Tipping in Hotels

[righttrack]

My general policy is as follows:

1. Travelling for business, normal hotel, normal room - $2 per day
2. Travelling with the family (4 people), normal hotel, normal room - $2-$5 per day
3. Suite hotel - $5 per day.
4. Travelling to WDW with family (4 people) any room - $5 per day

If I ask for something special, I tip the person who brings it. A pillow yields $2, carrying all of our bags yields $5, carrying our garden grocer order with 4 cases of water up to the room and help us put it away, $10

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I tip based on the kind of service housekeeping does. If they only focus on making the bed and do a half-hearted job on cleaning the restroom or emptying the trash, I don't tip for them doing a half-job.

 

[tigger1968]

I have been in retail/foodservice management for 25 years...so this post keeps turning into a rant about tipping...

So I will just stick to the basics...I always tip housekeeping a few bucks per day for the work they do. In any hotel. They have to deal with an inordinate amount of work under a tight deadline. When it comes to a WDW trip and Mousekeeping, I tip more, typically $5 per day. I think that given the much higher number of rooms with kids, and the longer stays at a resort, they deserve it. As others have pointed out, your Mousekeeper may vary from day to day, so a daily tip means more. I always leave a nice note for them. It's interesting to come back and see the impact that can have...many times I have a towel and washcloth zoo waiting to greet us...

I have to say that for airport luggage service, I tend to tip $2 - $3 per bag. More often than not we handle our own bags so it's not a typical expense. My DME driver, who may have to move 3 bags a total of 5 feet from the sidewalk to the bus...well he may get $5 for the lot. At the resort, since we tend to handle our own luggage, it's not typical for me to spend on that. If I have to store luggage until my room is ready, then it's that same $2 - $3 per bag. And yes, I tip for storing it and again for them retrieving it.

I have seen a few thoughts on this thread referring to the idea that the cost of these services (Mousekeeping) are built into the cost of your stay. However, those salaries are more often than not less than a living wage. I always feel lucky that I can afford to visit Walt Disney World, and can afford to stay on property, so I feel it's important for me to pass along some of my good fortune.

 

[flynnibus]

I have seen a few thoughts on this thread referring to the idea that the cost of these services (Mousekeeping) are built into the cost of your stay. However, those salaries are more often than not less than a living wage. I always feel lucky that I can afford to visit Walt Disney World, and can afford to stay on property, so I feel it's important for me to pass along some of my good fortune.

I'll send you a paypal invoice where you can pass some of that good fortune along to me too

I'm all for rewarding good service... what I am against is

1) Default tipping -- unless I'm paying you as a contractor or your job definition includes tips as part of your base comp, your boss pays you, not me
2) Tipping expectations for jobs that are not performance based. You don't deserve a tip as my cashier
3) Tipping blindly or prior to service - like leaving tips in a room hoping the person who cleaned the room last is the one who will get my tip

 

[Kaznagan]

I've travelled to America a couple of times and my next trip is sept and I never realised that people tip cleaners. I feel terrible that I haven't done it.
I have left a note to say thank you and when I'm flying home with left over small notes and change (which I hate doing but I can't exchange it back home) and there's not point wasting it.
I'm actually looking forward to organising thank you envelopes for the staff it will be something to help keep my mind off the fact it's way to long until my trip to Disney world!

 

[Nick Pappagiorgio]

I travel a lot for business. I generally will not tip because I generally will have my room refreshed very infrequently and only if the staff of the hotel has been overly courteous or has provided a service above and beyond what I consider expected. Now that being said, I do not have daily room refresh. I can make my own bed and when I need new towels, I just get them from the staff when I need them. I really do not understand the need to tip someone whose job it is to clean my room when I leave that I may never interact with. Its like being expected to tip the person that changes your oil or delivers the mail.

Wait staff in restraints is a different story. You go out of your way to be positive and interact with me, the food is good, and i don't have to hunt you down to get a refill, you probably are going to get close to 30%, but that being said, wait staff don't make the same minimum as that person cleaning the room .

I do more or less the same thing with regards to no room refreshing, although I will leave a larger tip ($5-10) at the end depending on how bad the room is. I will also give a couple bucks to the maid in the hall way when I ask for a towels and soap. Which really isn't a bad deal, because in my experience they are a lot more generous with the Mickey soap when you tip.

 

[Sora_Keyblade]

We don't have kids, so our rooms are usually pretty tidy; we tip about $4 a day. A super cute towel animal usually appears shortly after our arrival!

 

[daisyduckie]

I tip based on the kind of service housekeeping does. If they only focus on making the bed and do a half-hearted job on cleaning the restroom or emptying the trash, I don't tip for them doing a half-job.

The problem is you probably don't have the same person cleaning your room every day. So you could be punishing someone who does a great job for the sucky job the person before them did. That is also why it is never a good idea to tip only at the end of your trip. You are probably not tipping everyone who cleaned your room.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

The problem is you probably don't have the same person cleaning your room every day. So you could be punishing someone who does a great job for the sucky job the person before them did. That is also why it is never a good idea to tip only at the end of your trip. You are probably not tipping everyone who cleaned your room.

In that case, not tipping at all might tell the housekeeping staff they all have to do a better job of it. Might serve as incentive against doing the half-hearted job that doesn't earn a tip.

 

[SDisney90]

For me, its just my girlfriend and I so we usually do $1 per person. Last year we did $3-4 one day and received 2 extra shampoo/conditioner bottles and soap bars (doesn't everyone save these and take them home lol) The next day we did the same and received even more. Each day it varied but IMO I recommend $1 per person. Just like they say don't go out to eat if you cant afford a tip, stay home.

 

[daisyduckie]

In that case, not tipping at all might tell the housekeeping staff they all have to do a better job of it. Might serve as incentive against doing the half-hearted job that doesn't earn a tip.

If it is a different housekeeper, you are telling them nothing, except you are cheap and don't tip. They have no way of knowing the person before them did a lousy job.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

If it is a different housekeeper, you are telling them nothing, except you are cheap and don't tip. They have no way of knowing the person before them did a lousy job.

No, you're only telling them you don't tip. If you're staying on-property, that already shows you're not cheap.