Tipping Housekeeping
 

What is the appropriate nightly tip for housekeeping for a hotel in Munich?

1-2 €/day

I never tip housekeeping staff at European hotels. The bills always include tax and services. The only people who may get a tip are concierges if they have been exceptionally helpful.

I always leave a tip for housekeeping staff at any hotel.

And I leave it daily so the person who actually cleans the room receives the gratuity, not at the end of the stay as some may suggest.

I have never tipped housekeeping staff, I don't stay at fancy hotels though so I don't know if that makes a difference.

The rooms never seem to be unclean when I don't tip either. To be honest I never even considered it until I read this thread. My family never did it growing up, and I've never talked to anybody else who ever has.

I give one euro per person per day. I like the idea of leaving the tip daily, as sometimes the chambermaid changes each day.

If I have enough money that I can pay $100 to $150 per day for a room, I want to give a little extra to the person who cleans the room.

I spent 6 weeks in college as a chambermaid. I have never been so tired in my life! That's some hard work!

Exactly--and sometimes nasty work as well.

Usually, you don't tip housekeeping in Germany.
But you are free to leave a euro or more if you wish.

DH left some change each day on the pillow as often there was more than one person cleaning.

I wasn't suggesting housekeeping work isn't appreciated. But it's not a custom in Europe to tip hotel staff. Also the wage structure is different. All staff are paid a living wage according to minimum wage legislation and whatever is the going rate for a particular duty, and they are not expected to make up the shortfall through tips, as it's often the case in US.
By all means tip them if you want, but there is no expectation that you do.

Alec must not know what a living wage is for housekeepers and what they are expected to do for that wage. Am interested to know what he thinks housekeepers earn.

Of all the people who do a service, housekeepers in hotels work about the hardest, have the dirtiest jobs and make the lowest wages of all.

Please do tip the housekeepers on a daily basis. It is untrue that tipping housekeeping is not done in Europe. Housekeeping deserves more of a tip than that guy that just poured a beer, or who picked up your suitcase out of the trunk of the taxi, wouldn't you say? They have just cleaned your toilet, scrubbed the tub and sink, gathered up your dirty laundry, made your bed, vacuumed your room and dusted and did it all in about 15-20 min.

Thank you all for your responses. I always tip housekeeping on a daily basis so the person doing the work get the tip. It looks like 2 euro a day is the appropriate amount.

Mainhattengirl...

No one said that tipping for housekeeping is not done in Europe.
Just that in Germany, where I live and grew up, tipping for housekeeping is not the norm.

If you prefer to tip, though, you can leave one euro or a hundred euros per night. It's a free country.
You can also tip at McDonalds. These guys also don't earn much and probably work in even worse conditions. Or don't you appreciate their work?

Hi Ik,

I have taken to leaving $1 or 1E per nite for housekeeping and the same for the breakfast staff.

I think that I get better service. I know they appreciate it.

((I))

what a great idea to leave it on the bed daily .....
they work hard and deserve it.....

thank you for your service to me and making my stay more enjoyable......

If traveling solo, I leave 2 euros per day. If traveling with someone, I leave 3 euros per day.

The Germans, as a whole, don't have the same concept of tipping as Americans. I find them quite pragmatic, and think they feel that if they had agreed upon paying a specific amount for a specific service, why would they pay more at the end of the service.

I remember the first tour I took, which was at Bruchsal Palace's Automat Machines musueum. We were the only Americans and the rest (about 20-25) were German

The guide was excellent, very proficient at making the machines work which sometimes required quite a bit of pedaling or pumping, and the tour was comprehensive, lasting about an hour. At the end, I started to look in my coin purse for a well-earned tip; all the Germans just said daenke, and walked out. I remember being so shocked! It was obvious the guide hadn't expected on either (unlike the French museum guides of old, that almost wouldn't let you get out the door until you had deposited something into their palm.)

I tend to leave a euros for my breakfast person and a euro for my chambermaid, and have noticed sometimes a more agreable demeaner or perhaps heigthened sensitivity to my service the following days (I wouln't go so far as to call it preferential treatment) So I assume there are a lot of people who don't tip.

I just remember Steve McQueen is that war movie and reference to "hey, that's HIS rice bowl", or something to that effect. I just count my blessings and feel for people who have to work so hard in life.

As it had been mentioned a few times:

When you have a breakfast buffet, and the waitstaff just brings you a small thermos of coffee to the table, or refills your cups, you don't tip.
When you order breakfast "a la carte", e.g. in a restaurant, you can tip if you want.

In restaurants or cafes, people tend to over-tip on smaller amounts when they tip, i.e. give €10 for a €8.40 check.
It's more common to round up to next euro or a full euro amount than to actually calculate 10 percent.
If the amount due is €8.40, most who tip would say "9 Euros, please". And never €9.25 or €9.20.

The 10-percent-rule is no rule at all, by the way. Big spenders will tip €5 on a €55 bill, a regular tip on a €97 bill would be €3 -- to make it an even one hundred.

Never leave the tip on the table in a restaurant. Always settle it when you pay the check.

When you pay:

A) announce the total amount (including the tip you wish to give).
Example:
Check is 11.20. Hand over €20 note, and say "12 euros, please"

or

B) hand over money incl. tip (i.e. 12 euros) and say "thank you".
"Thank you" means "keep the change" in this context.
Never say "thank you" meaning "you did a nice job" when you expect some change back.

Sorry, I have worked in the restaurant industry here in Germany, and tipping 5 euro on a 55 euro bill is a normal amount, not overtipping and certainly NOT a big spender. Someone who tips 3 euro on a 97 euro bill would be seen as an extreme cheapskate.

If my bill was 11.20, I would say 13 euro, not 12. An .80 cent tip is kind of stingy don't you think.

So, not sure how this moved away from tipping housekeepers to tipping servers. Would still like to know what you think housekeepers make per hour. They still have the crappiest job around, beating out the burger flipper in McD's any day.

IMO, you give account of what waitstaff might like to happen in their fantasies, not what is reality in Germany.
If you really worked in a restaurant, you will know that there are people who tip a lot, people who round up, and people who do not tip. We have a system of "service included", so no waitstaff has any entitlement whatsoever to tips. It's totally at the discretion of the customer.
When I take a friend or business acquaintance to dinner and we spend 97 Euros on two dinners and wine, we pay for the job of the waitstaff as well. This in Germany, not the US where I gladly pay 20 percent as tip without making an issue out of it.

What do you think people at McDonalds in Frankfurt make? Do you tip them?