I’ve never tipped a hotel maid

Why would you? Unless they carried your bags or unclogged your toilet

Hotwired wrote:

Most of the time, it never even occurs to me...especially if I’m only staying somewhere one night...it’s not like I’m ever going to see her.

Do you tip the wait staff at a restaurant you are never going back to again? You already have eaten. It is not like they can do anything to your food at that point.

It would be consistent wouldn't it?

I have never tipped the maids in a hotel either. In fact, I did not know it was such a thing until an episode of Seinfeld and also on the EconTalk podcast Russ Roberts talks about it.

And I am inconsistent in that I tip the wait staff at a restaurant I know I will never be back to (or at least not soon enough for them to remember me) but never tip the maid.

Wait staff are paid a low wage since they are tipped. I doubt maids are since tipping them is not customary from what I can tell.

I do not tip the housekeeper because I do not feel like I am really getting direct service (and I am not very messy in a hotel room) like from a server. I also do not see the housekeeper very often unlike the server whom I see and interact with.

On tipping (and I think it is an odd practice that should be done away with but I think I am in the minority), one thing I noticed is that I would tip at Starbucks when I paid with cash, but I never tip now that I pay with the app. I would usually just drop the loose change (about 25 cents) in the tip jar. The app used to ask if you wanted to tip.

But I do tip the Uber driver! (I have a friend who drives for Lyft and found out he does not make that much money once you factor in the expenses and plus I always tipped a cab driver back in those days--again usually what I would have gotten back in change).

This tipping thing is weird.

Whytho wrote:

Why would you? Unless they carried your bags or unclogged your toilet

Maids do not carry bags--that is the bellhop. Yes I have tipped the bellhop on the few occasions where I have stayed at a place nice enough to have them.

Maids do not unclogged your toilet--that is maintenance.

Hotel maids are paid next to nothing. Tipping them is something a kind, generous person would do, in appreciation for the hard work they do for little money and no recognition. I often forget to tip the hotel maid, especially when I’ve only stayed overnight, but when I stay a few days I will usually leave whatever loose change or small bills I find when I root around in my pocket. It’s money I won’t miss, but old be important grocery money for somebody slaving away below the poverty line.

Agreed, If you don't tip the maid at least $100, then you shouldn't be staying at a hotel. Stay at a homeless shelter instead with your kind.

Tipping a few dollars a night for a hotel stay for the maid, who is paid garbage, is a nice thing to do - it is what a good person does - the fact that you only stayed one night, or won't ever be back is utterly irrelevant. So it's up to you - you can be a nice person, or an A hole.

I usually give them the tip.

I always tip maids. Always.

Also, when staying at a nicer hotel, at checkin I usually slip the front desk clerk $50 and say "what can you do for me?" This always results in some sort of meaningful upgrade that's always been worth more than the $50.

Not so fast bro wrote:

Also, when staying at a nicer hotel, at checkin I usually slip the front desk clerk $50 and say "what can you do for me?" This always results in some sort of meaningful upgrade that's always been worth more than the $50.

I've stayed at a hotel before a marathon that was less than $50 for the night. If I would have done this, I could only imagine what the front desk clerk would have thought.

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Not so fast bro wrote:

Also, when staying at a nicer hotel, at checkin I usually slip the front desk clerk $50 and say "what can you do for me?" This always results in some sort of meaningful upgrade that's always been worth more than the $50.

I've stayed at a hotel before a marathon that was less than $50 for the night. If I would have done this, I could only imagine what the front desk clerk would have thought.

You must be staying in some real dumps, my friend. I live in the midwest, and even a Motel 6 around here are $60+ per night. But you'll note that I only tip at checkin, as I said, in a "nicer" hotel, which to me means someplace nice in a large city....not Motel 6 or Super 8 out by the airport.

malmo wrote:Agreed, If you don't tip the maid at least $100, then you shouldn't be staying at a hotel. Stay at a homeless shelter instead with your kind.

Some hotels have an envelope for the tip to the maid. At least they used to. I haven't noticed recently.

That's a big clue that tipping them is customary and that you are crappy not to do it.

I agree that it is confusing to know when to tip with some things.

Like with carryout food or something.

But tipping a hotel maid is a certainty.

Now, when I stay several days, I put a do not disturb sign out and clean my own room while I'm there. I just find them in the hall and ask for new towels.

No tip on those days because it's only 30 seconds of work.

But I leave a good tip when I check out.

I find it confusing:

Do I tip the kid at Taco Bell?

Do I tip the cashier at Target, or the grocery store?

The guy and the liquor store?

The salesman at our local running shoe store?

What about the desk help person at Barnes & Noble?

I'm not trying to be flippant...tipping is strange.

First, I think it would be more honest if waiters, maids etc would be paid a wage that's high enough to live off a 40 hour week. This whole tipping business just makes the true price more opaque, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. In other countries, you tip the waiter, but much less, and only if he/she does a good job, it's not mandatory.

Then, since we have that system here and they are paid very low wages, we should tip them.

The thing about hotel maids is, I often just don't carry cash, or only $20 bills, which is a lot to tip when I spend

From Fortune.com: "Maids and housekeepers earned a median annual salary of $19,570, or approximately $9.41 per hour, in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics."

I am also confused as to what is proper, what is custom, and what others do. If I stay one night, I usually don't tip. Each morning I leave a tip if I'm going to be staying again that night. Of course, I tip at the door if I call housekeeping for a particular item to be delivered, even if that item should have already been in the room.

Another thing I'm not certain about: do the maids pool the tip money and then split it among all the maids or does each keep whatever is left in the rooms they are responsible for that day? My concern is that if they don't pool tips then if I only leave a large tip on the last morning of a stay then maybe one maid will get the entire tip even though there may have been more than one individual who serviced the room during my stay.

Certainly do wish that tipping was more straightforward.

world traveller wrote:

The thing about hotel maids is, I often just don't carry cash, or only $20 bills, which is a lot to tip when I spend

Yes, this shift away from cash is not good for those in traditional tipped industries where payment is made separately from tipping. And it's got to be horrible for homeless people, as some people don't carry any cash at all.

Don't compare maids to servers. Servers are paid $2.15/hr or thereabouts. Maids make at least minimum wage. Tip at your discretion, as they are probably already getting free groceries from the government anyway, and in most cases, aren't legally supposed to be here. Yes, these are generalizations and stereotypes based on anecdotal evidence. Get over it.

If I went to the Kenenisa Hotel, I'd tip the fukk out of all the maids and him included. I'd be honored if Bekele himself came into my room too.

I almost always tip the maid. I don't expect much, but I do like extra towels and shampoo, etc. and I want them to leave my personal stuff alone. I don't know how much they make, but probably not enough o deal with the hassles of that job and I won't miss a few bucks a night anyway. I have noticed they seem to do a better job once they know I tip them.