Tipping at a motel?

[pinkytoe]

Is leaving a hotel tip a thing now? We are staying one night in a way too expensive 140sf motor court style motel room while on a road trip. There is an envelope on the table asking that we tip the help. Would you and what is standard?

[iris lilies]

Is leaving a hotel tip a thing now? We are staying one night in a way too expensive 140sf motor court style motel room while on a road trip. There is an envelope on the table asking that we tip the help. Would you and what is standard?
Yikes. I have not encountered that and I stay in a motel 4-5 times a year.

I dont even remember tipping at the 5 star hotel in Europe or in the several small and simple hotels there.

[jp1]

Supposedly the standard is ~$5/day. If it’s just me on a work trip I generally don’t muss the room much so I’ll leave up to that amount depending on what cash I have at the moment. If SO and I are on vacation SO tends to make a bigger mess so we’ll pretty consistently leave $5/day.

I assume housekeepers have higher daily room counts at non-union hotels. The standard at union hotels is 1/2 hour per overstay room and 1 hour to clean a checkout room. Supposedly around 25% of people tip housekeepers so my $15 for a three night stay ends up being about $4/hour that the housekeeper is being tipped or roughly $8,000/year assuming they work full time. If most stays are shorter that number could be somewhat lower. That’s enough to make a meaningful difference in their life considering how low the pay is and how physically demanding the job is.

[pinkytoe]

It's new to me after decades of travel. But then even grabbing your restaurant order from a counter, they ask for a tip now when you pay.

[early morning]

We've always left a tip for the cleaning staff - it's one of the few "must tip" situations that I've always been aware of. We generally leave $1 per person per day, and there are usually 3 - 4 of us in a room, a bit more if I'm a little more flush. I tip the staff working the free breakfast room too. (Cheap hotels tend to have the best free breakfasts.) One of my cousins was a hotel housekeeper for a very short time, and it is hard work for little pay. We try to leave a tip each day instead of waiting until checkout, as I'd hate for the person doing the work to be stiffed by a sub or something. I am surprised that people are surprised, because I'm usually way behind on what's kosher. Like, I didn't know one was expected to tip for a haircut! We did used to tip the checkout boys that carried groceries to the car, but that's a thing of the past, anyway!

[catherine]

I always tip. Maybe it's because I traveled for business so much, but maybe it's just because over time I realized a) how hard housekeepers work for very little pay and b) how men hotel workers have more visible jobs and they get tips (valets for instance). If a guy can get 5 bucks for opening a cab door for a guest, a housekeeper should get $5 bucks for cleaning pubic hair out of a guest's shower.

[jp1]

I always tip. Maybe it's because I traveled for business so much, but maybe it's just because over time I realized a) how hard housekeepers work for very little pay and b) how men hotel workers have more visible jobs and they get tips (valets for instance). If a guy can get 5 bucks for opening a cab door for a guest, a housekeeper should get $5 bucks for cleaning pubic hair out of a guest's shower.

Yes. This! When SO was working in hospitality the doormen at his hotel made more than him once tips were counted. And SO was probably the fourth or fifth highest paid executive in a building with 1000 employees…

[rosarugosa]

We've always tipped housekeepers at hotels/motels, and we leave at least $5.00 per day (we used to do $1.00 per person per day). We really aren't messy at all since tidiness is kind of in my DNA or something.
Catherine: My DH said something very similar, that valets get a couple of bucks every time they move your car, so the person who is cleaning your toilet should get more. It is kind of a classic case of how "men's work" vs. "women's work" is valued, isn't it?

[catherine]

Catherine: My DH said something very similar, that valets get a couple of bucks every time they move your car, so the person who is cleaning your toilet should get more. It is kind of a classic case of how "men's work" vs. "women's work" is valued, isn't it?

Exactly! 80% of my reason for tipping housekeepers is just because I feel it's proper protocol, but 20% is definitely a gesture of sisterhood.

[LDAHL]

I always operated on the $5/night rule, unless we leave a room in an especially messy state, in which case I leave a lot more.

[catherine]

I always operated on the $5/night rule, unless we leave a room in an especially messy state, in which case I leave a lot more.

Yeah, my son left the housekeepers $50 after his bachelor party weekend--I can only imagine what the place looked like if he felt he had to leave 50!!! Glad I wasn't there!

[happystuff]

I've known about it and have done it, but never really knew there was a "standard" - so thanks, everyone!

[Rogar]

I might not tip in a motel just based on principal. It seems like tipping is creeping into every service industry and there are certain businesses that should pay a fair wage, even if it means passing the cost along to the consumer. If I made a mess of things somehow I would certainly tip. Since the last time I stayed in a motel was a few years ago, it probably really doesn't matter, but I do remember the sheets in my last room in Cedar City, Utah had obviously not been changed before my arrival.

I waited tables for a couple of years and with tips made a decent living wage, but my real basic wage was very minimal.

[rosarugosa]

Tipping hotel/motel housekeepers isn't any newer than tipping waitstaff as far as I am aware.

[iris lilies]

Tipping hotel/motel housekeepers isn't any newer than tipping waitstaff as far as I am aware.
I’m embarrassed because I just never tip. Wow it didn’t even occur to me. I do keep maid visits to an absolute minimum during a hotel/motel stay. The latest thing in the last few years has been they will change sheets and towels only if you let them know you want them changed. I don’t need any of that done and they don’t need to come in my room and straighten it up at all.

But still, I understand that I should be tipping.

[frugal-one]

Booked a hotel today and in the fine print was housekeeping every other day unless you request otherwise. Getting to pay more for less services.

[iris lilies]

Booked a hotel today and in the fine print was housekeeping every other day unless you request otherwise. Getting to pay more for less services.
I hang the “ Do Not .disturb” sign on the door so that maids do not go in. It’s not that I mind them in my room it’s just…unnecessary.

most hotels say they reserve the right to go into your room every 3 days to check things out.

[jp1]

Some hotels, Marriott brands in my experience, specially offer to not have the room cleaned during the stay, offering extra points etc. I’m fine with that since I don’t need the room touched up while I’m there but I realize it’s to their benefit since they don’t have to pay housekeepers if I’ve declined cleaning.

[catherine]

I am always fine with declining housekeeping during my stays for environmental reasons--every time I think about how much electricity and detergent and bleach is used to wash one night occupancy's worth of bedding and towels... yikes. And that's just one hotel. I'm happy to lighten that load if I can.

[Rogar]

Out of curiosity, this is what the NYT says about tipping housekeeping staff. They are saying while it is customary to leave a few dollars per night tip, fewer than a third of people actually tip housekeeping staff. I learned something, as I've just never done it routinely.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/business/hotel-housekeeper-tipping.html

[iris lilies]

I am always fine with declining housekeeping during my stays for environmental reasons--every time I think about how much electricity and detergent and bleach is used to wash one night occupancy's worth of bedding and towels... yikes. And that's just one hotel. I'm happy to lighten that load if I can.

agreed, I was always incredulous they changed sheets and twels each night. What a waste.

One of the women I travel with to plant society conferences declares “ if I’m staying in a hotel I want fresh towels!!!” And I think Okey Dokey Mrs. Astor.

Probably Claridence’s changes bedding hourly. Haha.

[frugal-one]

I am always fine with declining housekeeping during my stays for environmental reasons--every time I think about how much electricity and detergent and bleach is used to wash one night occupancy's worth of bedding and towels... yikes. And that's just one hotel. I'm happy to lighten that load if I can.

I like a made bed and clean towels. IMO, that should always be done. It irritates me, that I need to ask for this. I don’t expect changed sheets but clean face cloths and towels, if needed.

[littlebittybobby]

okay----best bet if you tip is to know the X-change rate and to have plentya currency---Rupees----which is worth about .012 or 83 rupees to the u.s. dollar. sure hope that helps you kids. that said, i prefer to overnight in my car, at a gas station or rest stop. $100 or whatever for a mo-tel would buy a lotta cat food. And dogg food. or even Packkerd parts. yup.

[catherine]

By far, the biggest reasons I'm at a hotel is for business, so I'm fine with my company sponsor paying for the tip I give. This week I went to another city on business (first since COVID) and I didn't have a $5 bill to leave. So my choice: Leave nothing, or leave the $10 bill I had. By far my choice was the $10. I had to be there on business. She had to clean my room (and of course I can say "she" because I have yet to see a male housekeeper) and so I would rather skip a Starbucks and give her a tip than leave her nothing.

[rosarugosa]

Interestingly, I have seen male housekeepers, but very rarely. It's definitely "women's work" for the most part.
DH and I just had a lovely suite in an inn for a week. They did not do daily housekeeping, although apparently we could request it if we needed it. The suite was well stocked so we did not need anything from housekeeping, and we are tidy and have no problem with making the bed ourselves. There was a little tip envelope, and I left $10. I was a bit torn, because housekeeping didn't actually need to set foot in our suite while we were there, but they had left it clean and well stocked for us, and I cannot help but think of housekeeping positions lost since the change in practice prompted by covid. On the other hand, it was a really large suite and I really appreciated the fact that it was well stocked with everything we needed, so the $10 was a compromise. I actually prefer not to have daily housekeeping.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I make sure to tip housekeeping when I stay at a motel/hotel. Many women in my neighborhood either were or are in housekeeping. I know how important those tips are. Rob

[Tybee]

I do remember as a small child when we would go to a motel, my parents would always tip. And they tipped alot. But we didn't go to motels very often, just down to Georgia to visit grandparents. So it's a longstanding thing.

[jp1]

In large hotels they have the male equivalent, called porters. They only clean public spaces like ballrooms and hallways.

I imagine plenty of solo female travelers would be uncomfortable with a man outside their door knocking and saying ‘housekeeping!’

[catherine]

In large hotels they have the male equivalent, called porters. They only clean public spaces like ballrooms and hallways.

I imagine plenty of solo female travelers would be uncomfortable with a man outside their door knocking and saying ‘housekeeping!’

Hmmm.. this does not make me feel better about women being relegated to the unseen and nasty jobs in hotels. "Porter" even sounds more respectable than "houskeeper". Porters are the people walking around with long-handled dustpans--housekeepers are on their hands and knees in tubs and toilets. I'm not saying that men don't do dirty work. But in the hotel industry, the dirty work is done primarily by females.

As for male housekeepers knocking on the door of a female guest--they do that all the time for room service and to change lightbulbs etc. so that's a lame argument, jp!

[jp1]

True, but the guest knows if they have requested a lightbulb or ordered food. If there were male housekeepers knocking on guest doors randomly in the morning it’s easy to imagine nefarious men walking through hotels knocking on doors to see who answers.

[iris lilies]

True, but the guest knows if they have requested a lightbulb or ordered food. If there were male housekeepers knocking on guest doors randomly in the morning it’s easy to imagine nefarious men walking through hotels knocking on doors to see who answers.
I have never thought of this as a security measure but, yes, you are right.

[jp1]

It’s a shame that this is yet another thing that women get screwed on (having the more physically demanding housekeeping job) because some men are awful people.

[littlebittybobby]

okay---you kids are still discussing this subject? but yeah---my two cents. well, let me say this about that----you kids see everything in the context of some mooo--vveee plot, so yeah---it might help to explain it like this---this kinda brings to mind how in Fargo(the Moo--veee) how Mr Morah relates to the deputy how Carl Showalter asks the barkeep(Morah) if he knows where he can "get some action, i'm goin' crazy out there at the lake". That said, you just know more than one mo-tail(mo-tail is how they say it in Texcess)night clerk has been axed if they know where to "get some action" and maybe given a gratuity. see?? hope that helps you some. thankk mee.

[iris lilies]

Thanks to this thread. I left five dollars at my last motel stay of one night. I hope I remember to do it in the future.