# tipping in hotel--amount? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002 "2002-08-02T12:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/1 "2002-08-02T12:44:47Z")
So I’m going on vacation in a few days and was wondering–what’s the appropriate amount to tip the person who cleans your hotel room each day? Do you calculate it by day, by how messy you make the room, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_D\_oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@Jane\_D\_oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_D_oh)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/2 "2002-08-02T12:47:41Z")
One to two dollars a day is very generous. I generally tip at the end of my stay though you could leave an envelope daily for your room attendant. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/3 "2002-08-02T14:19:07Z")
Very generous? One dollar is pretty much standard. I tip every day because it might not be the same housekeeper every day. I just leave a dollar bill on the pillow. I $2 if it’s a big room in a nicer hotel, or if I just stay one night. Hey, if you’re paying anywhere from $60-200 a night for a hotel room two bucks is noise level. ---
**Author:** ![Dilbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58f4c7/32.png) [@Dilbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dilbert)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/4 "2002-08-02T14:32:39Z")
I don’t understand why you would tip hotel staff. Unless for some reason their wages are based on the expectation of tips, I don’t see the necessity to tipping. Can someone explain why one would do this? Granted the guy that runs up from the hotel restaurant from your dinner is probably a waiter and is paid with the expectation of tips, but I’m not sure on that one. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/5 "2002-08-02T15:58:40Z")
I’ve always assumed that the hotel staff DO have wages based on the expectation that they’ll be tipped–bellhops, waiters, and housekeepers. My workplace has a lot of business travelers, and I know they tip these folks. By the standards listed above, I seem to be a generous tipper. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/6 "2002-08-02T17:47:56Z")
I usually tip $1-$2 a day for the housekeeping (on the day I’m checking out, though **Cooking** has an interesting idea). If the they have to work particularly hard (like the time my baby daughter threw up all over the place), I tip more. It’s long been standard to tip the housekeeping staff. ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/7 "2002-08-02T18:42:24Z")
I understand that it’s standard to tip housekeeping staff. However, does this vary based on the number of occupants? I always remember my father tipping $1-2/_person_/night. Is this generous or standard? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/8 "2002-08-02T22:58:03Z")
Uh. In some senses (OK, \most\ senses), this is really more of an IMHO question. That said, before I shoot it over there does somebody have a Ms. Manners/Letetia Baldrige/otherwise citable answer? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/9 "2002-08-03T00:25:41Z")
[Tipping in Las Vegas (the “tipping city”)](http://www.123hotelsinlasvegasonline.com/tipping.htm) [AT&T Business Traveling Tipping suggestions](http://channels.attbusiness.net/index.cfm?fuseAction=featureArticle&nav_id=37&article_id=1383) [AAA Tipping suggestions](http://www.aaasouth.com/acs_news/6667.asp) [A Lecture on Tipping in NYC (with an attached Adobe Acrobat Guide from the City of New York)](http://eastvillage.about.com/library/bltippinga.htm) Putting “tipping hotels” into Google brings up a lot of foreign (mostly Asian) tipping suggestion sites, as well. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/10 "2002-08-03T00:31:42Z")
Thanks, Tom. That’s exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. I wonder if ATT reimburses its people for tipping according to the guidelines on its site? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/11 "2002-08-03T01:39:30Z")
Would tipping include Beds and Breakfasts as well? Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/12 "2002-08-03T05:19:09Z")
Throwing _tipping “bed and breakfast”_ into Google, there were a number of non-US sites with varying instructions. All of the U.S. sites _that turned up on Google_ mentioned “no tipping.” I have no idea whether that is practice or whether only specific sites that discourage tipping happen to show up in a search. (Given that a great many B&Bs are family operated, it may be general practice to not tip since you would be tipping the “hosts” rather than “servers”–but that is purely speculation on my part.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-in-hotel-amount/122002/13 "2002-08-03T05:22:02Z")
$2000. But only if the hotel is on Boardwalk.