Tipping at hotels

[Anonymous]

Do you tip at every interaction? The woman who brings room service (although the hotel already charges 18% service)? The man from housekeeping who brings the coloring book and crayons you requested for your child? The doorman who gets you a cab (even though the cabs are standing right outside...)?

Also, how much do you leave in the room for housekeeping when you check out?

[Anonymous]

I work for a hotel company - here's our policy (and what they'll reimburse you for when you travel)

No tip for Room service
Yes - tip the guy who brings crayons - $1 will do.
Yes to the guy who gets you a cab - only a $1
$1-$2 for housekeeping EVERY night you're there - not just when you check out.
$1 per bag for bellman bringing your luggage

Keep in mind, housekeepers, bellman, doormen etc. are only making $5-$10 an hour depending on the market - so they really need the tips, especially housekeepers!

[Anonymous]

Thanks--wow, I've been seriously overtipping. Maybe that's why people are so friendly!

(Is it really just $1-$2 per night for housekeeping? We've been leaving more like $10-$12 per night?)

[Anonymous]

Wow $10 is huge!!! Unless your room is a total disaster $2 is fine.

[Anonymous]

Good for you. As a former cleaner I can tell you too often people tip for the male jobs (because they are in public, bellhop, valet) but not the female ones. Keep overtiping the women who clean, please!

[Anonymous]

We always wonder where to leave the tip for the housekeeper so that she knows it is meant for her????

[Anonymous]

We usually put it an envelope, write "Housekeeping" on it, and put it on the bedside table or somewhere else visible.

[Anonymous]

I travel frequently both for business and personal.

On tips for housekeeping - I usually just put in in the bathroom under a glass. I usually tip $2/night for a regular room and $5/night for a suite. However, I just leave the total amount at the end of the stay.

On bellman, I usually do $1-2 per bag unless I am travelling with my family, we have LOTS of luggage, and we are checking out. It is usually more of a big production and involves some waiting and patience on the part of the bellman - I then round up and tack on an extra $5 or $10.

On room service - if the there is a seperate line order for gratuity (as oposed to generic "service" charge), I inquire as to whether that $ actually goes to the person delivering the food. If yes, then I don't add on anything else. Sometimes, suprisingly, the answer is no, in which case I tack on 5-10%

If the person is delivering something that is a special request - e.g. crib, refrigerator -- I tip $2-5 depending on the situation.

[Anonymous]

No tip on room service- that's interesting since the hotel adds a charge for it but yet includes a liine to add more- I HATE that.. I hope it goes away..

[Anonymous]

PP here - I mean that room service is a charge- and they still add a tip option which is ANNOYING since the room service charge is usually pretty hefty!

[Anonymous]

My company used to reimburse us $2 per day for tipping housekeeping, so I've always assumed that this was normal.

I would leave a tip everyday, not just at the end of your stay. Because many hotels don't pool tips, so you might be rewarding the person who only worked on the final day of your stay with the whole tip. I usually put a couple of bucks under a paper with the word "Tip" and a smiley face every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow $10 is huge!!! Unless your room is a total disaster $2 is fine.

We also leave $10. These folks are not getting rich off of the tips and many people, I suspect, leave $0.

[Anonymous]

The rule from housekeeping from someone in the hospitality business is $1 per person per night. It is best to leave the tip every night if you're staying for multiple nights because different people may clean the room each day and if you tip once at the end then only that person gets the big tip.
For our family of 4 we leave $5 a night.
On the day that we checkout if the room is a disaster we may leave $8-10.
The money is supposed to be left on the pillow. If there is money left anywhere else in the room it is not supposed to be taken.

As for bellhop we usually give $10.

If someone else helps us we tip according to how much hassle they have done has saved us.

As for room service.. I did not know that and guess have been overtipping them. Will look at the bill more closely next time.