Are you really suppose to tip mousekeeping staff?

[OurDogCisco]

I love reading the tips and advice on these boards but I have been reading a lot about tipping mousekeeping staff! Just wanted to find out is that really necessary. We are staying at the Poly so, I was just curious. I feel, we are already paying premium for the room so, why do we need to tip? I never tipped when we stay in a regular hotel. Are people tipping to get better service like animals or because ??? I am just unclear why people are tipping. Hope I am not coming off as cheap but I am really unclear about the tipping.

Thanks!

 

[SamanthaL]

I always tip at any hotel I stay at. It is proper etiquette, but I just figure anyone who offers me good service while I am on vacation,(bell service/valet service/room service/housekeeping) deserves some recognition. I can afford to stay at the deluxe properties, therefore I can spare a few bucks a day to show my appreciation for making my vacation more relaxing.
Let's face it, who dreams of cleaning up after strangers all day long 40 hours a week for somewhere around minimum wage? I know it's not my dream come true.

 

[SamanthaL]

P.S. Housekeeping staff doesn't benefit because you paid more to stay at the Poly. I would bet all the mousekeepers make the same at all the WDW resorts. Just something to think about.

 

[WDW2000]

I was wondering about the tipping ettiqette also. How much do you tip? Is it nightly or just at the end of the trip. I have never tipped Housekeeping before, but mainly because I don't know the procedure to do it. Do you give it to the housekeeping staff directly or just leave it in an envelope. I have also heard that Cast Members aren's allowed to accept tips at Disney, but it sounds like hotel staff are excluded from this policy.

 

[Howdoyoudo]

I tip daily-$4.00, $1.00 per person in the room. If it is only 2 of us, I tip $3.00....$2.00 just doesn't seem like enough.

 

[SamanthaL]

Housekeepers at WDW do accept tips as does valet, room service and bell service. My advice is tip at the rate you feel comfortable. I usually tip $3 a day for room- $6 a day for a villa. I do it daily and leave it in the room in an envelope.
If service is bad and a call to housekeeping doesn't clear it up, the tipping stops, just like poor service at at restaraunt. By, poor I mean beds left unmade, towels not cleaned up. This has happened but was a mistake and wasn't repeated. Hope this helped.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Helpful tips! Thanks for the advice. Why do you tip before the service? Like in your case where the service was bad but you had already tipped and you can't take it back? I kinda like the way tipping is done on cruises where it is done at the end of the cruise. Can you tip at the end and give to housekeeping to give to the appropriate person?

Thanks!

 

[skiwee1]

Maybe it depends on where you were raised but I've always thought you tip housekeeping at any hotel. I remember when I was little, many, many, years ago, and my parents leaving a tip in the Days Inn at WDW. That was in 1978! LOL! We always leave a tip no matter what type of hotel we are staying at. The staff doesn't make any more just because you are paying more for the room. I tip $5 a day and that is for two adults and a toddler. If there are 4 or more to a room then I tip $2 a person per day. HTH!

 

[4crusinransiers]

Love these tipping posts........................ We have always tipped housekeeping, minimum $ 1.50 a day per person. More for great service. For our family of 4 we leave $6.00 a day, per day and more if service is good .

 

[fortwilderness]

I always try to leave a small tip - if I remember - each day. I actually left $10 the day we left the Polynesian because we left the room in an absolute wreck. We left the ironing board out, food wrappers on the table, towels on the floor ect. We were in a panic trying to hurry because we were on our way to Port Canaveral to get on the cruise and didn't take the time to tidy up and felt really guilty. I know it is their job to clean the room but that mess was beyond their call of duty in my opinion

 

[cassie]

If you read the brochure you get at at check-in, housekeeping is not a tippable position. I talked with a CM at the CBR pool bar and he said the housekeepers make $15 an hour, not min. pay.

I have always tipped $1 a person a day, but I noticed the housekeepers at CBR didn't take the tip. I've left tips at ASMO and POR and the tips were taken every day.

Now I'm confused too

 

[BrianD]

I've never tipped mousekeeping before but I starting think about it and thought, why should they not be tipped? They provide more service than anyone else on staff that we encounter. And after reading about all the folks here who tip mousekeeping, I decided I'm going to start tipping on our next trip.

 

[PamOKW]

This article from USA Today was recently posted by Lew over on the Vacation Club Board. I thought it was very helpful

USA Today Travel Tipping Hints

Here's the section on maids.

Q: And what about those maids? Are we really supposed to leave something?

A: Absolutely! Rule of thumb is $1 to $5 per day. At a hotel where maid service is minimal, a dollar will suffice. At high-end hotels with maid service twice a day and chocolates on your pillow, use the high end of the scale. The more service you receive, the greater tip you should leave.

 

[jctwizzer]

IMHO it's pretty well established, and spelled out in the brochures given out at WDW resorts, that tipping is appropriate for those positions paid less than minimum wage, ie. valets, servers, bell staff, etc. Since the WDW housekeeping staff is not in this category, tipping is discretionary, not mandatory.

 

[Patrick IL.]

Tipping is an individual decision. I always leave a daily tip for housekeeping, since often you do not have the same mousekeeper for the whole length of your stay. Again, bottem line, its a personal choice whatever you decide.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Interesting..... hmmmm.... not sure if I should still tip. I guess, the reason I am having trouble with this is because they don't leave envelopes out for you to put the money in. Almost like they need a tipping bowl .... My dh are debating this issue as well because he thinks we should tip where I don't. Do you mark the envelope for them to take? Where do you put the money? On the bed? On the dresser? How does the staff know it is for them and not left out by accident by the guest? Still confused...

 

[fortwilderness]

I usually leave it on the bathroom sink folded so it will stand up. I have yet to have a housekeeper not take their tip

 

[WDW2002]

ahh....the 'ol tipping debate.
No your not suppose to tip mousekeeping, lots of people do it but Disney does not expect you to.
IMO a tip is for going above and beyound doing your "job" and for the maid, cleaning up and making the bed is their job.
If they go beyound that and do something special then go ahead and leave a tip. But other then that NO, I wouldn't.

 

[ukcatfan]

I think tipping is a personal choice, but here is my inside track:

As a former accounting employee of a four star hotel in Louisville, KY, I will let you know how things were around there. The housekeeping staff were not considered tip positions. They were also not required to report any tips to the IRS. Compared to the other tipped positions that made around $2.50/hr, the housekeepers made out like bandits. The housekeepers made around $12-15/hr. The tipped positions would have to make twice as many tips as the housekeepers to make equal pay as them. This was a very sore spot for the regular tipped position employees. They did not mind them making tips, they minded the around $10/hr pay difference and the non-reported tips. While I personally did not care b/c I was in a totally different type position, I can say that the housekeepers made more than me and I was the Assistant Controller(#2 in Accounting).

 

[montessori]

Wow! I am shocked. I am a big tipper, I really appreciate good service and usually over tip. I always thought that housekeeping staff made low hourly wages. Is it really true that they make $10 - $15 per hour??

I THINK that most people tip housekeeping because they think they make such low wages. I'm not sure I will change my tipping practices now that I know they make pretty good money, but I might!

We always leave our room quite clean too.

Does anyone know for a fact how much the 'mousekeepers" make per hour?

Thanks and Happy 4th of July!

Mary Ann in sunny South Florida ?? today is our 20th day of rain, in a row!