Lots of tipping questions lately --so thought --one more can't hurt.

On recent business trip my boss (double my salary) was waiting for me in the hall and saw me drop a $10 bill on the hall table as I was leaving my room (2-day stay in a $300 a night room) and asked what I was doing. I said "tipping the maid". My boss said "I never do that--the rates at these places are already outrageous". I left the tip anyway, but wondered if this is the norm with most business travelers? I feel that my boss is being cheap (6 figure + salary).

As sometone that doesn't live at fodors.com I understand not everyone knows and sees all about tipping. I never did in the past but when service is exceptional or we have had an ectended stay I do leave a $5 or $10 tip. Yes the price of the rooms is huge but believe me the maids see very little of that money.

I believe the standard is 3$ per day, and I always expense it on my report whenever it is business, and I have never had a problem at any company.

What "standard tip" is $3 per day?

In what part of the world is there a standard for tipping hotel maids?

That's complete bullcr@p.

There is no standard for tipping hotel housekeepers in the USA.

I never tip the maid. I usually stay at expensive hotels. Just never thought to do it, plus, all the hotels seem to add a service charge. Doesn't that cover the tip?

This very question is the topic of at least two VERY long threads, and the majority opinion is that maids should be tipped and that people who don't tip them are grouchy cheapskates happy to put a whole class of people down to save about 20 bucks a week at most.

If you don't like the idea of cleaning your own room, including your own bathroom scuzz, then why would you think maids are working? For the sheer joy of cleaning up after you? Which would you rather do, serve drinks or wipe down a toilet? Yeah, I thought so.

Maids get paid well under minimum wage precisely because they are classified as people who get tips. I don't care if you don't think it should work that way -- it DOES! And they are the bottom of the totem pole in all service industries.

TIP THEM! Minimum $2. day -- more if you leave a mess your mother would be ticked off at you for leaving. $5. if they do dishes for you in a "suites" hotel.

We always tip the maid..at B&B's, small inns or big hotels. I also heard a "standard" of $3/day.

Not all maids "make well under the minimum wage". In many areas maids are unionized and make more than $12 an hour. Pretty good for unskilled labor I think.

The tipping standard for maids is $1 per night. It is not required, but a very nice gesture. If the maid has had to go out of her way for something (i.e. you left a mess on a day or two, or spilled some coffee on the linens, etc) then leave more. That is the final word, webmaster please close this thread before Earl gets online.

The maid is tipped $3 per bed per night and must be done by placing the bill, head facing up, on the nightstand. This can be done in one payment at the end of the stay, or on a daily basis. If you do leave a tip each day, you must be sure to place an unopened condom on top of the bill to indicate to housekeeping that it is indeed a tip and is not your spare change that you left lying around.

Additionally, cold weather reminder here... this is inclement weather season at our nation's airports. Do NOT forget to show gratuity to the hard working service employees who de-ice your aircraft. The current practice for doing this is, when at the end of the jetway immediately before boarding, tape a US $10 bill to the outside of the airframe on the LEFT hand side of the door.

I'm sure the same guy who refuses to leave a tip for a maid would be the same guy who would never forget to tip his bartender or waiter. Everyone knows you should tip the maid. Most folks seem to think $3 a day is appropriate. A wise man once said "Its nice to be important but its more important to be nice"

Of course, I tip the maid. I really, really like coming back into my room after her/his visit. I try to tip the de-icing guy, too, but they keep telling me to get back on the plane before I can get to him.

From Bill: "....everyone knows you should tip the maid".

Actually that's far from true. A website like this will attract a geberally savvy group with regard to travel etiquette, but if you read the old posts about this topic, you'll find that MAYBE 50% of people who frequent this site tip the maid, and that easily 50% of non-fodorites have no idea that it should even be considered.
It's generous and appropriate to tip the maid. But the large majority of travellers don't do it.

I used to travel on business, and my company had no problem about reimbursing me for regularly tipping the maid. It is appropriate.
On a cruise, it is expected or even required, so why not at a hotel
However, I will embarrassingly admit that when I am on vacation, I only tip for exceptional service.

Chamber maids are the worst-paid people in the hospitality industry (or almost any industry). Not tipping them is a stupid economy, since the $2-3/day I usually tip is rarely more than 2-3% of the room charge and often much less. It also seems a little cowardly not to tip people you don't see, even though they have an unpleasant job and can make a difference in how good your stay is.

In addition, I discovered earlier this month how much a daily tip can actually do for you. I'd recently switched from tipping at the end of the stay to tipping every day -- mindful of shift changes and thinking it was a way to give prompt feedback too. After leaving the $3 under the lamp the first day, I got extra towels every day after that and also the air conditioner left on during a hot spell -- despite the clear policy of the management (written in big letters on a placard left on the guests' beds) that air conditioners were to be turned off after the room is cleaned and left off until the guest's return.

I'll tip more if I've left a mess or if it's a "suites" type place and I've left dishes that the maid cleans.

As to the original post almost a year old? Yes, douglas's boss was unforgivably cheap, the $300/day charged for the room makes him even more so for having stiffed the maid. For heaven's sake, tip the maid -- for a couple of bucks a day you can make her day and you might even get something extra out of it yourself.

I wanna know how deep this was buried and how long did it take to find? If the room is cleaned nicely nice tip if not no tip, I don't mind paying for great service.

I always tip $1/pp per day. So, that's $4/day. I tip each day, and leave it on the nightstand with a note for housekeeping. It's factored into the budgeting for all trips.

With 2 kids, we tend to make a bit of a mess. I try to keep things as neat as possible, but it is still no picnic to clean up after 4 people living in a small space.

Yes, we tip the maid $3-10 per night, depending on the room rate and level of service provided. I read a suggestion on this board to tip nightly, to establish a better relationship with the maid from the start, but we usually forget to do that and just tip at the end. BTW, I didn't know to do this when I first began travelling, but was educated by co-workers and have kept it up ever since. (Needless to say, if the service is lousy, I don't tip at all.)

We tip at least $2 per day per room, as when we travel with 3 kids, we usually have to get 2 rooms. I leave the $4 on our pillow. A great first-person book about minimum-wage jobs is the best-seller "Nickeled and Dimed in America." It really makes you think........

I tip according to the size of the chocolate left on my pillow at night.

At one hotel they left me chocolate, two cookies and a small teddy bear! Boy, did that cleaning woman ever get a BIG tip!