To tip or not to tip that is the question?

[tigsmom]

You tip. We leave $5/day for the 4 of us and I try to keep the room neat. If I'm too tired or the kids have made a bigger mess than usual the we leave more. Now that they are older that doesn't happen too often anymore.

Mousekeepers are part of the service personnel and so it is appreciated when people tip, just like the bell boy, people at valet parking, your hairdresser, the newspaper boy, etc.

Once again I said I agree with you all. I believe in tipping if the service is good and it seems they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Its my husband who thinks it is silly.

So you by pass him and leave the tip yourself.

 

[WildLodgeFan]

Perhaps putting this in a different light. Does your husband get a bonus? or even a raise each year?

In the bonus situation, it's his company's expression of saying "Hey, you've done a great job and we want to express our thanks in helping us this year."

In the raise situation, most companies have a varying scale regarding percentages that are awarded each year. The better you do, the higher the precentage, the less you do, the less percentage or none you receive.

So, you might try to use that to explain the point of tipping mousekeeping - it shouldn't be automatic, but I definitely think you should express thanks if you have received excellent service and a wonderful attitude as a way of letting them know hey, their hard work counts and someone appreciates it. We frequently forget to give those pats to people, which is why many people do not take as much pride in their job as they used to.

 

[maryszhi]

I have read that one should tip houskeeping everyday for cleaning your room. Do you do this, and if so how much do you tip?:shrug: My husband doesnt see the reason why we should. He thinks it is silly to tip someone for something they are already getting paid for. His words were, "I don't get a tip for doing my job why should they?" He understands why we should tip a waitress because it is part of her pay but housekeeping? It really through him for a loop. I told him it is only $12 for the week we are there. What is your opinion?:shrug:

we always tip. the stuff they do, makeing towel shapes(animals) and stuff, they deserve it.

 

[ShookieJones]

I always Tip

I usually do between 10 - 20 bucks for a week stay.
I am always asking for extra towels, and like one of the other posters mentioned 'anyone that cleans up after me deserves a tip!'

I have to say that we've been going to the world for the last four years
the first 3 years spent at POFQ and the last spent at AKL.
And although as far as accomodations are concenrned AKL kicks butt -
when it came to houskeeping, POFQ staff was incredible:
Super clean, extra towels everyday, Towel animals and cute set ups for the kids!
The AKL staff was sub-par at best.

 

[DisneyGigi]

We always tip and we tip on a daily basis in case there are different Mousekeepers. We have so much fun before the trip making "Mousekeeping" envelopes. We print special ones out or DH (he draws great) draws a Mickey and DD colors it in and draws little hidden Mickeys all over it with a Thank you printed on it. They sat one out every morning with the tip in it. We keep things neat but I still think a tip should be left. They do a great job!

 

[WTBAD]

Many years ago I was the controller for the Biloxi Hilton. Our housekeeping staff were required to clean 20 rooms in an 8 hour shift. At first you may think thats not so bad, til you try it. I have. This gives a maid about 20 minutes per room. Next time you leave your room stop, turn around and take a look.

We usually tip $ 3 - $5 per room per night. However, after that first night, tip based on how well your room is cleaned. If they miss something don't be afraid to leave them a note with the tip asking them to catch what they missed.

 

[mro415]

They don't work for Disney, they work for an outside company.

Have you ever seen the wages that Disney pays?

actually.. housekeeping is hired by disney not an outside company. they all have to go through traditions and everything else. they all get their outfits from costuming.

 

[jjgoo]

I was once told that "tip" stands for To Insure Performance. Whether or not this is true I personally feel that to leave at least a little something is just the right thing to do.

If your mousekeeper does an excellent or a poor job then you can adjust the tip to reflect this job. We have also found that mousekeeping not only appreciates the tips, but some snacks are also welcome. Our last trip we had some single person snacks that we knew we were not going to eat and we left them for our mousekeeper.

We could tell that she appreciated the fact that we respected the job she was doing by some of the elaborate things she did with the room. We once came back and found our Pal Mickey in bed with a bathrobe on watching cartoons and having a snack. We had such a great laugh. If someone goes that extra mile to make your stay more magical then they deserve some thanks.

I would say that if you are on a very tight budget then take some note paper with you and give them a thank you note. They can show that to their supervisor when it comes time for a review.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Dont tip, it encourages tip seeking

 

[SnowWhiteMomma]

Do you guys tip at all hotels or just Disney?

 

[DisneyGigi]

Do you guys tip at all hotels or just Disney?

We tip at all hotels.

 

[Sam02]

Count me in the group that never tip.....namely because I was raised not to. After reading this board and the reasons why people tip I may start to tip but I'm not sure how much. I still think that people who make over minimum wage really shouldn't expect tips (I never did in my jobs...I was even a housekeeper for a very short while) but I can see where if someone goes above and beyond their job duties then a little extra from me would be a form of a thank you that I could handle.

My question: Leaving a tip before the work is done is not really a thank you in my eyes, but you can't really leave a tip after the fact either. So how do you make sure that the tip you leave the next day is for the person who may have done the work the day before?

 

[jsfra209]

TO TIP - TO TIP - TO TIP is definitley the answer!The housekeepers really do not get paid very much and it is a nice thing to do to leave them a little something. It is a pretty vile job picking up, scrubbing, and cleaning up after strangers, but these people do it, they do it well, and thanks to them you have a great vacation. What is a few dollars anyway?

My hubby leaves 5 bucks every night and usually 20 on the last night.

 

[PinMadness]

To tip.

My boyfriend and I generally tip $3-4 a day for our Mousekeeper.

 

[catne]

We tip about $1 per person per day, so if 3 in the room, we'd leave $3 per day. If housekeeping did an exceptionally great job, we leave $5 or $10 on our last day. We tip each day, and leave notes saying Thanks, too (also include any special requests, like if we want extra coffee or more towels.)

We have always had wonderful housekeeping service...including the occasional towel animal, even though we're obviously adults in our party.

We always figure you get what you pay for...if you want extra service, you pay for it...

 

[Joy Peace]

Count me in the group that never tip.....namely because I was raised not to. After reading this board and the reasons why people tip I may start to tip but I'm not sure how much. I still think that people who make over minimum wage really shouldn't expect tips (I never did in my jobs...I was even a housekeeper for a very short while) but I can see where if someone goes above and beyond their job duties then a little extra from me would be a form of a thank you that I could handle.

My question: Leaving a tip before the work is done is not really a thank you in my eyes, but you can't really leave a tip after the fact either. So how do you make sure that the tip you leave the next day is for the person who may have done the work the day before?

good question I want to know the answer to this one.

 

[SnowWhiteMomma]

I was in the service industry for a long time, so I understand the tipping process.

I have a housekeeper that comes weekly. I pay her her rate... Should I tip her on top of that? Her rate is what she will work for. I kind of feel the same way about the hotel staff. If you don't like the wage find a place where you do.

Seriously, where does it stop? There is a tip jar (and tip line on the cc slip) at Baskin Robbins, but not at McDonalds. What is the difference??

At the Four Seasons and Ritz, they have envelopes in the room. I do tip in those. I have never really thought about tipping others. Overall, I will tip the mousekeeper, but like I said it seems like everyone has the tip jars out, how do you choose who to tip and whom not to tip?

 

[Mikester71]

They get paid very little for what they do.

We sometimes tip, and sometimes don't, it depends on how good of a job we feel they are doing - just like wait staff at a restaurant.

Tips may or may not get you little extra magic like towels animals.

Funny story relating to the extra magic animals and that. When we go down with our family and my mother-in-law and my brother, we usually book two connecting rooms; one for the boys, one for the girls. I have always been a big believer in tipping anyone who is going out of their way to help make your life a little easier, so I choose to tip the housekeeping while we are staying at Pop every day before we leave. Usually a few bucks every day or so. My wife feels that they are getting paid enough for doing their job, so they (her, my mother-in-law and daughter) leave no tip in their room as we leave each day to go to the parks.

Now for the kicker! Guess who ended up getting the towel animals most of the time........THEM!!! Classic or what! WE leave the tip in our room and the girls reap the rewards! Had to laugh when we came back and saw that. :ROFLOL:

 

[Senderella]

We tip about $5 per day for mousekeeping. Like someone else said, they're picking up after us. I try to keep our room picked up but in such a small space with shopping bags and souveniers ever increasing.. it gets tough. I have a skin problem where I have to use a new towel daily...yes even at home. I feel bad about leaving "more work" for them but I kind of have to because of that problem. We've always had great mousekeepers that go above the call of duty. If we have any requests, we write them on the envelope and they've always accommodated.

I understand tipping is a personal choice, but I feel if someone is doing MORE than their "job" (ie- going above and beyond such as towel animals/leaving extra things and/or doing an amazing job) I tip them. I tip our yard guy when he sprays the yard with bug spray or gets in and tames my grape plant rather than just mowing/weedeating for example. He even built a trellis sort of thing for the grape plant out of materials he found in our yard. He doesn't charge extra for any of these things so I feel he deserves to be tipped. Same goes for the mousekeeper who isn't required to leave towel animals or more than 1 packet of coffee and who takes time out of their pretty busy 20 mins per room to arrange my souveniers in a cool way on the bed.

 

[WTBAD]

If you're going to tip, there's a site The Mouse for Less.com that has a link for printing envelopes for housekeeping. Clock on the link "For Your Trip" and then Mousekeeping Envelopes.