Hotel Housekeeper Tipping

[FLAHAM]

Staying mostly at $100-$150/night hotels, I usually leave $2 or $3 each morning for the housekeeper.  Prior to a transatlantic cruise next spring, I have reserved a $250/night Manhattan hotel.  Would it be customary to leave more, either because of the price or the New York location?

[George C]

Many people don’t tip at all , we always leave a few dollars , I think three would be ok.

Edited May 5, 2021 by George C

[1025cruise]

I always tip $2-3 per night. I've never considered room cost in that calculation. It's a tip, not the housekeeper's paycheck.

[Nitemare]

$3/night seems fair.  We adjust this now based on if they even do daily cleaning.

[navybankerteacher]

I ordinarily leave $5 (but nothing if there were signs of poor cleaning).  However, if the $15/hour minimum wage comes in, I may rethink the entire notion.

[lenquixote66]

We also would leave $5.00

[Noxequifans]

On 5/9/2021 at 12:33 PM, lenquixote66 said:

We also would leave $5.00

Agree .... $5 is what we leave.

[njhorseman]

On 5/9/2021 at 12:33 PM, lenquixote66 said:

We also would leave $5.00

 

1 hour ago, Noxequifans said:

Agree .... $5 is what we leave.

As do we.

[Ombud]

On 5/6/2021 at 11:44 AM, navybankerteacher said:

I ordinarily leave $5 (but nothing if there were signs of poor cleaning).  However, if the $15/hour minimum wage comes in, I may rethink the entire notion.

Why? Isn't that what it is in most places??

 

I leave $5 per night if its a good job. Otherwise $0

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Why? Isn't that what it is in most places??

No...it's not...it's $15 almost nowhere.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/mw-consolidated

[Ombud]

2 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

No...it's not...it's $15 almost nowhere.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/mw-consolidated

It is here. Federal minimum wage is embarrassing JMHO. But then I'm writing as someone who can afford to cruise

[njhorseman]

3 minutes ago, Ombud said:

It is here

California doesn't qualify as "most places", which is what you said in your first post. It will also be $15 under NJ law in a few years, but the $15 minimum wage is nowhere near the norm in the vast majority of states.

[navybankerteacher]

Just now, Ombud said:

Why? Isn't that what it is in most places??

 

I leave $5 per night if its a good job. Otherwise $0

Hotel housekeeping was always a low wage job - and it was appropriate to supplement that wage with a tip.  If it becomes on a par with every other job, the need to supplement it with a tip fades.  Do you tip the supermarket checkout clerk, or the post office employee who serves you?

[Ombud]

No because I use self check out at Safeway and neither one makes my bed, empties out my trash, cleans my house (room). Do you tip your steward or do you let the fact that gratuities are charged / they are earning more than they would at their home country?  

[navybankerteacher]

6 hours ago, Ombud said:

No because I use self check out at Safeway and neither one makes my bed, empties out my trash, cleans my house (room). Do you tip your steward or do you let the fact that gratuities are charged / they are earning more than they would at their home country?  

There is a massive difference between third world individuals who work on cruise ships where tipping has long been part of the culture and US residents who are enjoying mandated minimum wages.   

When I stay at a hotel, it is not MY room - it is the hotel's room.  It is in the hotel's interest to have it habitable for the use of the next person who rents it from the hotel.

 

Do you tip flight attendants or cabin cleaning crew who make your airplane seat presentable for the next person who flies? 

 

When hotels/motels are forced by law to pay a living wage to their staff, they pass those costs along to their guests.  When there was no such law, I felt a personal obligation for those who had to accept substandard wages -- but when my society deems it everyone's obligation to contribute to others and forces it on me by legislation,  the personal obligation I might feel wanes.

[FLAHAM]

On 6/20/2021 at 2:34 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Do you tip the supermarket checkout clerk, or the post office employee who serves you?

My condo building tips our regular letter carrier $20 per condo at Christmas, which adds up to a substantial amount.

[FLAHAM]

I have only been leaving $2 or $3 per night.  Looks like I will have to up my game.

[dahirsh]

Manhattan housekeepers make more than $15 an hour.  Tip what you are comfortable with, but if you choose to tip, tip daily since the room may not be cleaned by the same person daily

[George C]

We tip  , what I find strange is I leave money in a obvious place but they almost never take it , so I just add extra when we check out.

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, George C said:

We tip  , what I find strange is I leave money in a obvious place but they almost never take it , so I just add extra when we check out.

If you try to tip on a daily basis by leaving cash out while you're still occupying the room  they usually don't take it because if it's not clear it's intended for them they could be accused of stealing your personal property. If you put it in an envelope that's clearly marked so that there's no mistake it's intended for the housekeeper then they should take. I've been to some hotels that have special envelopes that are intended to be used for housekeeping tips and have that printed on the envelope.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

If you try to tip on a daily basis by leaving cash out while you're still occupying the room  they usually don't take it because if it's not clear it's intended for them they could be accused of stealing your personal property. If you put it in an envelope that's clearly marked so that there's no mistake it's intended for the housekeeper then they should take. I've been to some hotels that have special envelopes that are intended to be used for housekeeping tips and have that printed on the envelope.

Agreed - I generally travel with a few plain envelopes for that purpose.   However, the current movement in the US to legislate wages strikes me as putting the appropriateness/necessity of tipping in question.

[baileymouse]

NYC housekeepers may make over $15 an hour, but the cost of living is astronomical.  I leave $5 a day no matter where I go. Think of it this way, a 40 hour week is 600 before taxes. In NYC, if you live or work there, you pay NYC, NYS and Federal tax. Doesn't leave much. Now try finding an apartment in any of the 5 boroughs for under 2k. Then add in transportation costs, the cost of food (NY supermarkets are more than elsewhere), possible child care costs, utilities, etc. It's very hard to live on low wages and in NY, 15 an hour is low. You can try and get an apartment in Jersey instead, but it's not much less and then you have the complication of paying NY & NJ taxes. 

 

NY average rents by neighborhood https://www.renthop.com/average-rent-in/new-york-city-ny

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

On 5/5/2021 at 7:27 PM, 1025cruise said:

I always tip $2-3 per night. I've never considered room cost in that calculation.

 

I leave the same amount and also have never considered the cost of the room in my thinking of what to offer.

 

On 6/25/2021 at 1:34 PM, FLAHAM said:

My condo building tips our regular letter carrier $20 per condo at Christmas, which adds up to a substantial amount.

 

Hello fellow Daytonian!  A "regular letter carrier"?  Who/what is that?  My condo's mail comes out of the Washington Township Post Office and our carrier is the Carrier du Jour.  Maybe if we would do something like that, we might get better mail service?  But, I would have a very difficult time of convincing my fellow Board Members that would be a wise way to spend our money.   

[lenquixote66]

On 6/25/2021 at 1:34 PM, FLAHAM said:

My condo building tips our regular letter carrier $20 per condo at Christmas, which adds up to a substantial amount.

I tip my mail person $25 .I live in a condo and most people leave our mail person $50 at Christmas.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

I tip my mail person $25 .I live in a condo and most people leave our mail person $50 at Christmas.

People in our association probably tip an average of $20 - $25 to mail carrier at Christmas.  If he serves 500 or so addresses (not an unreasonable estimate if you think about it) -that could work out to $10,000 to $12,000 as an annual bonus.  If it were $50 each,  that would be $25,000.