Tip chambermaid in Italy?
 

I picked up one of those Italian travel phrase book in anticipation of a trip this summer to Italy.<BR><BR>It says that you should tip the hotel chambermaid, at about 1000 lires per day. I travel quite a bit in US and Canada and I have never tipped a chamberperson.<BR><BR>Is this true in Italy, and how much is 1000 lires in eruo?

hi<BR>at the time of conversion to euro, the lira was, rounded, about 2000 to the euro, give or take a hundred or two.<BR>So that suggested tip, which I can't help but wonder is from an old book, was about 50 US cents. <BR><BR>Tipping is a very controversial subject here, it ranges between the two extremes of &quot;cheapskates&quot; vs<BR>&quot;insensitive overspending saps.&quot;<BR><BR>I do have a habit of tipping cleaning staff both here in the US and abroad. That's just what I prefer,I'm not saying it's necessary or universal.<BR><BR>In a middle-level hotel, I leave the equivalent of 2-5 euro per day. Leaving more would be more usual in a top-level hotel, and less in a bottom budget hotel.<BR>Do what you feel comfortable with.<BR>There are also tipping suggestions elsewhere here at fodors.com

They use Euros now rather than Lira. But at last year's conversion rate 1000 lira was only about 50 cents. I would think that if you are going to bother to tip them, it should be something more than that.

1000 lire was about 50 cents at the time of the changeover to the euro. <BR><BR>There was a long thread about tipping the chamber maid (not just Italy) a few months ago. The outcome was that some tip and some do not. The interesting part was that among those who tipped they had no consenses on when to tip. Some said daily, some said they tipped at the beginning and others tipped at the end of their stay. <BR><BR>Personally, I only tip if the maid did something above and beyond the scope of their normal duties.

My experience for what it's worth: I stayed in a small hotel in Orvieto for the second time last summer. There were two women who cleaned all the rooms and I often saw them as I went in and out during the day. I stayed just under a week and when I left, I went and found them, said goodbye, and gave them each a modest tip (maybe 10 euros each?). They were obviously very pleased and the older one gave me a big hug!

yes we tip and usually at the end of our stay. We usually tip about $2 euros/day. Here's what seemed to be the biggest hit though. While travelling in Tuscany last Fall, we made a business related visit to a well known butcher who was extremely generous to us. He sent us home with many of his delicious specialties. We were overflowing with goods and offered much of it to the staff. They were thrilled! They were also familiar with the quality of this man's products and ate heartily thanking us repeatedly!<BR>This seemed to be the best &quot;tip&quot; we have ever given.

Thanks for the &quot;tips&quot;.<BR><BR>I'll be staying at the Hotel Borromees in Stresa for 6 nights. Rather than leaving tips at the beginning or the end of the stay, I guess I will leave 10 euros for the maid at the middle of the stay, after 3 days/nights!