leaves a tip for the maid when checking out? My momma taught me to always tip the maid—it’s hard work, they could use dough, it’s only right—but I suspect that I might be the last person in America who still leaves a tip the maid. I’ve had more than one friend react with shock when I’ve checked to make sure I had a $5 bill before heading back to the hotel so I could tip the maid in the morning. And this morning, leaving a hotel in Boston, I left $5 for the maid. I also left something else behind in my room and when I went back up the maid was already in there, stripping the bed. When I told her I had forgotten something… she handed me the $5 I’d left for her on the nightstand, thinking it was a mistake, or that it was what I’d forgotten in the room.
Am I all alone? Does anyone else tip the maid?
By the way, some hotels have a tip jar at the desk. I leave the money in the room. I would rather the money doesn’t get skimmed by the house.
I’ve never tipped a maid yet, and don’t plan on starting now. Maybe if I was rolling in dough like ol’ Danny is, I’d think about it.
Yes, always tip the maid, $2/day minimum, more if I’m sloppy or have asked for extra shit. Always with a note “for housekeeping” on it. Always on the pillow of the unmade bed.
I’ve never tipped the front desk though, unless they get a cab for me. I always assumed they were paid more of a living wage.
I wish there was a “sometimes” category.
If I’m at a “mom and pop” hotel I normally do not tip the maid, but if I’m at a Motel 6 type of place I normally will leave at least $5.
I travel every week for work and the wife asked me about 18 months ago to stop getting daily maid service at the hotel as I tend to continue to act like a maid will be cleaning up after me at home.
so now I leave on the do not disturb sign. the housekeeping staff would prefer to clean every day, as its faster. so I leave a decent tip at the end, PLUS pick up after myself and leave the room not totally trashed.
I tip, but I tip at the end of my stay. I put up the “Do Not Disturb” sign for the duration of my stay because I HATE PEOPLE TOUCHING MY STUFF! LEAVE MY DIRTY CLOTHES ALONE, THEY ARE IN THAT PILE FOR A REASON!!!!
*deep breath*
Anyway, when I used to travel for work and would have to stay in the same room for weeks at a time, I left a big tip at the end because that poor person would have to put my room back to rights. I never trashed the place, but I usually rearranged the furniture. (Hey, having the TV *over there* is fine for a 2-day stay, but after 2 weeks it gets annoying.)
I’ve been told they are required to turn it in unless you leave a note saying ‘thank you’ or ‘for housekeeping.’ Don’t know if that’s true.
Fifty-two-eighty, behave yourself! If you can afford to stay in a hotel, you can afford 2 bucks.
I ALWAYS tip the maids in a hotel, every day. Usually $2, or more.
I worked for one day as a maid in a hotel, while in college. It was not only hard work, but the manager of the housekeeping staff would “check out” each room first to scarf up the tip — hence, one day’s work only at that establishment.
But still, I doubt that is policy in every hotel (usually maid with cart is there first), so I try to reward the maids, daily.
Hey, the little soaps and shampoos I take with me are worth about half what I tip.
I guess I was raised by paranoid parents, but I was taught to always leave the sign refusing service up til the end of the stay, so that gets around the who to tip issue, as it only gets cleaned once when I leave and they take the tip.
I can’t help but wonder if this is sorta like washing hands in the bathroom, where everyone says one thing but does another when they think nobody’s looking. Some research said people were way more likely to wash their hands if someone else was in the bathroom at the same time. The maid’s reaction to Dan doesn’t make much sense if people really tip 75% of the time.
I think you should.
And I sometimest do.
But I usually forget, and later feel guilty about it when I have already left and am on my way to the airport.
Always tip the housekeeping staff. Period. Unless the housekeeping service was so tragically bad that you were genuinely miserable. There are few jobs as filled with sheer drudgery as hotel housekeeping.
I usually do $2-5 per day, depending on various factors. It’s better to do it each day though, because the person who cleaned your room yesterday might not be the person who picks up the $5 you leave at the end of your stay.
Another “always” vote here which actually meant “usually but I sometimes forget” since that wasn’t an option. But I didn’t learn this from my parents, I learned it as an adult when on the committee for a volunteer-run convention held at a local hotel. This may be part of why I don’t always remember.
I also think the amount can vary according to the mess left behind.
My grandmother worked as a maid at the Mint Hotel in exciting Townsend Montana (and yes there was a bar and restarant that featured Keno.
When I was a young little queer boy, I’d follow her around as she cleaned the rooms every morning when I stayed with her during the summer.
And it’s fucking HARD WORK. So I always tip $10 per night I stay in the room AND I never make a nasty mess for the maid to clean up.
ALWAYS, but you have to leave a little note saying that it is for housekeeping, otherwise I’ve heard some chains don’t let them keep it. *shrug*
I always leave $5 each day I stay in the room with a note saying Thank you! You may have a different housekeeper each day so leaving a tip just at checkout may not actually compensate the housekeepers who worked on your room all the days you were staying here. I recommend reading Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich for a great expose on how housekeepers are compensated.
We both had wise Mamas Dan. Housekeeping is dreary, horribly hard work, especially in non-union hotels (which is what most of them are)
I always tip the maid with a note saying “thank you”, so he/she knows it’s for them.
I always try tip well wherever I go, it always seems like a good way to bank some karma. One thing I’ve never understood is the fact that people tend to tip more (percent-wise) at expensive restaurants, even though wait-staff work their asses off regardless. If you got your food without starving to death, you tip 15%. If they were polite, you tip 20%, and if they we especially charming or you ordered a lot of drinks you throw in a bit more.
@69,
Expensive restaurants tend to have much higher level of service.
If you don’t tip housekeeping every day, you will spend eternity rolling around in Charlie Sheen’s jizzy dirty sheets.
Always! One dollar a day or five dollars which ever is greater.
Of course you would think that no one else does the amazing things you do.
You tip because it’s equitable and because you are totally stupid not to tip. Here’s my strategy:
– Tip handsomely the first night of stay, if possible. That way you get their attention and should be rewarded with good service.
– Put the tip under the bed pillow, then there’s no confusion about your intent – the cash is for them.
– I’ve heard the $2-5 a day tip for years so it’s out of date. I think $5-10 is a good target.
I was in Oregon last weekend and happened to be in the room when housekeeping knocked. I handed her $10 and a personal thank you. Good vibes!
My mom worked some lousy jobs when I was a kid, and one of them was hotel housekeeping. I don’t stay in hotels very often, but when I do, I always throw a thank you note and $5 on dresser.
Also, once when I was a broke 20 year old waitress a man came into the restaurant where I worked, drank a single cup of coffee, and tipped me ten bucks. I’ll never forget how great that made me feel. Tipping well is a cheap way to spread a little joy and make yourself feel like a good person.
Oh thank God I live somewhere without an insane tipping/sales tax culture! (Australia) See listed price (must include tax), pay listed price, end of story. No worrying about if/how much you should tip anyone, what they earn, what they may or may not be thinking about you. If you want to add a tip to a restaurant or taxi bill cos you’ve had good service or just round it up, it’s nice, but no big deal if you don’t.
@76, I’ve stayed in several hotels in Australia, and tipped housekeeping in all of them. I didn’t hear anyone complaining!
shut the fuck up, you upper-middle-class asshole. blog about something worthwhile. jesus.
(I kid, of course. only GOP-ers don’t tip the maid)
When I used to travel (in another lifetime ::sighs::), I always tipped housekeeping. Most of my hotel stays were at least one week long. It’s not something I was taught; I sussed it out all on my own.
Also, when I stayed at hotels that employed university students during the summertime (usually as wait staff), I always tipped an additional 5% – because I knew they were saving up for next semester’s tuition fees.
I sometimes tip the maid, you forgot that option.
If the service was good (fresh towels every single day, bed made, respecting when I put up the “do not service this room” sign) then the maid gets a tip.
If it sucked, they don’t.
@77: Well, no, Fnarf, I’m sure you wouldn’t get any complaints! It would just be seen as an unusual/extravagant American quirk.
I don’t stay in hotels very often (maybe one or two nights a year, almost never two nights in a row) and I usually tip. Sometimes, though, I forget, what with trying to wrangle kids, pack up our stuff, and get the husband out of bed in time for check-out.
Two dollars per person in the room per day, always. That’s what my mom taught me! I sometimes forget, but I try really hard not to, and my mom never forgets. I bet that she’d call them and ask them to deduct a tip from her card if she did.
I always tip housekeeping. I have been surprised that they usually leave the money in the room (if I’m staying multiple nights). So I have learned to leave a note, which I write in english and spanish.
And always tip the bellhop.
I always tip the maid! (And friends react with shock for me, too. Hello, common decency, people!)
I have twin four year olds. I usually leave a $10 tip for the maid. Do you know what a mess twin four year olds can make – especially twin boys? Was in Miami this past weekend. My partner was attending a conference and it was supposed to be three days of fun & warmer weather for me & the boys. Unfortunately, the twins caught a stomach flu & the last two days were spent dealing with projectile vomit & explosive diarrhea. (It was so bad that had their heads popped off & spun around a la “The Exorcist” I wouldn’t have been surprised in the least.) It was one of those “why the fuck did I decide to have kids?” weekends. I wound up leaving the maid a $50 tip. It was the least I could do given the mess.
Hey, could somebody provide some suave-like Spanish text to add to my English note to the maids for next trip?
And no sniggering “To the rentboy with big wet cummy kisses!” stuff either! Google Translate will ferret you out! (Though if you want to append a “P.S. This is not for you, you bulldagger supervisor/simpering desk clerk,” that would be fine.)
@87 Your blog looks funny! And don’t worry, your kids will stop projectile vomiting about six months before they start stealing your car… 🙂
I’m getting visions of Maggie Smith at the end of *Gosford Park* complaining that, by the time one tips all the servants, it would have been cheaper to go to an hotel.
At the Gay Games in Amsterdam, they obligingly had a tip box in a visible location the last few days, but it was reassuring to know that tips were welcomed. That was 1998, and since then I’ve only had one hotel stay, in Toronto about three years later. It’s very convenient in foreign countries, as I generally just keep a sample of souvenir bills and leave the rest of whatever I have left over of my spending allowance in that particular currency.
@Rob,
Courtesy of my 15 year old daughter.
Gracias por el excelente servicio de limpieza.
Although, TVDinner could knock this out of the park.
I tip when I leave and not every day because… like some of the other commenters… I don’t let housekeeping in my room during my stay.
I always tip the maid but I am in a bit of a quandary. When I am staying for several days, should I tip daily or at the end of my stay? I am never sure if the same maid tidies my room each day of my stay.
What planet are those commenters from who are saying “I never heard about tipping the housekeeping staff in a hotel”? Are they that dense, or simply 22 year olds who had mommy and daddy take care of everything until now? Damn, do they only stay in a freaking hotel twice a year?
Always tip the housekeeper three to five bucks each night. They get minimum wage and have to clean 11-15 rooms each day. And, unlike most baristas or bartenders, they are all mothers trying to raise their kids well.
If you’re in another country, tip there as well. Why the hell not? The service staff make a fraction of your salary and can buy their kids something nice with a few bucks.
On the other hand, fuck that practice of having to slip the bartender a wad of cash to simply get some service. Those wankers suck shit.
I would sooner serve potato salad in the fingerbowls or wear white shoes between Labor and Memorial Day than fail to tip housekeeping. I usually go for $5/day if I’m alone, a couple more if there are two of us, and I always put it in an envelope with “For The Housekeeper”, or place it under the little tent that identifies the housekeeper.
At Loews Hotels, they put a little dated card under the bed that says “Yes, I Cleaned Here, Too” – sometimes I like to put the tip there. It’s *always* gone.
Additionally, as someone who has busted his butt in a family-owned 3* property, ANY question I ask that requires any effort other than speech comes with a couple of bucks…Ethernet cable? Extra pillows? Schlepping the baggage? Letting me hang out in the jacuzzi after-hours? Finding more orange marmalade when all that is left in the basket is that nasty “Mixed Fruit”? All worth a couple of bucks.
ProTip: there’s a season for fresh low-denomination bills at the bank – Christmas. I get a few hundred bucks of uncirculated singles and fives like cheap grandparents like to tuck into Christmas cards, and take them to Kinkos or the like. They’ll turn them into pads of 25 singles and five 5s like a cheap telephone message pad, and I just throw a pad in my backpack. I *really* like tipping with fresh money. If you have a decent bank, you might ask if they can be bothered to get them the rest of the year, but I think of it as a seasonal ritual, like hot buttered rum.
Yes! Always tip the maid. I always leave a little “Thanks” in a short note along with the tip.
Thank you, Kim (@91) and thanks to your daughter too.
I was thinking TVDinner translated some Portuguese in a thread the other day, but maybe she knows Spanish too.
Anyhow, I’m all set, and I have it memorized already too!
Always – at least $5 on the pillow (more if I’ve made a mess), daily, with a note saying thank you.
Yeah, always tip housekeeping and leave a thank you note. I’d always debated, however, whether it’s best to tip daily, or when I’m checking out. Thanks to the other commenters for clearing that up for me. It’ll be daily from now on.
Also, as someone mentioned earlier… I fucking HATE tip jars! Tips are a reward for good service, NOT for making my $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks (which I have to go to the counter to order, and then wait for).
Poll needs a “sometimes” button. To be honest, I’ve gotten out of the habit lately. I will reform myself; if I can afford $100-$150 a night for a corporate hotel, I can afford a few bucks for the maid.
I’m going to try to get a stack of $2 bills from the credit union. Two of those about right for each day, and the housekeeper would remember your room later when spending them. Too bad they never rolled out that $3 bill!
Poll needs a “sometimes” button. To be honest, I’ve gotten out of the habit lately. I will reform myself; if I can afford $100-$150 a night for a corporate hotel, I can afford a few bucks for the maid.
I’m going to try to get a stack of $2 bills from the credit union. Two of those would be about right for each day, and the housekeeper would remember your room later when spending them. Too bad they never rolled out that $3 bill!