Alice

I would like to know what the standard is. I usually stay only two nights traveling to hit a number of hotels. I ususally leave $5 per night. 1-3 dollars sounds like what I would give for breakfast. ANY FODORS EXPERTS OUT THERE THAT KNOW WHAT THE DECORUM OR STANDARD IS FOR THIS.

Sal

Only $50 for half a day? Now that's a deal--I hope YOU remember that at Christmas. I don't know where you live, but where I live, that would barely pay for three hours.

barb

We tip maids well. I think they appreciate it and the way I look at it holding onto the money I give them isn't going to make any difference at all in my live. We are not wealthy but generous. I thing if I couldn't afford to leave tips for the maids then I have no business spending money on vacations. I also tip mailman and garbage collectors. Such a small price to brighten someones day.

Lynne

Call me cheap, but never once have I tipped a hotel maid. My reasoning, whether anyone agrees with it or not:

1. I always leave the room as neat as possible: used towels placed on side of tub, cups placed in garbage can, etc.

2. I feel the amount of money I spend on a room is too much as it is. May sound selfish, but if the maid gets the shaft by me because I'm ticked at the hotel rates, oh well.....

3. How would I know that the tip I left in the room for the service the prior day, got into the hands of the maid that did indeed do the service?

Just my two cents' worth.

Karla

Lynne, you are an incredibly cheap so-and-so -- and that business of "how do I know the right person got it" is just so much smoke. If you're so worried about it, find the maid (she's there on the floor when you check out) and put the money in her hand! But otherwise, trust that they either have a general tipping pool or that it all shakes out evenly in the end.

Leaving the room neat is b.s. and has nothing to do with whether you should tip or not -- she still has to change sheets and/or make the bed, change the towels, clean out your toilet (or do you do this yourself??!!), vacuum, replenish toiletries and paper supplies, etc.

If $2-3 a day would deplete your funds, you shouldn't be staying at that hotel anyway.

Shell out, honey, or expect Ebenezer Scrooge to meet you at the pearly gates.

I just don't BELIEVE you people!

Chris

Oh bite me, Karla.
And I suppose you donate to EVERY single charity that calls or hits you up outside the grocery store, and donates to every beggar on the street and so on and so on....
Get off your holier than thou pedestal about retribution at heaven's gates for those who don't TIP A MAID, for crying out loud!
Take a valium dearie, it'll pass.

beenthere

I feel I must respond yet again. The hotel I worked at 5 years ago was in upstate NY, not a major City like SF or NYCITY. Today I would make a little more than that if I worked in that hotel. I have friends and family who work in major hotel chains and trust me maids make out just fine. If they don't like the job then find another one. They do take short cuts and being able to clean each room in 1/2hour or less. Call me cheap, but I will not tip someone who is doing their job. Hotels Should be the ones to pay the maids more. I don't make a ton of money and if I choose to go on vacation I have every right. Call me cheap, I have worked in fast food, waitress, hotel maid and such... I choose to go to school and will be over $60,000 in debt, this was my choice, being a maid is theirs. I tip based on service, having been in their shoes I didn't expect tips for doing a good job and I sure don't give them unless you do something special..I do tip my waitress because they don't make even minimal wage they truely depend on our tips...

tipper

Ouch!!!!! Sounds like Karla was one of the hotel maids that Lynn refused to leave a tip for. LOL ;o) ;o) I've left tips over the years, but certainly don't harbor ill feelings for those who choose not to. As in any customer service job.....maids, hairdressers, cab drivers, waiters, etc. - sometimes the people get tips, sometimes they don't; some people choose to tip, others don't. That's just da way it is!

Really Been There

OK "Been there", I _will_ call you "cheap": You're cheap. What's more, it's hard to believe you've actually "been there" if you genuinely believe that those other women had the choice to go to school, as you apparently did, and they still opted to remain maids. Smells very fishy, "been there" -- either you're a fraud or you're incredibly un-insightful (translation: educated but stupid).

Sloane

Said it before I will say it again you are not tipping because it is a female doing the work. Don't tell me you stiff the bell hop or the guy who brings the car around. Cheap Cheap Cheap and unaware of your actions and why you choose them!!!

Cindy

I hope I misunderstood, but is someone saying I should be tipping my child's bus driver and teacher? Boy, I can see myself sprinting after the bus with a crisp $1 in my fist. LOL!

I'm not saying government union employees are "living large." They are not poor, and that's why we have unions. But the mail person delivers the mail, and the garbage guy takes away the garbage. That's it. They don't sweep my porch or stack my trash cans. Hotel maids, in my experience, make much less money, and I bet they'd kill for a job delivering mail, BTW.

bennie

I always thought the rule for maids was $1/day per person in the room. That's what I've always done and have for the last 20 years. Never gave it a second thought.

Mark

When you buy a gift for these people that is tip, provided it is not from the dollar store. And by the sound of your questioning I am guessing that it is.

Paul

To Cindy, just move if you would kill to be making a mail carrier salary. Wages are far better in the North East. I know secretaries that make $80,000 in NYC and type 40WPM not the standard but it happens. Unless you are surrounded by absolute beauty, move.

curious

Cindy, Yes I think they were implying that you tip the bus driver! When my first child went to Kindergarten I was asked by my friends what I bought the Bus Driver for a gift at Christmas (and at the end of the school year!) I was perplexed and said "You mean you give gifts to the Bus Drivers?" They all looked at me like I was so naive and said of course! Not wanting to feel like the one cheap family I ended up getting gifts for 2 Bus drivers (my children have different drivers) at Christmas and at the end of the year! Believe me, I thought it was odd too. We are also expected to give gifts to teachers, babysitters, trash collectors, housekeepers (usually one weeks or days pay depending!), mailmen, etc. I don't necesarily agree with all of this but I feel pressure to do what everyone else does or suffer from inferior service.

Cindy

No, I didn't say I'd kill to be a mail carrier. I said hotel maids might.

Yes, this "gifts to the teacher" thing has really gotten out of hand. One year, I did Christmas gifts and end of school gifts for the many teachers in my kids' lives. At $10 a pop, it adds up, and $10 doesn't buy anything they really want, anyway. Fortunately, the parents have banded together and are pooling resources to give one substantial gift from everyone rather than dozens of small gifts.

And the school bus driver had better keep both hands on the wheel, because I'm not going down Tip Boulevard with her just yet.

anna

I was a maid at a Holiday Inn when I was in high school. I was paid $1.80 an hour when minimum wage was $1.35. We cleaned anywhere from 16-18 rooms, 20 when someone was sick. I CLEANED the rooms and did not use shortcuts, and I was usually out of there in less than 8 hours. 14 rooms to clean in a day whould have been a breeze. It was good money for a student at the time and no one ever gave me a tip in two years that I remember, even though it was near O'Hare and catered to business travellers. When I travel I keep my room neat, and when I leave I throw all the trash away, and gather up all the used towels and take all the sheets off the beds and pile them near the door. Taking the sheets off the beds accomplishes three things: 1. I know we are not leaving behind any clothes, pajamas, blankies, or stuffed animals, 2. It is a BIG help to the maids who do their job and actually CHANGE the sheets between guests, and 3. it ensures that the lazy maids do not try to get by without changing the sheets. The condition I leave my rooms in would allow a maid to clean it in less than 15 minutes. As a maid, I would have been much happier with that than a couple of extra bucks.

Felix

Anna the times they are a changing. Minimum wage in 1973 was $3.35. How much further back in time are we talking when you were in Highschool? And I think you would have different standards for a tip if a family depended on your income any you were no longer in highschool.

Roberta

Cindy "The gift to teachers thing has gotten out of hand". Do you by chance pay your taxes?"

curious

I'm sorry Roberta I may be a little slow ,but what has "gifts to teachers getting out of hand" have to do with paying your taxes? I don't get this, I guess I am an idiot!