Well I guess I am a horrible person, because it never occurred to me to tip hotel housekeeping. I have a great deal of job related travel and stay in typical business hotels. I put out the Do Not Disturb sign, pick up after myself, and generally leave things tidy. I don’t want anybody in my room during my stay. When I arrive I wipe most surfaces down with Lysol wipes. I move things around in the room while I am there, but I put it back like I found it before I leave. They should only have the basic cleaning to do. I know I leave the remote control much cleaner than I found it!
I go to the the mountains a couple times a year and rent a cabin, and in that case I do tip the cleaning staff ($20) considering they have a whole house to clean, and also because when I am on va-cay I am not as tidy.
For those who leave a daily tip, rather than a bulk tip at the end, how do you indicate to housekeeping that the money is for them? A note? An envelope?
Because I would generally expect housekeeping not to remove anything from the room that’s not trash or dirty hotel property (towels, sheets, glassware, etc). Money left when we leave is unambiguously a tip, but not so much while our stuff is still in the room.
On the OP question, we usually leave around $5/day.
When I’ve stayed in hotels that have housekeeping, I always keep the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. I don’t make use of the housekeeping services so I don’t leave anything, why would I tip for nothing?
Money on the pillow is how I usually do it. Something like a buck or two. It’s been awhile since I’ve stayed or worked in hotels, so maybe 5 bucks is the new dollar?
I used to have this problem. The money was often still there when I returned to the room. I learned (maybe here) that the convention is to leave it on the pillow. Sweet, isn’t it? Doing that has never failed.
Even the most budget of hotels will give you a pen and notepad. Just write, ‘Thank you!’ and then put the tip on it.
My line of thinking exactly. I also do not tip food service workers at take out restaurants or the tea girl at the all-you-can-eat buffet. When I go to a sit down restaurant where I was actually waited upon, I am a very generous tipper.
I get the notepad and pen that are always in the room, wrap a piece of paper around the money, and write “housekeeping” on it. I usually leave it in the center of the dresser, by itself. I never heard of leaving it on the pillow.
This is exactly what I do.
5$ on first nite, but nothing on last unless you make a mess.
Cash is left on pillow of unmade bed, or with a note on nitestand.
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I’ve always tipped when I check out. I think it’s up to the staff to figure out who gets what, especially since I might not even know if it’s the same person every day or not.
If you tip on your first day, you often get better service. Like I asked for more little sample things and she gave me a double handful.
Pffft! I just take what I want off the cleaning cart as it sits in the hallway. Plus, after a few years of living half my working life in hotels, I have way too many shampoo samples.
Rarely do I unless its one of the places where I’m a regular – 6 or more times a year. Then its usually about 5 bucks a day at the end of my stay. The two main places I use I know all the staff well enough to track down the housekeeper and hand it to her personally; if she shared duty with someone else she is good about cutting them in.
I travel quite a bit, mostly outside the US, and I leave $5/day. It’s a shit job and I have the money, and sometimes if I remember I’ll even expense it.
Not sure I’d want someone’s leftovers - or were these in sealed containers?
I guess I’m a cheapskate, because I always left $1 a night. Like Rivkah said, I write “Thanks!” on a piece of notepaper, and then leave the money on it. And I’ll admit that I take the pens and notepaper, along with the soap. They WANT you to take them; I donate the soap to the food pantry and use the pens and paper myself.
Years ago, this very thought occurred to me, so I left a tip on the first day, but housekeeping did not take it (I presumed it was because they thought I just left my own money on the dresser). Since then, I switched back to leaving one big tip at the end. But after reading this thread, I’ll try daily tipping again.
I leave about $5 per night…
I was a hotel maid at a mid-priced hotel for several months. It’s physically demanding, sometimes disgusting, generally thankless work. We had 15 minutes or less to clean each room, including changing bed linens (1-2 beds), vacuuming, dusting, and cleaning the bathroom, including floor. I was a “swing” worker who did not have an assigned floor, so I seldom cleaned a room two days in a row. Tips were rare, and we were not allowed to take money unless the person had checked out or clearly indicated it was a tip. And it was finders-keepers.
For those who don’t tip because you put up the Do Not Disturb sign for the duration of your stay, consider, please, that unless you’re staying only one night or cleaning them yourself, the shower, toilet, and sink get that much dirtier.