Hotel tipping questions
 

When you call for a bellman,sometimes a different bellman will put the bags in the car than the belman who brought your bags down. Do you tip both of them? Also, what do you typically tip room attendants?

I recently inquired about this and was told by a hotel staff member that the person who brings the bags up / down is the person you give the tip to and that the tip money is split or shared with the person out front who opens the car door, loads the luggage. We continue to tip both and normally leave $3 a day for room attendants.

Hi--this is a topic that has always been of interest to me--the tipping of room attendants--housekeeping staff. They are very hardworking and yet it seems their lack of working out in public, so to speak, makes some people ignore them when it comes to tipping. I leave $5/day for a regular room and $10 if it is a suite-type room. My rationale is that for the amount of time and effort they expend, compared to a waiter, car valet, and others, that seems only fair.

I don't know about the two bellmans, because that hasn't happened to me, but I too always tip housekeeping. I was amazed to see an old thread on this site where people say they pay $350/night for a room, but refuse to tip those who clean the room!

I consider myself a heavy tipper. But it seems to me you would tip the person who actually delivers the bags to your room. Or to the person who brings them to your car and puts them in when you are leaving. Nevertheless I've been aware of an almost outwardly extended hand from both the guy who simply got them out of my trunk, and from the guy who then wheeled them from the car to the lobby. I'd rather give a larger tip to the guy who gets them to their "final destination" and let them fight out who gets what, than constantly digging into the pocket for several separate tips. The same is true for valet parking. I don't tip the guy who takes the car -- but I generously tip the one who brings it to me.

Regarding housekeeping. If I'm staying one night, the room was clean when I got there, and there was no additional service or turn-down service, I see NO reason to leave a tip for a maid. The hotel provided me with a clean room and a made-up bed which is exactly what I paid for. When a maid has to clean around my stuff and when there is turn-down service and extra towels brought, etc., then I generously tip the maid.

Hi woodrob12, I tip housekeeping every night. I put the tip in an envelope and put it on the nightstand next to the bed. I write on the envelope "For the Housekeeper". I actually got a thank you note from a housekeeper in Charleston. That was a pleasant surprise!

I heard from a friend who stayed at the Grand Wialea on Maui last week, that there was an added 8.00 per bag for baggage handling upon arrival and a 3.00 or 3.50 additional charge per day for the room for house keeping, plus the spa fee, or what ever it's called now..oh, and don't forget parking. So, at this point I don't know..what DO you tip?

Patrick, are you considering the fact that the maid has to clean the room *again* after you use it? You are, IMO, not paying for the clean room you got but rather for the used one you left behind. The "invisibility" of the housekeeping staff as well as the low pay and few tips many people, even generous tippers as yourself give, make this an important travel concern for me.

Hi crefloors, I would not tip anything in this case. But I cannot help but wonder if the employees are receiving the money. Probably not. First time I have heard of this. I would be interested in other peoples thoughts.

I tip about $3 a day for housekeeping. I usually leave them a note, thanking them. I always get a little note back, thanking me.

Yes, I am aware that the room must be cleaned after I used it. The floor of the lobby must also be vacuumed. The sheets and towels must be washed. The windows on the building will have to be washed. Someone must mow the lawn if there is one.
I have had just as much personal contact and service from all those other people as from the maid when I have arrived to a clean room in a well maintained hotel, and leave without any contact with any of them, or any of them giving me service while there. Sorry, but I feel all these people's salaries for the basic maintenance of a hotel are the hotel's responsibility. Why would I tip the person who made my bed before I arrived and not tip the person who washed my towels and sheets? I fail to see any real difference in their jobs in those cases.

I happily tip the person who is "servicing my room" WHILE I am using it. That's an entirely different matter in my book.

By the way, please don't give me that excuse about maids relying on their tips. I have it on good authority that in most hotels the maids who clean the rooms and make beds are paid MORE than the people doing the laundry. If anybody deserves a tip for not giving personal services, I should think it would be seeking out and tipping those people washing, drying, and folding all those sheets and towels. How many of you tip them?

I wonder too who gets these additional fees that seem to be added, and then I feel I have to tip on top of that to be sure my service person gets the money. I know these charges at the Grand Wailea are new this year because my friend also stayed there last year-a convention that she goes to with her husband-and they were taken aback a bit with the charges. They did not have those charges added to their bill last year. The first time I had heard of the spa fee was three years ago at the Hyatt on Maui. I was there the year before and they didn't have that charge. There is NO way to get out of it. Whether or not you use the spa is of no consequence. So, you get "price breaks" on the rooms with package deals and the internet and then they get it all back in additional fees. It really makes me feel ripped off. The Hyatt had also raised their parking fees considerably. I'm looking more at condos in the future in Hawaii and apartments in Europe.

Well, Patrick, we will have to agree to disagree on this point. I think, perhaps, you carried the analogy too far when you talk about groundskeepers and laundry personnel. The maid is offering you a personal service whether you see her doing it or not. Everyone at the hotel uses the towels and walks on the grass. You, however, are the only person who uses the bathroom and sleeps in the bed in your room. My opinion is that this deserves a tip. You, of course, are free to do whatever you believe to be correct.

I am sorry but I did not understand what you meant when you said,
"I happily tip the person who is "servicing my room" WHILE I am using it. That's an entirely different matter in my book."

Are you referring to a multi-night stay? And if so, how is that different than a single night stay? The maid is still cleaning up after you in both instances. As I said, we can disagree, I just was not clear about your point....

Hi crefloors, thanks for posting the info you did about hotels in Hawaii as my stepdaughter and husband are going to Maui in a few months. I will warn her to check into this. It seems like more and more when we book hotel rooms we need to ask 1) is any construction or remodeling being done while we are at the hotel 2) what charges and fees are there over and above the hotel room rate and taxes. Also, I have started to decline to take the key for the hotelroom fridge - end of discussion about any charges I incurred if I do not have the key.

I prefer to call hotels direct to get answers as the 800#'s do not know much IMO.

Well, socialworker, I agree that we may have to disagree! But let me try to explain.

First of all, if the maid is in the room before I arrive and after I leave only -- I really do not understand the idea of her giving me "personal service". You say "You, however, are the only person who uses the bathroom and sleeps in the bed in your room." Are you suggesting that other people use the same towels and sheets that the laundry person has washed, dryed, and folded specifically for me, both before and after I use them? I fail to see the difference. Both are doing a job of cleaning and preparing the hotel for guests -- neither has anything to do with "personal" service. After I use the room it must be cleaned. After I use the towels and sheets, they must be washed. Same difference. One person is hired to clean rooms and make beds, another is hired to wash sheets and towels. Neither of them has any more personal contact with a non-existant or not-in-residence guest than the other.

The part about the difference between a multi day and single night stay is this. Once I have unpacked in the room, when the maid cleans, she may have to work around my suitcase -- clothes lying over the back of a chair, all my stuff spread out on the vanity which she usually moves, cleans around and straightens up. That's why I feel she then gets a tip -- there is a personal contact with what she does -- even if I don't see her, there is a personal contact with my stuff and my use of the room. There is no personal contact when she is cleaning a room which is not currently being used by someone and working around their personal belongings. And, of course, if there is a turn-down service and she provides more towels and cleans up the bathroom DURING my stay, then that is certainly "personal contact".

If a hotel doesn't provide a clean bed and room, what do they provide? A tip to the maid, in my opinion, is for the way she does something to make my stay more enjoyable or personable. Simply making the bed and cleaning an empty room which is what she was hired to do, does not, in my book, have anything to do with adding personal service for me. Certainly no more than how good a job the guy sweeping leaves away from the front door or mowing the grass does.

Being creatures of habit, when we return to our favorite cities we always stay in the same hotels. I like to think remembering the service staff by tipping has always engendered special care toward us. At least it seems so to me.

This might have been said, and I missed it, but do you put your tip out for houskeeping daily, or when you leave?

When I was just at convention I put my tip out the morning I left. (which is what I normally do, but now you have me thinking I should do it daily?) The other two people I was with asked what I was doing, and I was a little suprised when they said that they don't tip. I consequently felt compelled to put more down because they did not.

Hi dsm, I put the tip in an envelope addressed to Housekeeping daily as who knows if your room has the same person each day. I do leave a tip even for one night, but probably Patrick is correct in his thinking. But most cleaning women are so underpaid and I don't feel like a tip will hurt my budget. And of course it is true the laundry people, gardners etc. never receive a tip. No good answer I guess.

Neat thread. It has me thinking. I always tip the hotel maid but I have always left it at the end of my stay. I guess leaving it daily with a note is a great idea because it can be different people daily. I think I will leave it daily from now on with a note.
One other thing we do when we are traveling to areas like Mexico, Jamaica and other poorer areas is to pack most of our clothes that we are ready to discard. Rather than getting a small tax deduction by donating them to charity we just pack them and take them with us. I always leave them all on the bed with a note for the maid on the 1st day to please take anything they want and to share the others with their family, co-workers and friends. I have a daughter who is now 13 and we always have clothes she is outgrowing. It is amazing the response we always receive from the staff. They end up putting fruit baskets in our rooms, triple towels, etc... Then we also have extra suitcase room to bring back souveniers and other goodies we pick up.
Happy Travels to everyone,
April