soccr

On one of the morning talk shows (think it was Today after 9 am), Lawrence Tisch (now where have we heard that name before?), who is now CEO of Lowe's, talked about the experience of doing various jobs around his hotels -- it was part of a "Now Who's Boss" series, I believe. He said that by far the hardest job was the chambermaid's and how horrible it was that people tip everyone else but often don't tip the maid. He said that would now be a "special crusade" of his.

Well, I have always felt strongly that maids should be tipped, and tipped generously, and I've never bought the idea that we shouldn't be coerced into making up for low pay levels. But Tisch really ticked me off -- proposing that his response to finding out how hard a job is should be to turn to the public to pay the maids more. When Matt Lauer (I think it was) said, "yeah and how 'bout a raise all around?" he changed the subject. My first nomination for the Bronze Willfully-Missing-the-Point award for 2004.

soccr

(PS: I think I may have the wrong Tisch -- a relative of the (original) Lawrence Tisch or another Tisch? Not critical, but just caught it.)

whirldwid

I always tip the maid! they clean my room. Whats harder that or carrying my bags to the room?

soccr

(OK -- Lawrence Tisch, late of CBS television management, is no longer alive. This is Laurence Tisch. There, accuracy in print.)

Cassandra

Well, of course he's not gonna say, "gee, I should pay them more." But he should. It's disgraceful what housekeeping staff is paid.

I always tip, and tip daily -- when possible, I try to identify who does my room early in my stay (it does change sometimes, esp. over weekend duty) and say hello and thank you. You'd be surprised what little extras that (tipping and saying thanks) can sometimes buy you.

Shame on Tisch.

rpngirl

I cleaned hotel rooms over summer and Christmas breaks from college. I almost never got tipped, and it was by far the most physically demanding and all-around crappy job I've ever had. It makes me furious that our hotel couldn't "afford" to pay maids more than $6 an hour, while the owner's daughter goes gallivanting around the world, wearing haute couture and discarding the clothes after one use (for herself and her chihuahua), filming her sex life, etc. I'm not dropping any names here am I? =)

rpngirl

Oh, yeah: when I got tips from stay-over guests, I cleaned EXTRA well, left extra towels, etc.

caribtraveler

just to be a bit more accurate..it's JONATHAN tisch of LOEWS [Lowe's is the home improvement store].
but good point.

GoTravel

Yes, (insert sarcasm here) the public should pay the maids.


Watch Mr. Tisch's hotels empty out like the Senate during the anthrax scare.

yk

Do people always tip regardless of the "class" of the hotel?
Do you tip both at the Four Seasons and Motel 6?
Do you tip the same amount or different?

SamH

In restaruants the servers do not earn minimun wage, their income is dependent on tips. I think this is also true of some baggage handlers and drivers who basically rent a car.
While housekeeping staff are paid minimum wage or above, it is true that their job is very hard and underappreciated.

rpn, I have noticed a definate difference in service as I tip housekeepers and others don't. Thanks

J_Correa

I always tip at hotels and motels when I am staying more than 1 night - whether I am staying at a nice place or a budget place.

Patty

I leave a gratuity for housekeeping regardless of the class of hotel. Amount depends on how frequently and well it's cleaned.

milliebz

I Always tip regardless of the price of the hotel. Maybe once or twice I did not when the room was not cleaned well before and during the vist but this is very rare.

gail

When we travel with our teenagers I spend a few dollars to tip the housekeeping staff - then I feel less guilty abut the clutter my kids leave around (note - it is clutter - not dirt, food leavings, destruction, etc. - I would not let them get away with that - just routine clutter, primarily clothing and CDs). If I travel alone and stay for just one night, I tend not to since I bearly disturb anything in the room.

For multiple night stays and especially in suites with any kind of kitchen facilities, even though we clean up after ourselves, I tip more generously.

Patrick

As a side note, I generally consider myself an "over" tipper. But I never leave a tip for the maid on a one night stay. It seems that there has been absolutely no personal service for me. The hotel provided me with a clean room and made bed. What is there to tip for? That's different than a maid working around my open suitcases, the wet towels left on the floor, or cleaning the sink around all my stuff. When she cleans a room I'm staying in, I leave a tip.

Patty

I'm surprised by the people who say they don't tip for one nighters. If the room is clean and everything is in order when I arrive, I still leave a tip. My biggest peeve is when the alarm clock isn't turned off or reset from the previous guest's stay and I'm awakened at 4:00am the next morning.

FainaAgain

LOL Patty I've learned the hard way to check if the room's alarm is on!

Cassandra

OK, if you don't tip for staying just one night, and there is a new guest each night for seven nights, does that mean the maid has to change the bed 7 times and get no tip? That's harder work than coming in to vacuum and just re-make the bed.

I recently had to stay for a prolonged visit in a suites-type place, where we had two tiers of service: make the bed and refresh the towels most days but change the sheets and really scour everything once a week. I tipped the first day -- to set a precedent -- and tipped the guy who offered to bring my suitcase up the stairs, and thereafter I tipped bigtime on the day they changed sheets and cleaned. Within one week, I started to get little extras (extra soaps, etc.), and a little more spiffing up on the "regular" days (like running the dishwasher and putting the dishes away, which she didn't have to do).

But I still would have tipped had I only been there one day. Just because her service preceded your arrival doesn't mean she didn't perform a service. Or to put it another way, if you leave a royal mess once you check out, then she will have performed a service after the fact.

And by the way, can anyone verify that they are, in fact, paid minimum wage? It's a pittance and you can't live on it, but I thought they didn't even get that much because it's thought that maids get part of their income through tips, true or not.

Patrick

About how hard the job is and tipping even for one nighters when the maid has no personal contact or done something special -- where do you leave the tip for the handyman who unplugs toilets, cleans up the leaks, the oil spills in the garage, etc? Do you leave a tip for him? I still maintain the basic idea of paying money to a hotel is that they provide you with a room. Why in the world would you tip someone who just did their part of that? A tip is for someone who did something "personal" for you in my humble opinion.