Do you tip your hotel maid?

[Deberg_1990]

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/0...ips-for-maids/



HOTELS
Hotel chain's program encourages tips for maids


NEW YORK – Do you leave a tip in your hotel room for the maid? Marriott is launching a program with Maria Shriver to put envelopes in hotel rooms to encourage tipping.

The campaign, called "The Envelope Please," begins this week. Envelopes will be placed in 160,000 rooms in the U.S. and Canada. Some 750 to 1,000 hotels will participate from Marriott brands like Courtyard, Residence Inn, J.W. Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance hotels.


The name of the person who cleans the room will be written on the envelope along with a message: "Our caring room attendants enjoyed making your stay warm and comfortable. Please feel free to leave a gratuity to express your appreciation for their efforts."

Shriver, who founded an organization called A Woman's Nation that aims to empower women, says many travelers don't realize tipping hotel room attendants is customary. "There's a huge education of the traveler that needs to occur," she said. "If you tell them, they ask, 'How do I do that?'" She said envelopes make it easy for guests to leave cash for the right person in a secure way.

So how much should you leave? Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson says $1 to $5 per night, depending on room rate, with more for a high-priced suite.

Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, says his research shows that "30 percent of people stiff the maid," while 70 percent said they usually leave a tip.

Sorenson noted that housekeepers "are less frequently tipped" than other hotel workers because they do an "invisible task." In contrast, workers who carry bags, hail cabs and park cars tend to get tipped because they "make a personal connection" with guests, he said.

Rosario Rodriguez, who works as a housekeeper at Marriott's Times Square hotel, says many guests don't tip and welcomes the envelope campaign as "a good idea."

Jessica Lynn Strosky of DuBois, Pennsylvania, who earns $7.75 an hour cleaning rooms at a hotel that's not a Marriott, says only 1 in 15 or 20 guests leaves a tip. When they do, it's a dollar or two; she's lucky to get $20 a week in tips. "I've talked to lots of people who say they don't know they are supposed to tip," she said.

Unlike waitresses who earn less than minimum wage because tips are expected to raise their earnings, hotel housekeepers are paid minimum wage, and in expensive markets, substantially more. In Washington D.C., Sorenson said, Marriott housekeepers start in the mid-teens per hour.

Not everyone applauds the envelope concept. "It is not Marriott's responsibility to remind customers to tip; it's their responsibility to pay their workers enough so that tips aren't necessary," said author Barbara Ehrenreich, who tried working as a hotel maid for her 2001 book "Nickel and Dimed," which chronicled her experiences in low-wage jobs.

But Scott Lazerson, 42, who lives in Sundance, Utah, said he "had no idea" tipping was customary until his wife told him on a recent trip to Orlando. He said he "feels stupid" for not knowing all these years, and added: "Yes, the hotel industry needs to do a campaign about it."

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

If you're going to stay in a hotel very often, it's a good policy to take care of the staff and get friendly with the front desk clerks. You take care of them, they'll take care of you.....you can go from "no vacancy" to a Suite in the time it takes them to breath if you've been there enough. Hell, sometimes they'll do things like bring a plate of warm cookies to your room if they know you're working in there.

Granted, I don't stay in hotels very often.

But when I do? Just leave me alone. I use it to sleep and then shower in the morning.

I understand the idea of tipping. I tip all of the time at restaurants and bars. I tip too much.

I just fail to see why I'm tipping at a hotel?

And I used to manage a Marriott...and I didn't get it then when the housekeeping would complain about lack of tips. Because, as a tipper, a guy who still tips over 20% for dogshit service just because it's awkward not to tip for me...I would never tip at a hotel.

and I guess if that makes me ignorant, then I'm ignorant

[HonestChieffan]

Here is a hotel tip for travelers.....

http://www.bedbugregistry.com/location/MO/

[Ming the Merciless]

A couple bucks in a shit hole up to maybe 10 bux a night in a nice place....3-5 bux on average

[jaa1025]

I feel like a smuck. I never thought about it before.

[ChiTown]

I stay in hotels probably 60+ nights per year! and have been for 25 years. Never not once have I tipped. Why would I?

[Simply Red]

I'm a little embarrassed - I take pride in tipping - I tip over the amount. But I do it mostly because I can and because I've worked in the industry. Your best tippers will be folks who have waited on tables, or the likes.

I have to say - I'm not sure I TRULY ever knew to tip the hotel maid.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Sometimes I'll leave a few $, but really, they should take it out of that ****ing "Resort Fee" bullshit that is now the norm.

They are just taking a page out of the airlines play book. Charge more fees. Increase profits. I'm paying a $12 per night resort fee down in Miami. What do I get for this "resort fee", maid service.

[DanT]

I generally tip 5 to 10 bucks per night, which I leave on the bed the morning I check out. It seems to me that hotel housekeepers work pretty hard doing a job that is far less rewarding than mine. I am glad to leave them a little cash.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by DanT

I generally tip 5 to 10 bucks per night, which I leave on the bed the morning I check out. It seems to me that hotel housekeepers work pretty hard doing a job that is far less rewarding than mine. I am glad to leave them a little cash.

You may as well tip your Walmart cashier and the McDonald's french fry bagger if that's the standard you're going by.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

You may as well tip your Walmart cashier and the McDonald's french fry bagger if that's the standard you're going by.

No shit. This is like entering Bizzaro World.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by DanT

I generally tip 5 to 10 bucks per night, which I leave on the bed the morning I check out. It seems to me that hotel housekeepers work pretty hard doing a job that is far less rewarding than mine. I am glad to leave them a little cash.

That's nice of you.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

I'm a little embarrassed - I take pride in tipping - I tip over the amount. But I do it mostly because I can and because I've worked in the industry. Your best tippers will be folks who have waited on tables, or the likes.

I have to say - I'm not sure I TRULY ever knew to tip the hotel maid.

I tipped on cruises pretty heavy. But, never in a hotel room. I had no idea. I will rectify that going forward starting this week.

I have always overtipped because I worked in the field and know how hard they work and underpaid they are. Good service should be rewarded. Why didn't a maid giving good service enter my mind? Especially on multiple night stays.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I tipped on cruises pretty heavy. But, never in a hotel room. I will rectify that going forward starting this week.

yeah me too - I just don't travel anymore.

[ChiTown]

How much do you tip the mail man and garbage workers? I mean, these guys work hard for you!

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

They are just taking a page out of the airlines play book. Charge more fees. Increase profits. I'm paying a $12 per night resort fee down in Miami. What do I get for this "resort fee", maid service.

At least I might use some of the things the airlines charge for, and I can choose them.

That resort fee is BS at the hotels that don't really seem like "resorts," but I found myself even more annoyed when I stayed at an upscale place on vacation this summer--it even had "resort" in the name--and they charged a $35 resort fee per night. The place is a "resort"--why is there a separate fee for it being what it is? I guess so they can advertise what seems like a semi-reasonable rate (taxes and resort fee not included).