Tipping Hotel Staff
 

Hi - I'm travelling to NYC at the end of Jan 2011 for 4 weeks and have two questions I hope someone can help me with:

1. I'm staying in an apartment within a hotel chain. How do I tip cleaning staff - leave the money in the room or is it part of the bill at the end of my stay??

What about the doorman or concierge - who I imagine will help me out with directions or advice etc over the course of the month. Do I tip each time they assist or again at the end of my stay??

2. Weather in NYC is still pretty chilly with lots of snow etc - Looking at wet weather shoes now that will be appropriate for walking the streets etc - but what about going into shops/attractions/museums etc - just wear the same boots etc, even if wet from snow - or do I take inside shoes (i'm from Aust - not much snow here, but plenty of water at the moment!!)

thanks in advance for any advice

General rule of thumb for me

a couple of bucks per person

for good service more for special service

at the time of service.

Have fun,

Shoe Covers work great for me except in VERY cold weather.

which you should not have when you are going.

As far as boots go for day to day wear, people try to find a waterproof boot that doesn't look or feel as if one has been trekking the tundra. This way the boots can be worn comfortably both inside and outside when visiting shops, museums, and restaurants. These are public places, so one is not expect to do any more than stamp a bit to get the clinging snow and water off the boots before entering. Yes, some people may carry an pair of shoes with them, but this is a personal choice.

For a work situation, some people will keep a pair of shoes at the office and switch from boots to shoes for the work day. If going to a private home, some will carry a pair of indoor shoes, or just remove the boots and be shoeless.

Tips are not added to the bill in the US. Leave a couple of dollars per night for the cleaning staff.

If you use the concierge to make reservations you need to tip. If you are just asking for a map or directions there is no need to tip. If there is no concierge and you are asking the doorman to do this you do need to tip - since it's not really his job. You also tip if he gets you a cab - or does anything besides open the door. And if you have a question that requires a lengthy asnwer yu may have to wait for his attention - so he doesn;t abandon his real job of opening doors (for the elderly, those with packages or pets, etc).

Boot/shoe info above is correct.

Your room may be cleaned by different people on various days, so a tip at the end of the stay doesn't work out fairly. Same with doormen etc, they don't work 20 days straight and then expect a tip when you leave. And ask you might expect,the service that your receive might be a bit better if your tipping, if nobody has seen a penny from you for 20 days, word gets around.

"AS you might expect", and "you're tipping".....need coffee badly this morning!

In NYC we leave $5.00 for the cleaning staff on the nightstand with a note of 'thanks' each morning before leaving for the day. I often wonder what other people are tipping as we always find a 'thank-you' note in response to our thank-you tip when we return to the room at the end of the day. Recently we found a small fruit basket from the cleaning staff on the sitting room table with a note of 'thanks'. Unnecessary but nice.

agree with tipping above for most-If im staying for a week or more and plan on using the concierge alot i talk with him/her to see if he'll be there every day at that time and if he says yes,i give him my weekly tip in advance so he remembers me when i ask

"I often wonder what other people are tipping"
Nothing. Because I paid (a lot) for a clean room. And because the staff do not make less than minimum wage, and the IRS does not demand that they pay taxes on expected tips.

i was not used to the tipping system, but i made sure to leave a tip($5) in the morning with a thank you note to housekeeping

I think $5 per day for cleaning is about $2 too much... $3/day is sufficient for room cleaning... $1 for hailing a cab, $10 for moving luggage in and out... $5 for concierge for simple favors, $20 to 40 for difficult requests or hard tickets,

sylvia, many of those jobs are taxed... don't be a cheapo... if you can afford to pay a lot for a clean room, you can afford $3 more... wow, some people....

sylvia: Your post made me laugh. I have no problem contributing to the living wage of someone who takes care of me. I guess I'm fortunate that I can afford the extra $30.00 to $35.00 for a housekeeping tip at the end of a week's stay. I leave what I can. I assumed everyone left what they could afford to leave for housekeeping.

Oh, please, elitist ones. I contribute to living wages by the prices I pay for the services I'm supposed to get for shelling out those funds. Why is it leave "what they could afford to leave for housekeeping"? Maids are not paid less than the minimum wage (as are food service employees, on the basis of expectation of tips). Do you hunt down the minimum wage guy in the back of your toxic, smelly, hot dry cleaners and press extra funds on him? Do you chase down the lady cleaning the mens' rooms at the airport, or the restaurant, or wherever, and give them money? The stock person at the grocery?
I'm glad those fortunate ones who like to throw their money around to feel superior do so. However, don't expect everyone to follow your example. It is hypocritical to not go after everyone in your life who makes a lot less than you and press extra money into their hands.

you're the one screaming at the help when you don't have enough towels... and somehow all the soaps and the bathmat are missing when you check out...

I'm with Sylvia, why should they get a tip? Minimum wage here is $7 an hour and maids are only expected to clean 2.2 rooms per hour. So they're getting a good 3 bucks a room ! Well, okay, $2.40 after taxes but that is damn good money for just making the beds, changing the pillows, vacuuming the carpet, emptying the trash, wiping the windows, replacing the soaps, spit shining the mirrors, wiping my urine off the rim of the toilet and cleaning up after Cousin Eddie's late night room service raid.

It only takes them 22 minutes per room so how hard can it be?

I do tip in places like Maine where some students are working just for room and board in the summertime, I leave these guys a quarter if they've done a good job and pass my white glove test.

In places like Vegas where the maids are unionized, I ask THEM to tip me. After union dues and taxes, these broads are raking in a good 4 bucks per room. Since I have graced them with my presence, I expect a dollar kickback. AFter all, without customers like me they would be out of a job, right?

Very nicely put, clarkgriswold. I enjoyed reading your post very much! ;)

<i>> Very nicely put, clarkgriswold. I enjoyed reading your post very much! ;)</i>

Ditto, that was a riot.

Standard room = $3

Suite = $5

We do it daily as the maids change.

Left on the desk with a Thank You note and a :-)

We always get something extra in return.

Concierge - nothing for basic information but a nice tip if s/he gets us a hard to find ticket to an event or a reservation at a one of the top restaurants that told us they can't take any more reservations for that particular evening.

We stay a month in a condo each winter (not in NY, in the Carribean). Our method is to give the maid and concierge a "very generous" tip upon arrival and again when we depart. That way I don't have to worry with small change each time I need something in between. It works well.

Right. Pile on. Those who don't tip the way you do are cheap, nothing less, nothing more.
However, no one has justified this particular nonsense. DO you search out every low-paid worker with whom you come into contact and press money into their hands? If not, why? Many people work very hard for little money (I'm one of them). WHY should certain workers get extra money, and others not?

Once AGAIN I see we have some wonderfully talented and oh so generous posters who have RATIONALIZED their tipping behavior so that everything depends on the worker's level of compensation.

I don't give a rat's a** HOW MUCH the person is supposedly making, if they are performing a service for me, and especially if it is one I wouldn't probably be doing sor some stranger such as cleaning their messy bathroom and all their HAIR off the toilet seat., etc., I tip accordingly.

What a BUNCH of cheapskates!

Got nothing to do with money. You pay for something, you get something. A clean hotel room is expected in the payment; it is not a "personal service", it is their JOB. (If you initially entered a dirty room, would you tip the cleaning staff to make it clean for you?) The U.S. tipping culture is ridiculous. Calling people cheap for not following your custom (hair on the toilet seat?!)is perplexing. I'd still like an answer to my question: why not throw your money at everyone who doesn't make very much?

Tipping is not a requirement, Sylvia, you're right. It's an appreciation. Those nice clean hotel rooms that you enjoy? Maybe they wouldn't be quite as spotless if the people who clean them felt underappreciated and ignored. So we tip them in appreciation of their hard work.
There may be some other low-wage earners that I tip, and some that I don't. I probably do it quite selfishly, to ensure decent service in the future, but also do it kindly, to thank for good service in the past.
It is not "throwing money at them". I never take my money out of my purse thinking "I'd better throw some money at this low-wage earner". It's always "wow, this room is spotless and I appreciate that someone went above and beyond, I need to leave a good tip".

Hotels/motels where people don't tip may have less-than-clean rooms and a staff of housekeepers that is constantly turning-over because of the low wage/backbreaking work ratio. I've been to countries where tipping is not a custom and have entered some pretty lazily-cleaned rooms to say the least.

You may not tip, Sylvia, but telling other people that it is nonsense is no worse than what they're telling you is cheap.

Just looking for the reasoning.
"Maybe they wouldn't be quite as spotless if the people who clean them felt underappreciated and ignored. So we tip them in appreciation of their hard work."
That sounds like blackmail. It also sounds like a reason to get fired.
Appreciation comes in the form of a paycheck. That paycheck is earned because my business keeps the business in business. HOtels that "have less-than-clean rooms" might not be in business much longer. Lots of competition out there; and that goes for the jobs, too.
BTW, some of the cleanest rooms I've ever been in were outside the U.S. and where tipping was NOT done.
But that's enough from me; the U.S. tipping culture is argued back and forth, and the reason I hardly ever go out to restaurants any more (the price seems to go up and up, and the expected percentage of tip does the same; doesn't make much sense).

$7 may be the minimum wage - but it's certainly NOT a living wage. (That's $14000 per year more or less - about $10,000 less than the poverty line.) Here counter kids at Mickey D's are scarce at $11 per hour and adult babysitters get $20.

One of course has the right to tip or not. but to avoid going out to eat in order to avoid tipping is known as cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

"Ohhhh Claaark!" Your ganna kill me but I've actually tipped housekeeping not to clean my room!

The simple fact is that anybody has the right to tip or not. We chose to tip, you do not. What's the big deal?

If we're paying $200 for a night, what's another $3?

Let it go.

The OP asked a simple question and it appears, at least to me, that they do want to tip, they just didn't know how much. Most of the replies were centered around the question, not about why the tipping culture is/is not.

Once again, let it go.

Start another thread about tipping culture in US and then go with it....

"to avoid going out to eat in order to avoid tipping is known as cutting off one's nose to spite one's face"

Nah, it's not really tipping (I don't begrudge food servers tips, I was both a food and cocktail waitress waaay back in the day); I just can't spend the $$ anymore! Especially when I know my glass of wine cost what the bottle goes for--retail!:)

Sylvia, you're just WRONG on these issues.

When your pubes are on the hotel toilet seat it is most certainly a "personal service" when someone has to clean your mess for the next occupant.

"Tipping" makes perfect sense when the person doing the bulk of the "service" is not getting the bulk of the revenue from your bill.

And "minimum wage" has no bearing on any of this. The "minimum wage" in one place is often a lot higher than it is somewhere else.

Furthermore, the IRS most certainly does demand that servants pay taxes on tips. (one pays taxes on actual gross tips, not on "expected" tips)





I recall reading Ann Landers many years ago and a question there about tipping for the cleaning staff @ hotels/motels:

She responded "$2 per person per room per night" (which may be a tad redundant)

As to the OP's question:

I can't tell how often this "apartment" will be cleaned. If it is merely weekly, then the tipping rate probably shouldn't be the same as if it is daily.

Northwestmale wrote <<Furthermore, the IRS most certainly does demand that servants pay taxes on tips.>>

Servants is that you think of these people, I'd tell you to shove your money up your a.se

Keep it coming folks, this thread is becoming quite hilarious!


(Next time I stay in a hotel I am going to shout down the hall...."Servants, come forth for thine wages!"

Northwestmale; you are not only vulgar, you are WRONG.

What is your problem?????

Gee, a contentious thread about tipping. I can't believe it. I'm thinking when a party gets dull, just approach sylvia and say, "I was just wondering how much to tip my dry cleaner ..."

Now I get it....we are only supposed to tip people who are working at jobs that Sylvia has held before. (Suddenly she understands the custom of tipping when it comes to HERSELF? )

LOL divineMissM,

It's a good thing mere 'education' isn't a prerequisite to some of these people putting their thoughts online to confirm their cluelessness. Sylvia3's a lot like a racist - and nobody really cares about a racist being racist until she communicates that fact to others.

Sounds like Geordie and tracys2cents missed out on some elementary education as well:

"<b>serv·ant   /ˈsɜrvənt/ Show Spelled
[sur-vuhnt]

–noun
1. a person employed by another, esp. to perform domestic duties.

2. a person in the service of another.</b>"


The only true conclusion we can draw from this thread is that sylvia3 really CAN'T "afford" to travel.

Heck, she probably can't "afford" to be around other humans!

1. In spite of the given definition, 'servant' is the wrong descriptive, in this case. (hotel is not a domicile, etc, nor are employees construed to be 'domestics' hired by the hotel guest, etc. etc.) Anyway, the term has a negative connotation.

2. I would agree that sylvia has difficulty with common travel expenses. Her 'let them eat cake' attitude smacks of elitisim and must make her travels rather difficult. Her disdain of foreign customs seems like an arrogant denial of the fact that indeed things are different in different parts of the world afterall. When in Rome, sylvia....

What a nasty bunch of self-righteous, pompous losers.
"Her disdain of foreign customs"?! What "foreign" customs?! NOBODY carries stupid tipping customs farther than the US; "indeed things are different in different parts of the world." This is proof of that; ask people from other parts of the world; they are all mystified and bemused by the oddness. In fact, on the Frommers site, a few people said they avoided the US just because of the tip insanity.
So, throw money at all the "poor little people" (but only in unique and singular situations) because you feel sorry that you make more than them (I don't, as a matter of fact) and it makes you happy, but don't castigate others because they don't.
And don't bother responding to this again, because I'm gone for good, and won't read it.

seeyaaa!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYyiUj6p5oo