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We don't often stay in hotels or motels, but if we do we'll leave a tip on our last day.
These women aren't given a wage worth their labor. It won't kill any of us to drop a twenty on the dresser on our way out. For the maid, it could mean the difference between having a decent meal or going without.
When I traveled for business I typically stayed in "mid level motels". I can remember tipping on just a very few occasions, and now that I've read this thread I realize that I should have been tipping something regularly. I guess I never thought of maid service the same way I think of restaurant servers,who make the bulk of their income from tips.
Lah di dah. So, you can afford high end hotels and resorts. Minimum tip nowadays for servers is at least 10%-20%. If the service is extraordinary, you tip more. You could at least leave $5 for maid who cleans up after you; more if they did a little extra. The $13.50 an hour my sister earns affords her a subsistence living. If it wasn't for my mom sending her a bit extra each month, she would be hurting. Btw, she makes to much, but just barely too much, to qualify for SNAP. We are comfortably middle class but tip our maids. It may make all the difference.
Not sure where your sister lives, but in my area there are small factories and machine shops paying less than $13.50 for (not the best) experienced machinists and assemblers, so I'm not exactly feeling sorry for her at that wage. If I could pick up a part time job for that wage I would jump on it, tips or not.
I have a 25 year old daughter working as a catering supervisor for one of the top amusement parks in the US making $10.25 per hour, with 4 years experience. She has to hustle for up to 13 hours a day on busy days.
Last edited by rugrats2001; 06-25-2017 at 08:25 AM..
I wonder how many people really honestly tip the motel maids as they are leaving their room. I guess there is no way to find out except to ask the maids and I really don't know any who would give me the true facts.
I left a nice note about how clean the room was and a $20 bill at our last stay which was about 13% of my bill, but I wasn't paying full rate and not tipping based on full rate. If the maid cursed me as a cheapskate I suspect she was still quick to tuck that $20 into her pocket.
I've talked to several people who do not leave a tip for the maid. I wonder what the percentage is of people who do.
I don't feel the least bit guilty about the amount of the tip. That was what I had in cash, so that is what the maid got. I am tidy and don't cause extra work. I travel with dogs, paid an extra $40 to have the dogs in my room, but I know that doesn't go to the maids. The dogs didn't make any mess or extra work for the maid. The dogs are clean and well behaved, not allowed on the furniture and stayed in their crate while in the room..
I think $20 was fine. I always leave $5 for every day I was there. I think sooo many people don't tip at all that they are grateful for anything they get.
I used to be a Dominos driver. I appreciated all tips as long as the person was sincere. If a 30 year old gave me a quarter in order to make some statement about how he felt about tipping, that was very different than an elderly lady who gave me a quarter...she sincerely thought that she was being nice, and I didn't mind it at all (in both cases I smiled and said thank you, however).
I really don't think there is any reason to think the maid was anything but grateful for the tip you left.
I will tip for good service, but even in upscale hotels, the standard is going down and I rarely get good service. Sometimes we get better service at mid-priced suite type hotels.
I had a friend who worked as a housekeeper in a mid-priced hotel and she said it sucked because most people did not tip, but that they never turned in anything left behind, they just kept it. She listed a ton of things from pot to laptops. I also had a 1k necklace stolen by a housekeeper and the hotel was not helpful, at all. "Well you should have put it in the safe". So I am a little weary of housekeepers now.
We usually don't need much from housekeeping- we hang the towels so they don't need to be replaced, bring our own toiletries etc. And if we've got enough toilet paper, we just leave the DND sign up for that day. (Love the hotel chains that will actually give you room credits or loyalty points for skipping housekeeping) So no tip when they've probably in the room for five minutes or less.
If there's a mess, or exceptional request, then we do tip. Left a $20 when we were at a Holiday Inn for two nights with our cats during a hurricane evacuation, and we left a used disposable litter box behind because I couldn't find a dumpster to throw it away myself.
I don't require housekeeping services daily, so I leave a tip at the end of my stay. If I stay for a weekend, I'll leave between $10-15 and a note saying thank you. These people make our home away from home comfortable. Please tip the maids. It's the right thing to do.
And every other experienced traveler who isn't a cheapskate.
I don't think it is being a "cheapskate" by not tipping hotel staff. It is he hotel management that get's away with hiring people for low salaries. It is also against federal laws to hire undocumented workers (which many hotel management groups are notorious for doing)
Last month we were eating breakfast at a hotel that I wont name when ICE came in and rounded up 10-15 ILLEGAL workers.
I traveled for 30 years. At least 4 nights a week in a hote. All high end properties.
Our vacations were also at high end hotels and resorts.
I only tipped when someone went out of their way for me. Did something special, etc.
TIPS To Insure Proper Service
X2, but more like 80 nights a year for 35 years. I'm not sure why, as I'm a 20 percenter in restaurants and always tipped cabbies well, as well as redcaps, etc.,
We spend very few nights in hotels/motels in retirement as we have a nice RV. But on those occasions when we do, I now tip the maids daily. Usually.
X2, but more like 80 nights a year for 35 years. I'm not sure why, as I'm a 20 percenter in restaurants and always tipped cabbies well, as well as redcaps, etc.,
We spend very few nights in hotels/motels in retirement as we have a nice RV. But on those occasions when we do, I now tip the maids daily. Usually.
It may not have been the custom 35 years ago (I have no idea), but I believe it's customary these days, particularly in the US. Again, if someone has a source that advises otherwise, I'd be interested in reading it.
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