Tipping Hotel Housekeepers

I must live under a rock. I have NEVER heard of tipping housekeeping. I've never done it...opps. I don't think I will start, to be honest.

I used to be a housekeeper, and likely will go back to it if I ever needed too. I did it for years, in several different places, and we only got extra tips once in a while. It is appreciated, but not necessary. DH and I say all the time that tipping has gotten a bit out of hand, I hate tipping people who I know make more than I do!

They are providing you with a service, cleaning up after you. You should always leave a tip for housing cleaning. How much depends on how long your stay is. A few dollars for one night is fine, but if you are staying all week a $20 would be Okay. I can't believe how many people forget to tip the cleaning staff.

I've never tipped a hotel housekeeper. Why? Because I rarely stay in a hotel longer than a weekend for one. And two, I keep the "Do Not Disturb" sign on my door the entire time. I don't want people going through my stuff and I don't need fresh towels every day.

My rule of thumb is a dollar per person per night, then rounded up to the next interval. i.e. hubs and I stay 4 nights, I'll leave a $10. It's pretty demanding, thankless, monotonous work, if you can afford to be generous, please do.

Enjoy your trip.
F. B.

I didn't know that some people don't tip hotel housekeepers😀. We tip daily so who ever cleans get the tip. When we stay at disney they always make cute little animals with hand towels to leave on our bed. Sometimes they will put a pair of sunglasses on the animal so cute and definitely worthy of a tip. Have a great time!!!
(For the four of us we tip $5/day unless they are changing sheets or leaving extra towels then we will leave more.)

I have NEVER tipped a housekeeper, and when I say never, I mean NEVER. Now my wife on the other hand…. she has and does.

I tip every morning I get the bed made, about $2-$3. sometimes I leave the Do not Disturb sign out so I don't have anyone come in at all. I always leave a tip when I leave of $3-$5.

I don't know what the rule is but my parents always tipped so I guess that's how it started for me.

Good question!

We tip the housekeeping staff. Not because they might try on our underwear otherwise (gross) but because they do gross jobs. cleaning toilets and mopping floors and cleaning showers and changing sheets on beds that has had who knows what going on are nasty jobs. especially since that is a major part of their jobs. You tip wait staff because they make $3 an hour. I tip housekeeping because they have made my stay nice. clean towels, sheets and the goodies on the bathroom counter. Not sure what you consider tipping. But we do $2 per person so if there are 2 people in the room $4 if 4 people then $8 not a huge amount. if you ever go on a cruise you can plan on it being figured right into the cost of the cruise.

If it's not in your budget, I wouldn't worry about it. It technically would be comfortably in our budget but I rarely tip. I did in Mexico recently bc we stayed a week and I feel like the dollar goes far down there and our friends were tipping. Otherwise I'd have forgotten as I never tip in the US. I feel like you do - it's their job and unless I ask for unusual help, it's what they're being paid for. I don't tip the clerk in the store for ringing up my groceries... Where would it end? Waitresses are different bc they don't even make minimum wage on the clock. When I waited tables, we got I think $1.25 an hour. At that time that was ~1/4 of minimum wage. That is a tipping driven profession. So totally different IMO. No benefits either that I know of while I believe full time housekeeping staff get benefits. So I wouldn't worry about it. Of course it's nice to do if someone can but I never hear of my coworkers tipping when they travel for business and that would even be a company expense vs out of their pockets. I 'll be curious to read the other answers though. Maybe I"m wrong!

We only tip when we are staying somewhere for more than 2 days. If I know we are staying for a decent amount of time, then I try to leave a $5 bill daily, just so they know we appreciate their work & to please stay out of our stuff!

~I worked at a 5 Star resort as a teenager and I can honestly tell you that the housekeepers ABSOLUTELY go through your belongings!!!!

Yikes...I think I have been over-doing it in the past.. I usually tip $3.00 to $5.00 a day... Then again, I have been working on my compulsive over-giving.. so it's good to hear what others do out there..
I thought it was good to tip each day because housekeepers can change and you might have a new one each day..

Also, I think I come from a town (San Francisco) where tipping has gotten out of hand... EVERYONE has a tip jar out and or wants a big tip... food trucks, restaurants, delis, coffee shops.. you are almost frowned upon if you ever leave change..

gone are the days in S.F. when a waitress/waiter makes dirt wages..some servers in this town can make over 100k.. As for housekeepers, I think they still may not make as much and I feel their work is harder than many professions, so I think I will still tip them and Pedicurists.. they too have tough jobs. Yet, I've noticed that many will not leave a pedicurist a big tip yet will leave a waiter/waitress a big tip... to me, standing on your feet all day is one thing, but having to work on peoples' all day is much worse..

We tip people to come deliver a roll away bed, or fix something in the room or bring room service but no I don't tip house keeping I don't tip for extra towels to be brought up. We tip bell hos valet all that. BC they are doing s service directly for us. Not just really doing their job and nor interacting with us.

Very interesting answers. We always leave at least $1 per person per day. We leave it each morning, because the staff may change by the end of the week. Most housekeeping staff do not make a great wage and the job is often thankless. Oh, and I do mention great service to the manager!

I had never heard of tipping the housekeepers. It's a little different for waiters most of them make under minimum wage and they need tips to get them to it.

They are doing their jobs, not a special favor by cleaning after a paying hotel guest!

I do not tip but if my suitcase is overstuffed with items I purchased on my stay then I leave a note "FREE" with the extras that I cannot carry back--(t-shirts, socks, toiletries...).

Tipping has gotten so OUT OF HAND!

Oh my goodness I have never tipped hotel housekeeping staff! Never even see them actually. But my husband way overtips everywhere else and even buffets where we serve ourselves and some cute person comes along and reserves him his beverages. She must be doing a really good job. I admonished him once when he forgot to tip Mr. Universe after he got me some water teehee

I'm shocked that people DON'T automatically tip housekeeping staff.
For us it's SOP.

My mom lives in hotels due to her job. When she is in a hotel for work she leaves a dollar or two a day. In the event she left a mess she will tip more. She tips because she is there sometimes for months at a time (the suites) and she tips because it keeps her on their good side. Basically if you will be there for an extended period of time SOME will take it out on you if you are a poor tipper or leave too much of a mess.

Lilly:

I tip housekeepers at hotels - IF they do a great job. That means - FOR ME - making the bed, towels and cleaning. When I was in San Francisco in December 2012 - I was taking a shower and the bathroom flooded (shower curtain not in place - TOTALLY my fault). Called room service - they were up in less than 10 minutes, cleaned up the mess and left fresh towels - I had already started sopping up the mess!

Every day I was there - my room was immaculate. I left her $50 - $10 a day.
When I was in Vegas in February? Again - $10 a day.
When I went to San Luis Obispo in April? $10 a day.

You need to do what works for you and your family! What **I** do might not work for you!

Emily Post says to tip daily, $2-5 and more if there is extraordinary service or a large mess. I left $20 when my son spilled half of a coke on the carpet!
When I travel I usually leave out the Do Not Disturb sign if I am there for 1-3 nights, then tip $5 at the end. If I have the room made up, usually $3-5 if it's just me. When I travel with the kids, at least $5, since we typically leave a lot of trash (just by virtue of changing diapers, lots of water bottles, etc.), bubble ring in the tub, that kind of thing. We stayed off-property at Disneyland in CA and would get little towel animals when we tipped. One day was a big sunshine with a Frisbee as the center in the middle of the bed. So if you are there for a week, I would bring at least $25 to tip housekeeping a few dollars each day. But I doubt bad things will happen if you don't :)

I've always heard 5-10$ a day is standard.

You will probably have someone different clean your room each day at
Disney . We thought we could tip at the end too. If you do tip , leave a few dollars on the nightstand or bed with a note that says Thank you on it otherwise they won't know to take it . Put your dirty towels in the tub so they know to leave clean ones .Take advantage of the clean towels ! If you tip , they will leave cute towel animals and extra toiletries ! Have a magical trip !