Yes, another tipping question.
 

We are staying in a beach condo on Siesta Key. The condo was clean. The towels were artfully arranged. The toilet tissue rosettes were the best I have ever seen.There is no daily housekeeping. We are here for six nights. And the tip should be????

Did you rent from VRBO or other that charged a cleaning fee? Puleeze.

How many people? How big's the condo?? :-)
The owner didn't leave any guidelines?

None - if there's a cleaning fee.

None.

Two people, two bed, two bath condo. Yes, cleaning fee. She left an envelope of course. Normally I would not consider a tip because we are paying a cleaning fee. I think the lovely towel arrangements has thrown me a bit. HA! As it was designed to do I'm sure.

My experience most similar to yours is in Mexico (many times, Puerto Vallarta). And we would definitely leave a tip for housekeeping staff in the envelope provided at the end of the week... but also I never paid a "cleaning fee" separately so perhaps this doesn't apply.

So there’s no daily housekeeping and you’re paying a cleaning fee. What exactly is the tip for? I’m missing something here.

Nada

Well the cleaning pleople don’t get the cleaning fee.

I think its okay to leave nothing, but I’d leave $5-20 depending on how magnanimous I was feeling on the last day.

9 replies and no mention of how "chambermaids" clean your personal nastiness and they aren't paid enough and if you can afford to travel, you have to tip, or you are a horrible person?! So refreshing!

Argh. Wrote too soon.

What??? I said you don’t have to leave anything. My post is nasty?

Three to six dollars a day. It's not going to break you.

Since there’s no daily hk, nothing.

but given the age we’re in, if you have a pic of the towel arrangement, and you can post pics in a review, I’d do a nice little blurb about how they went above and beyond, and how it made you smile. I doubt that’s the “chambermaid”, if they hire a professional cleaning service—I think “hosts” often do things over the top to impress their guests.

The envelope is cheeky to me. Charge a cleaning fee or take chances with tips. Not both! But perhaps past guests have asked for an envelope because they’re so used to tipping?

It's a TIP! You don't have to leave anything. You leave what you want to leave. If you like the flowery rosettes leave the artist a tip. The cleaning fee has nothing to do with it. You pay your hairdresser a fee don't you?

Here's my tip for you.

No tip.

((I))

The cleaning person who cleans our air B and B rental for the landlord gets over $25/ hour.
That is very good money in Tucson. I do not tip her and I hate those towel arrangements, personally.

? ?? is she only supposed to tip if she finds out what the cleaner is making per hour? I don't see what $25 per hour has to do with anything do we not tip waiters in high-end restaurants Just because they're pulling in $40 an hour?

If you are staying at an AirBnB, apparently "no" according to these sources:
BONUS TIP: SHOULD I TIP MY AIRBNB HOST?

This question that has cropped up repeatedly since we published this original post. The short answer is no, you should not tip your Airbnb host. Tipping is a way of showing appreciation for good service, but Airbnb hosts don’t see what they’re doing as a service as such – rather, they’re sharing their home with you as an equal. You and they co-exist in the same space; they do not ‘serve’ you in the same way that hotel staff might do. As such, there is no need to tip them. If you want to show your appreciation, a small gift such as a box of chocolates or even just a note would be more appropriate.

https://www.atlasandboots.com/airbnb...ps-for-guests/
Am I supposed to tip when I stay at a short-term rental?

Post: “If there’s a fee associated with it I don’t really see a reason to tip. I look at Airbnbs as different than a hotel…if there’s a cleaning fee, I’m not gonna pay extra. Cleaning services are different than hotel cleaning services: ‘This is my business; I charge rates so I don’t need tips.’ … I’d not put it in the same category as hotel cleaning staff.”

https://www.travelandleisure.com/art...d-i-tip-airbnb

And from Airbnb:
Should I tip my experience host?It's up to you. Your host set a price they expect will fully cover your experience. We suggest you research cultural hospitality norms in your destination. If you want to show appreciation for your host, write a review encouraging other guests to book their trip.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/articl...xperience-host

[Sorry for the large type - out of my control.]

IMO, this is not a tipping situation. You've been charged for the stay by the owner. They've charged a fee for cleaning costs but you're not paying the maid directly if there even is a maid. My feeling is that there's never a good reason to tip a person who has set the costs of their service.

Well, hopefully restaurants paying their servers $40/hr would discourage tips, instead of letting customers think they underpaid their staff. Plus, in that situation, you’re tipping someone who catered to you for at least an hour or two. I don’t see how a cleaning service that you’ve paid for beforehand and who won’t enter your lodging again until you leave, is anywhere close to the same thing. (Those restaurants must be few and far between)

serious question: do you tip for every day of hotel stay even if you refuse service? Give the maid cash to NOT enter? Or do you just tip when you’re leaving?

waiters are paid a low base rate,that’s why they are tipped at all.

In one word NO. You've paid for the condo, you've paid for cleaning, what the bleep are you tipping for? You guys are tip nuts... Give it a break..

>>>Well the cleaning pleople don’t get the cleaning fee.

I think its okay to leave nothing, but I’d leave $5-20 depending on how magnanimous I was feeling on the last day.<<<

What? We don't know there are cleaning people at all. The owner might do the cleaning. If there are cleaning people, why would you assume the owner wouldn't pay them the cleaning fee? Your post makes it sound like the owner is charging a cleaning fee, pocketing it and not paying the cleaning people their fee. There is no telling where a tip envelope would end up (the owner might get that too or the rental agent). We really don't know what the owner does with the cleaning fee (or whether the owner pockets part of that fee), hires a service, cleans it him/herself, hires an individual, etc.

Here's "the tip" OP:

BUY a beach condo (like we did) so you no longer have to even ask the question. Be the best decision you ever made (until the next storm)

That was helpful.
Not.

I’m not assuming anything but I have some experience with this and typically a cleaning fee goes direct to realtor or owner. They might or might not give all of it to the person who actually comes and cleans.

I don’t claim to know here but the rosette and fancy towel thing lead me to believe it is PROBABLY someone else doing the cleaning.

"Waiters make a low base pay"

Well that may be another reason to tip the toilet-tissue rosette artist. If you're staying for two weeks she/he only gets one payday for the joint. If the place is rented out 2 or 3 days at a time she'd get 5 or 6 paydays in that time period.

There is no daily service. The cleaning fee is to ready the unit for the next guests. Unless you leave a particularly big mess, no tip!

On on the other hand, I know how you and R party.... maybe you need to stuff that (inappropriate) envelope full! 😂

This thread goes a long way to proving the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory.

This is another demnesion in time and space.

Nice to see Ira and his lightbulbs again.

Never been sure about the sarcastic context of the lightbulbs.

Air B and B has a pledge owners can choose to take which promises they will pay cleaners a certain ( substantial wage) I try to rent from those owners.
The woman who cleans our house has a whole business cleaning air B and B houses with those owners. She( according to her) makes a good wage.)
The cleaning fee for this house is $125.00. She gets all of it. She says it takes 3-5 hours to clean, depending on the tenant.

Hi all!

As noted above, please do not post travel topics in the Lounge. I'll move this thread to the place it seems to fit best, which is

https://www.fodors.com/community/tra...nd-trip-ideas/

The reason we don't post travel topics in the Lounge is because the Lounge is restricted, and we want your questions and answers to benefit the whoe community, not just those with Lounge access.

Thank you!

I thought the Lounge was re-opened now?

The Lounge is re-opened but restricted. No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without parent or guardian.

It is still not visible to those who have not met the posting requirements. And it is an off-topic lounge, and tipping is a travel topic, which means a tipping thread is mis-categorized there.

@ ibobi: I can appreciate your logic for moving this thread out of the lounge, but it is country specific, and so I believe it belongs on the U.S. board, NOT the much more general tips thread!

Watch how many people post to reply here now that it has been moved... NOTHING like the response they would have received in either the Lounge or on the US forum.

I'm sure you have noticed how very little traffic this forum gets. We go days at a time with zero activity. You will kill threads by placing them here.

Yet there are only a few people who post there or even look there. The Lounge is invisible to Google, and therefore nobody will come in and see the responses there unless they're already longterm Fodorites. Whereas Google can get thousands of eyeballs on this thread, new members, etc.

As stated before, the Lounge is for non-travel topics.