Do You Tip Hotel Housekeeping?

 

shutterstock_141325891I just returned from Europe, where tipping is rare. Unless service is truly exceptional, one does not tip for meals. Taxi tips simply round the fare up to the nearest Euro. Then, I saw an article about a new program Marriott is using to try to shame its guests into tipping the housekeepers:

Marriott isn’t the first hotel to use a note or an envelope to connect a name to the room’s upkeep and amenities. But it seems to be the first large chain to do so. Announcing its new program, called The Envelope Please, the company explained its goal:

“Hotel room attendants often go unnoticed, as they silently care for the millions of travelers who are on the road at any given time. Because hotel guests do not always see or interact with room attendants, their hard work is many times overlooked when it comes to tipping. The Envelope Please makes leaving them a gratuity simple and secure.”

When I started traveling, no one taught me that tipping the housekeeper was expected. Now, I usually tip if I am staying multiple days  — hoping for goodwill and better service — but not usually for a single night. I suspect that tipping is for more rare than the Marriott would like us to believe.

How about it? What does Ricochet think about tipping the hotel housekeepers?

Image Credit: Shutterstock user Robert Kneschke.

Published in Culture, General
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  1. Albert Arthur Coolidge
    Albert Arthur
    @AlbertArthur

    I always leave a few dollars per night.

    • #1
  2. Mike H Inactive
    Mike H
    @MikeH

    Yeah, usually $2 per night. I’m less consistent with the final night, but I would always like to.

    • #2
  3. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    I guess I never stay at the type of hotel where it would even cross a person’s mind.  But I hate the obligatory notion of tipping that we’ve developed.  A tip is something that a person earns for exceptional service…  when someone says “but these people don’t get paid enough and they rely on tips,” the conservative-freemarket-capitalist in me just cringes.  For many reasons.  So I loathe tipping.  Not because I’m cheap, but on principle.  Of course, when I have a really good waitress, I tip generously.  Never at a hotel, though.

    • #3
  4. danys Thatcher
    danys
    @danys

    I always leave a tip, about $5/night. I also travel with children & if they spill something, housekeeping is called & I leave a bigger tip.

    • #4
  5. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    In nice foreign hotels, yes, because I’m forever asking for more towels! I don’t stay in American hotels much and when I do, I agree with Innocent at #3.

    • #5
  6. C. U. Douglas Coolidge
    C. U. Douglas
    @CUDouglas

    Tipping has become odd. It’s hard to keep track of who to tip and not to tip or where it’s considered “optional”.

    Why has it not become optional? When did it? My wife is far more cognizant of situations we might need to tip. I blithely went through life overtipping waitresses and pizza delivery men. The latter was because I used to work pizza delivery. I have a soft spot for them.

    I’ve never left a tip for housekeeping in a hotel until (again) when I was married. I never knew it was a thing to do.

    Side note: Does the government still tax tips for waiters? I always thought that the worst thing ever. Here’s our Progressive congressmen and women telling us how the poor can’t make it and need higher wages, and yet they still wanted their “cut” of any waitress’ daily profits from tipping. Worse, they made waiters become mini-accountants, having to keep track of tips in a diary of sorts just so they can argue with the tax collector’s arcane matrix determining what they probably were tipped. Why aren’t more Republicans fighting to end this? It’s a sure-fire winner. That is, if we haven’t ended it already.

    • #6
  7. Z in MT Member
    Z in MT
    @ZinMT

    I doubt that a majority of Americans tip housekeeping staff at hotels.  I don’t.  However, I never stay at hotels that cost more than $150 per night or the same hotel twice, and when I stay for more than a night I generally use the do not disturb sign unless I am there for more than three nights.

    • #7
  8. user_3467 Thatcher
    user_3467
    @DavidCarroll

    In one sense, tipping ought to be liked by conservative/libertarians to encourage good service and discourage bad service on a you-get-what-you-pay-for basis.  On that theory, though, you should tip your waiter something before the service to let the waiter know that there is more tip to come if the service is great.

    But, how does the hotel-stayer benefit from housekeeping service (unless you typically ask for more towels or the like)?  I have left notes asking for two regular coffee packets, rather than one decaf, one regular.  Always ignored.  (Maybe they don’t read English?)  I get better service in a hotel by going through the front desk.  I am the customer purchasing a service.  How does tipping the housekeeper benefit me?  Also, does the housekeeper get to keep the tips?  Or are they spread around, as in some restaurants?

    • #8
  9. Albert Arthur Coolidge
    Albert Arthur
    @AlbertArthur

    Innocent Smith:I guess I never stay at the type of hotel where it would even cross a person’s mind. But I hate the obligatory notion of tipping that we’ve developed. A tip is something that a person earns for exceptional service… when someone says “but these people don’t get paid enough and they rely on tips,” the conservative-freemarket-capitalist in me just cringes. For many reasons. So I loathe tipping. Not because I’m cheap, but on principle. Of course, when I have a really good waitress, I tip generously. Never at a hotel, though.

    OK, then, Mr. Pink. ;-)

    • #9
  10. C. U. Douglas Coolidge
    C. U. Douglas
    @CUDouglas

    Albert Arthur:

    Innocent Smith:I guess I never stay at the type of hotel where it would even cross a person’s mind. But I hate the obligatory notion of tipping that we’ve developed. A tip is something that a person earns for exceptional service… when someone says “but these people don’t get paid enough and they rely on tips,” the conservative-freemarket-capitalist in me just cringes. For many reasons. So I loathe tipping. Not because I’m cheap, but on principle. Of course, when I have a really good waitress, I tip generously. Never at a hotel, though.

    OK, then, Mr. Pink. ;-)

    So … housekeeping needs to refill his coffee more often?

    • #10
  11. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Unfortunately I’ve had more bad experiences with housekeeping than anything one might describe as outstanding. Just last week in an upscale Florida hotel I found a pile of rags and papers right inside the door when I checked in.

    I called the front desk and no one came. Eventually the waiter who brought my room service took them away. It wasn’t his job, either. Him I tipped.

    Marriott is just trying to increase the margin by paying the help less and encouraging patrons to take up the slack.

    • #11
  12. gts109 Inactive
    gts109
    @gts109

    This was discussed on the Corner over at NRO after Mark Krikorian’s post, entitled “How About Just Paying Them More?” http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/388139/how-about-just-paying-them-more-mark-krikorian

    I don’t tip hotel maids. I believe that paying the hotel between $200 and $300 (or more) per night entitles me to clean sheets, towels, and a tidy room. I also think that it’s ironic that Maria Shriver spearheaded this move, which is a clear ploy to keep more dollars in Marriott’s pockets and cut-off labor troubles with maids, instead of raising the pay for a tough, completely necessary, and relatively thankless position.

    • #12
  13. Marion Evans Inactive
    Marion Evans
    @MarionEvans

    One thing you can be sure of is: the more people tip housekeepers, the less pressure Marriott will feel to raise their wages. It would be best if you did it and the hotel manager did not know about it.

    • #13
  14. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    I tip housekeeping if we’re staying for a few days or more; I have found the best results come from leaving something for them the very first day. Better service follows the rest of the stay.

    • #14
  15. Son of Spengler Member
    Son of Spengler
    @SonofSpengler

    I tip housekeeping, unless the room is in bad shape. Since I keep kosher, I often generate extra mess from takeout and/or food I bring with me. That’s beyond the regular housekeeping duties. When I leave the tip, it’s always on the last night of my stay, and I leave a note saying “thank you”.

    But then, I’m always tipping, often overgenerously. Part of the reason is that I’m a softie, and part is that I’m visibly Jewish and I’m afraid people will think I’m a cheapskate if I tip too little. Knowing when and how much to tip makes me unusually anxious. I figure that if I’m tipping too much, it’s as much for my own benefit, so that I don’t obsess later over whether I should have tipped more.

    The worst for me are valet parking and checking bags at the hotel. Should I tip dropping off, or picking up? Half and half? Double? I hate checking bags because it’s the hotel that’s making me check out. And I hate valet parking, because I have to trust someone else with my keys when I would be perfectly happy to self-park. The expectation of a tip adds insult to injury.

    • #15
  16. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    Son of Spengler:But then, I’m always tipping, often overgenerously. Part of the reason is that I’m a softie, and part is that I’m visibly Jewish and I’m afraid people will think I’m a cheapskate if I tip too little. Knowing when and how much to tip makes me unusually anxious. I figure that if I’m tipping too much, it’s as much for my own benefit, so that I don’t obsess later over whether I should have tipped more.

    The worst for me are valet parking and checking bags at the hotel. Should I tip dropping off, or picking up? Half and half? Double? I hate checking bags because it’s the hotel that’s making me check out. And I hate valet parking, because I have to trust someone else with my keys when I would be perfectly happy to self-park. The expectation of a tip adds insult to injury.

    I admit to sharing similar insecurities as my people (Presbyterian Scots) have a far worse reputation for being skinflints than your folks. Perhaps your people should call my people so we could figure out how to upgrade our images. :)

    • #16
  17. gts109 Inactive
    gts109
    @gts109

    Son of Spengler, I don’t think the maids can tell you’re Jewish, since they presumably never see you (maybe you leave a lot of Torahs lying around hotel rooms?). Not trying to discourage your generosity, just lessen your paranoia.

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    None.  I don’t view maid service at a hotel as a personal service, even though I use the room they are cleaning.  I also don’t tip professional people who do personal service, such as my doctor, dentist, or dental hygienist.  I don’t tip the person who delivers our newspaper, nor do I tip our mail carrier or package delivery person such as UPS or FedEx (some people do).

    I do tip for direct personal service such as at restaurants, my barber, bellhops, valet parking, hotel room service, baggage handlers at airports/cruise ship terminals, taxi cab and other drivers (not bus drivers) etc.  As for the teachers my girls had in private school, I would “tip” them by letting my daughters buy them something nice for Christmas.

    And of course, I never tip government employees (even though I am one).

    • #18
  19. Trink Coolidge
    Trink
    @Trink

    My physician husband grew up poor.  The son of a Baptist minister.  He worked from the time he was  a kid.  Delivered papers.   Bailed hay and plowed for farmers.  Nearly crushed in a tractor mishap. A night watchman in a lonely warehouse.  Saw men lose arms in a stamping plant he worked in during college.

    We’ve watched tired housekeepers leaving through the backdoors of hotels.

    He tips and tips big.

    His philosophy:  In all of life he will have spent several thousand dollars tipping well.  That money won’t make a difference to him at the end of his life . . . but it just may have given a little boost to the tired people who cleaned his bathroom and changed the sheets.

    (And unless he gets bad service at a restaurant  – he does the same thing.  He says that you never know what people are going through in their lives . .  )

    • #19
  20. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    I find tipping for well-defined and unpersonalized services (like housekeeping, making a cup of coffee, even a taxi ride) frustrating and perplexing. I can’t decide if such tips are a refutation of the free market, a result of the complexity of large companies and the inability to capture everything in one price, or simply a cultural curiosity of the US?

    Either way, I don’t like ’em. If housekeepers, cabbies or baristas aren’t getting paid enough, let them take it up with their employers. And if a hotel or coffee chain can’t guarantee me a good product without an extra expense on my part, I’ll gladly go elsewhere.

    • #20
  21. Waldo Inactive
    Waldo
    @Waldo

    When I travelled for business I always tipped the housekeeper. Because I was on a fixed per diem, this money was coming out of my pocket, but those folks have to make a living as well.

    Some hotels have the “turn down service” that often involves a chocolate. Before 2001, I stayed many weeks at the Marriott at the World Trade Center and got to know the “turn down service” lady. She was a lovely older black woman. Once she figured out where I was staying, she would meet me at the door with a big smile and a handful of chocolates. I gratefully took the chocolate, turned down the turn down, and gave her a tip. I always hated the thought that she lost her job because of 9/11. Of course, many people lost a lot more.

    • #21
  22. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    All the Hotels have this “Green” thing in them on how they want me not to get fresh towels, etc. Now they want me to tip them for not doing anything?

    • #22
  23. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    Bryan G. Stephens:All the Hotels have this “Green” thing in them on how they want me not to get fresh towels, etc. Now they want me to tip them for not doing anything?

    Exactly! I completely ignore the “green” thing and use every towel, bar of soap and bottle of shampoo in sight, particularly when I’m paying $450 plus a night for a room.

    As for tipping; it is a lovely gesture and I do make an effort to do so when I get acceptable service in Europe and no hassle for ‘ruining the environment’. However- let’s be frank- this is charity and not particularly reflective of anything actually earned.

    • #23
  24. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    Waldo:…but those folks have to make a living as well.

    While I appreciate the humanity behind this sentiment, there are two big objections which spring to mind:

    – If the housekeepers can’t make a living on the wage the hotel is paying them, shouldn’t they start looking for a new job? And if they can’t find a sufficient job elsewhere, we have a bigger problem.

    – Do you think greater tipping will actually increase the long-term wages of housekeeping staff – as opposed to simply giving their employers a justification for lowering their base wages (or keeping them low despite higher revenues)?

    • #24
  25. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    David Carroll:I just returned from Europe, where tipping is rare. One does no tip for meal service unless the service is truly exceptional.

    Oddly, one place Europeans often tip where we don’t is at semi-public bathrooms.

    At least in Northern Europe, shopping malls or department stores will often have a “collection plate” at the entry/exit to their bathroom where one is supposed to live a tip for the cleaning staff, who is often sitting right there all the while (shouldn’t you be cleaning?).

    • #25
  26. Fricosis Guy Listener
    Fricosis Guy
    @FricosisGuy

    I always tip when it’s the custom. I find it ensures I get that extra coffee package, frequent traveller swag, etc.

    Of course, I’m also polite and respectful to the housekeeping and bell staff. Was always amazed how many colleagues ignore — or are abrupt with — hotel service crews.

    • #26
  27. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    Fricosis Guy:Of course, I’m also polite and respectful to the housekeeping and bell staff. Was always amazed how many colleagues ignore — or are abrupt with — hotel service crews.

    You’re absolutely right. One of the most surprising moments I have ever experienced in my travels was the reaction I received after tipping a a manicurist 25% at a 4 star in Austria. She looked up and said “For me?”

    In another 4 star hotel in Krakow, my husband and I suffered a raucous and cheap crowd at the main restaurant one night but thankfully, the perps were not Westerners. There were waiters fighting to get us to sit in their section; it was such a delight to pass the torch of the “ugly American” to Russians. :)

    • #27
  28. Charles Mark Member
    Charles Mark
    @CharlesMark

    I stayed in a swanky in hotel in County Kerry several years ago. They openly proposed that guests not tip individuals but rather should make an additional payment on checking out. I think they may have suggested a percentage of the hotel bill. I paid it but I hated it. At least when you tip an individual there’s a sense of personal and reciprocal goodwill. My normal practice is to leave a tip for housekeeping if I have stayed more than one night, about €2 per night.

    PS In my experience on the receiving end, the Japanese are the best tippers, French the worst (except maybe for French-speaking Swiss). Americans are good but are more likely to be brash about it!

    • #28
  29. Funeral Guy Inactive
    Funeral Guy
    @FuneralGuy

    I always tip housekeeping as I do pretty much everybody else that works in a service industry. I don’t use any particular formula nor have any particular rationale for doing so. If the service is outrageously shoddy, I may leave a note with management. Even though I’ve always been a pretty fair tipper, I’ve been moved to throw down a little extra since I now have a college educated daughter that’s been struggling through the Obama Economy by waiting tables at two restaurants along with running a dog care business. I’m proud of her work ethic and the fact that she pays her bills and makes her own way. When I’m in a restaurant I look at the server and see somebody else’s son or daughter. I know how a few extra dollars on top of the regular tip really helps. This applies to the USA only. If I was in France and had a snooty waiter all bets would be off.

    • #29
  30. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    I learned that restaurant owners not only are required to withhold income taxes on tips earned by their wait staff, they pay their (employer) share of Social Security taxes on tips!  They NEVER SEE the money that we tip their people, but the owners pay FICA on that money.  I think that is the most awful rule I have ever heard of, and gives my a lot more sympathy for restaurant owners.

    • #30
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