What kind of tip should I leave the cleaning people in a hotel?
July 8, 2008 by Blessings
Filed under Cleaning & Laundry
Caly asked:
I had never left a monitary tip before, but had heard there is a ‘rule’ for leaving money for the people who clean your room.
I had never left a monitary tip before, but had heard there is a ‘rule’ for leaving money for the people who clean your room.
Typically, I stay 3 or 4 nights when I go out of town. What do you leave for them? And do I leave something each morning, or only on the day I check out?
i dont tip them anything unless they cleaned my room regularly and left towels, etc. if they only come once (which they usally do) i dont leave a tip.
You really don’t need to do that….thats what they get paid for
I’ve read that it should be a dollar a day and left on the desk or dresser when you check out. I confess that I’ve never done it though.
First off, people who clean hotel rooms only get paid per room. Not by the hour in most hotels. So let them clean your room everyday. Its their lively hood. Secondly I go with a 2 dollar minimum and a dollar a day afterwards. We stayed in a hotel for two night and left a 4 dollar tip. $2 base plus a dollar a day. She was a sweet preganant girls so I also left a couple bucks in change in my nightstand drawer. Lol if she is a good cleaner is a few bucks richer. I also left a note saying the tip was for housekeeping.
I’m not a fan of definate amounts that should be tipped, I vary mine depending on the service.
I usually stay 2 nights at any one location and usually leave $10 on the final day.
We usually give $5 to $20 for a weekend stay, depending on the service received. In extreme cases where the cleaners/maid service was poor and the people rude or untrustworthy, they would get nothing.
However, I found tipping etiquette guidelines on the Internet. Here’s a quote from one: “Maid service – $3-5 per day typically, up to $10 per day depending upon how much mess you make. Tip daily because there might be a different maid each day. Leave the tip on your pillow. Err on the side of being generous, and tip on the last day also. If they change out your linens by request, give $1-2 each time.”
For stays of one night or more, the maid should be tipped $2 per night per person in a large hotel; $1 per night per person in a less expensive hotel. Give the maid her tip in person, if she can be found. If not, put it in a sealed envelope marked “chambermaid”. If you are staying more than one night, tips should be left on a daily basis because chambermaids usually work in shifts and your maid on Tuesday when you check in may not work on Thursday when you check out. Therefore, when you leave a tip upon your departure, a maid who has not done a thing might receive it and the maid who has taken care of your room will receive nothing.
well, i’ve always left a minimum of $5, and then added $1-2/day. if the housekeeping was NOT up to par, it’s the base $5, and nothing else, however, i’ve always complained to the front desk before leaving only the base tip. if the service was exemplary, if they’ve gotten me extra pillows or blankets, or towels, if i’ve needed an early check-in or a late check-out…. basically, if i need some sort of extra attention, it’s a $10 base, with the additional per diam.
i don’t know the hotels that other people stay in, but, most housekeepers have an hourly wage, which hovers around minimum, and huge schedules to try to maintain. it’s unfair to not tip, just as it’s unfair to not tip waitstaff in a restaurant.
i normally leave the tip on check-out, in an envelope marked ‘housekeeping’ and generally the name of the housekeeper as well (i find out names, since we all have one, it’s nicer to speak to people as people, not anonymous robots)
sadly, i’m not the norm, i’ve been told by most housekeepers that most people don’t bother to leave anything at all….. to the point where i’ve been followed by a concerned housekeeper, who thought that i had accidently forgotten the money i left for her on the dresser, she hadn’t ever had a tip before!
check out this website- it has a tip giving guide for a variety of situations. it recommends 1 or 2 dollars per night.
I am glad that you asked. I worked at an Inn one time as a maintenance man and used to see how much the maids appreciated the tips. I mean you don’t need to be a big tipper and have some mathematical formula for the tip. What I do is just empty my pockets each night when I come back to the room and pile all the change up and after a few days it adds up! I may even leave a few bills there too. Its not so much the amount as it is the gesture. You see in the hotel business, its not expected to tip a maid, so they get very happy when they do get that extra money. Just think you will make someones day, unlike tipping a waitress who is expecting it.
On those rare occasions that I get to stay at a hotel, I tip housekeeping $5 per night. According to the article listed below $2 is the proper housekeeping tip for a moderate hotel and $3-$5 is proper for a fancy hotel.
If they do a really good job at cleaning, I give them $5 per day and leave them a note at the end of my stay thanking them.
Usually I leave two dollars a day. I mark “To Housekeeping” on a note and thank her for keeping my room so nice, and I leave the money on top of the note.
The amount isn’t large, I admit, but sometimes it’s enough to pay bus fare. I don’t imagine the pay is great for these people, and they work hard every day. I got to know one of these girls and she told me that it is very rare for them to ever get tips. I appreciate their efforts in keeping my room clean.
gere