Marriott: Tipping Housekeepers is a Must

Maybe if they put out a tip jar, I'd be willing to tip. That always works. They could either leave the tip jar in the room OR just put it on their housekeeping cart!

In regards to the waiter/bartender only being able to make or break your experience, keep in mind that without the chef you wouldn't have food to eat. Without the dishwasher (individual loading them) cleaning the pots and pans for the chef to cook with, you wouldn't have food to eat or glasses to drink from. Without the busboy clearing the table and getting the dishes to the dishwasher, you wouldn't have something to eat your food on. It's all part of "making the experience.

Hmm...

I always tip housekeeping when I'm in places like Mexico or Latin America. Often times down there I'm paying $30-$40 for a pretty decent room. I figure at that rate, the housekeeper must be making nothing.

OK, so I stay here at a Super 8 Motel, which can be $120 a night, and the room is far worse than the place in some random city in Mexico. And they want me to tip for it? Sorry, no way. Most hotel rooms in the US are IMHO waaaay overpriced, and if that isn't trickling down to the hotel staff....it's not my problem.

Old Man Runner wrote:

Maybe if they put out a tip jar, I'd be willing to tip. That always works. They could either leave the tip jar in the room OR just put it on their housekeeping cart!

In regards to the waiter/bartender only being able to make or break your experience, keep in mind that without the chef you wouldn't have food to eat. Without the dishwasher (individual loading them) cleaning the pots and pans for the chef to cook with, you wouldn't have food to eat or glasses to drink from. Without the busboy clearing the table and getting the dishes to the dishwasher, you wouldn't have something to eat your food on. It's all part of "making the experience.

Oh, I am with you 100%. I think the question is, what part of the experience is the responsibility of the management? I was a dishwasher at a local buffet restaurant in high school, so I get it. That being said, we didn't tip out back then. I had a per-hour wage and that was that. I knew what my check was going to be and I didn't interact with the guests.

Yes, each role is important, but should you tip each role - individually - as a customer/guest? That is the question.

If Marriott wants their housekeepers to get paid more they should give them a raise. I'm usually a pretty generous tipper and I will leave a few dollars in a room when I leave if I've stayed more than one night, have some small bills, and actually let the maids in to do the room. Usually I leave the "Do not disturb" sign on the door to keep them out. So yeah, add 5-10 bucks to the cost of a room and give the housekeepers a raise.

It isn't the customer's responsibility to tip everyone who is doing their job. Management should take care of the employees you don't interact with meaningfully.

From the Washington Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/marriott-to-urge-guests-to-tip-their-housekeepers-as-part-of-new-campaign/2014/09/12/5e6c23a8-38ff-11e4-bdfb-de4104544a37_story.html?hpid=z4

"Housekeepers at Marriott’s high-profile hotels in downtown Washington tend to make more than that...

Under the union’s current contract, which runs through September 2017, housekeepers, who currently make $18.30 per hour, receive raises every six months. By the contract’s end, housekeepers will be making $20.35 per hour at local hotels.

$38,000+ a year for cleaning hotel rooms? While this is NOT a large wage by any means in the DC area, it's well enough if you have roommates and another source of income.

How about this...if everyone tipped the recommended $5/day and the housekeep er ONLY had 10 rooms, that would be an extra $50/day. That's $250/week or $13,000 a year. Now you are talking $51,000 a year in income.

Tipping behind the scenes people is ridiculous. I tip the waitress, not the chef and not the night crew who cleans the restaurant. It is the hotel's responsibility to ensure a good experience. House keeping should be a standard. I'm not paying extra for a clean room. Time for the hotel to pay a higher wage.

Just pay them more and pass that cost along to me in the room rate.

I never have cash. Last thing I want to worry about when I'm staying in a hotel is getting a $5 bill somehow so that I can leave it as a tip. If Marriott made it easy to leave a tip via the credit card that I'm paying for the room with, great, otherwise I definitely not tipping.

When I stay at a hotel, I am a very quiet guest and generally do not consume any of the amenities like free breakfasts, drinks, etc.

I expect that other guests should leave me a few bucks on their way out.

In all seriousness. I get the OP and the convenience deal. After spending time at a beach resort this summer, I was laughing with my wife about how I had to carry a stuffed wallet just to go out to the beach at this place: Guy who sets up your chair/umbrella. Different guy who gets your drinks. Guy who brings your towels. Guy who tries to carry your beach bags for you. I was like, WTF? I just want to take a cooler of beer to the beach and play in the fvcking sand with my kids! I had to hit the ATM and then go to the front desk and break the $20s into smaller bills - just to walk to the beach every freaking day we were there!!!!

I would much rather these places just add a service charge to the bill and pay their employees more.

I don't have a problem with them providing an envelope to encourage tipping. I usually fold a sheet of stationary with some cash and write "housekeeping" so it's perfectly clear.

I've always believed adding it to the bill would be easier. Cash tipping is getting to be more and more inconvenient. There are times when I don't have any or at least not in the right denominations.

Facts Facts wrote:

When I stay at a hotel, I am a very quiet guest and generally do not consume any of the amenities like free breakfasts, drinks, etc.

You know that free breakfast isn't really free, right?

Props to anyone who remembers that classic LRC thread!

I don't want to have to tip housekeeping. In a restaurant good servers make more than bad servers, and I realize when I go out to eat, i'm paying for an experience. I don't want to have good housekeepers and bad housekeepers. In a hotel the room better be emaculate every time. I paid for that upfront.

$7 an hr wrote:

Tipping behind the scenes people is ridiculous. I tip the waitress, not the chef and not the night crew who cleans the restaurant. It is the hotel's responsibility to ensure a good experience. House keeping should be a standard. I'm not paying extra for a clean room. Time for the hotel to pay a higher wage.

Before I go on any trip, business or pleasure, I go to the bank and take out 100 $1 bills. I keep these in my front pocket and hand them out as tips throughout my stay. An easy way to get over the cash barrier. If you cannot afford to carry $100 in cash, you should stay home and make your own meals.

Tipping Is Not A City In China wrote:

Before I go on any trip, business or pleasure, I go to the bank and take out 100 $1 bills. I keep these in my front pocket and hand them out as tips throughout my stay. An easy way to get over the cash barrier. If you cannot afford to carry $100 in cash, you should stay home and make your own meals.

I do the same thing but with fives. You seriously carry around 100 bills in your front pocket and give out $1 tips?

They must wonder why you're so cheap if you're that happy to see them.

Tipping Is Not A City In China wrote:

Before I go on any trip, business or pleasure, I go to the bank and take out 100 $1 bills. I keep these in my front pocket and hand them out as tips throughout my stay. An easy way to get over the cash barrier. If you cannot afford to carry $100 in cash, you should stay home and make your own meals.

How much do you tip the bank teller for making that much change? I mean, bank tellers don't make much and you're obviously a baller. You do tip the teller, right? Assuming so, do you ask for, say, $103 and then give him/her $3 so you still have the 100 $1 bills? Or do you just leave the bank with 97 $1 bills and stress out about the extra 3 you might need towards the end of your trip?

So many issues to deal with here!

more generous than thou wrote:

I do the same thing but with fives. You seriously carry around 100 bills in your front pocket and give out $1 tips?

They must wonder why you're so cheap if you're that happy to see them.

You do the same thing? So you get $100 in fives? That is only 20 bills. You'd run out in a day or two.

Carrying ones is much more handy because you can give $1 for something like a door, $3 for a check-in, $5 for a bag or more if needed. With $5 it means you are stuck with $5. $5 for opening a door? Sounds to me like you're just stiffing the doorman. Or you're taking short trips.

This is just ridiculous.

Marriott had a $500 Mio profit last year.

They pay their housekeeping staff minimum wage and expect us to fill the gap.

Nutella1 wrote:

This is just ridiculous.

Marriott had a $500 Mil profit last year.

They pay their housekeeping staff minimum wage and expect us to fill the gap.

^ this.

Old Man Runner wrote:

Maybe if they put out a tip jar, I'd be willing to tip. That always works. They could either leave the tip jar in the room OR just put it on their housekeeping cart!

In regards to the waiter/bartender only being able to make or break your experience, keep in mind that without the chef you wouldn't have food to eat. Without the dishwasher (individual loading them) cleaning the pots and pans for the chef to cook with, you wouldn't have food to eat or glasses to drink from. Without the busboy clearing the table and getting the dishes to the dishwasher, you wouldn't have something to eat your food on. It's all part of "making the experience.

A tip jar?

Don't you think there are enough tip jars today?