Typically, $5/night.
One time, in Portland, I happened to be in my car in the parking lot as the cleaning staff was making its rounds. I watched the manager take the tip money I had left for housekeeping. Is that standard procedure?
I spent several weeks in a hotel in Colorado Springs and always left a fiver on the pillow. The housekeeper never took it. I wonder if she thought I was trying to set her up for a theft accusation?
This is why I always make it VERY clear that I left the money for housekeeping. I sometimes mention it to the front desk if I think of it.
I too leave the tip on the pillow.
While it is something that can be avoided, I know I’ve occasionally bought a six pack of beer and had to leave one or two behind the next morning. I always assumed the hotel staff enjoyed the leftovers. It’s too much of a hassle to deal with a couple of beer bottles if I’m flying out or if I’m driving and don’t have a cooler.
Although I prefer a Bloody Mary as an eyeopener, I’d enjoy them with a McMuffin and coffee.
I take all the samples, pack up a bag and give them to the domestic violence center. Most times the women leave with nothing.
Note the location: Marquette, Michigan. Canadians visiting the US enjoy our relatively inexpensive liquor, but aren’t going to pay the duty to take back a few beers or a half bottle of hooch. They have full bottles up to their limit (and whatever else they hide in secret compartments) when they cross back into Maple Leaf Land.
I leave the do not disturb sign up for the entire stay. I use one towel the whole time. The room pretty much spotless when I leave. It never occurred to me to tip.
It never occurred to me to tip and I don’t hang up the do-not-disturb sign because I like to come in to a nice clean room with the bed made. I didn’t realize tipping the cleaning staff was this common. Maybe I’ll start doing that.
But I hate tipping. Not because of the money, but because I never know when it’s appropriate and I never know how much to tip. And I never seem to have cash on me, so that’s a problem.
This.
I’d never heard of tipping housekeeping until I started travelling in the States. I stayed at a hotel that had pre-printed envelopes by the telephone that said “Housekeeping” on them, and thought: “Huh. I guess that’s a thing here.”
I think it’s more common in this thread than in the actual world. Fewer a third of hotel guests in the USA leave tips for the housekeepers according to this article. (And if that’s based on self-reported behavior, I bet it’s even lower, like church attendance.)
I dont always tip on one nite stays. Otherwise, pretty much all the time.