Are you really suppose to tip mousekeeping staff?

[cinmell]

We always tip housekeeping at WDW and anywhere else we go. Before we leave for WDW, I put $3 dollars in evelopes, one for each night of our stay and label them Housekeeping. I leave one on the pillow each morning before we leave our room. If the service is exceptional, I will add $1 or $2 to the envelope.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I usually leave the money either underneath the little card with their name on it, or on top of the pillow.

 

[polyfan]

Sorry, but I am over the tipping issue. Unless they are going above the normal everyday housekeeping services there is no need for a tip. It has nothing to do with etiquette. they are doing a job that they are getting paid for just like everyone else. It is above minimum wage. It seems to me that some want to be so generous as a way of making a "I have money" statement.

 

[tnkrbell]

We usually tip 2.00 a day (for me,hubby and DD) I figure if they are having to clean up for us they deserve something!

 

[RobinMarie]

I attended a conference at the Wyndham in May. The opening piece was, "Management Disney Style" or something like that. It was the best presentation at the coference and done by a top person from the Disney Institute.

He explained the entire hire process and we saw the same video a person would see prior to the application process. I noticed that there was a very very small difference between mousekeeping staff and food and beverage staff. I want to say something like 6.70/hr and 6.80/hr but I can't remember.

I do remember thinking how I tip the mousekeeping but never the people at the counter service.

I tip the mousekeeping staff when they do a good job. When the room is neat, rugs are vacuumed and bathrooms done - my stay is that much better. I would prefer to tip for good service, and have the mousekeeping staff immediately rewarded, than have to complain to supervisors who will handle the situation. It's all part of the system.

Whatever your preference, it is exactly that - a preference.

 

[corvair]

We just got back. There were 4 of us.. I took envelopes along and put the tip in there and wrote thanyk you on them.. I put the card on top and laid it on the table... MOusekeeping cleaned our rooms nice... we had no extra like a read about... no towel animals or that kind of stuff... I left 4 dollars most days... if I would of got the extra stuff,,, I would of left more.... corvair

 

[A1A1]

I have been pondering this question for a while. I do not tip mousekeeping. I have felt that the regular bedmaking, tub cleaning, towel change is part of what I pay for the room. The amount of regular service that comes with the room is reflected in the cost per night of the room. If I ask for something in addition to regular upkeep of the room, like calling housekeeping to request extra towel delivery, or extra pillows and blankets, or turndown service when they don't normally do turndown, I will tip the attendant that comes to the door. The problem with all this tipping, is that the people that work at night doing turndown or running the extras to rooms of people who are at the park would probably not get tips. How on Earth can I be expected to tip every person that comes in contact with me at WDW? Should I tip the maintenance worker who came to fix the leaky sink? Afterall, he was just doing his job, too. ( Sorry, Slight sarcasm)

I do not leave the room in disarray, in fact, I usually clean the room myself, in order that the housekeeping staff will just have to do their customary cleaning.

As I said, I expect that WDW is paying their staff a wage that keeps housekeeping positions filled, and that the cost of normal room upkeep has been included when I pay the bill at the end of my stay.

Also, for DVC, the mousekeepers only come in and clean at the end of your stay. They change the towels on the fifth day, I believe. So essentially, you are not getting daily mousekeeping. You mousekeep yourself.

I do generously tip those people like valet, restaurant, bellman, extra request from housekeeping, room service, that make below minimum wage, and the majority of their income, the part they rely on when taking the position, is below or at minimum wage. I have thought that if I were a housekeeper, I would never expect to be tipped as part of my wages. As a restaurant server, which I have been in college, I expected to be tipped, because that was the biggest part of the wage. Wages were adjusted down to account for the tip portion of the overall wage.

Nothing against those that tip, good for you, but I don't feel it is necessary on a regular basis. Also, I wonder how you know that the person you tip, especially when you tip extra for the towel animals the day before, is actually the person that cleaned the day before? It seems that the tips don't encourage better service in mousekeeping like it does in tipped-professions like restaurant service. I'm surprised at the number of people who tip and end up going an entire trip without a single towel animal. I think if I got those, I would tip a buck or two, but I would wonder if the person that took the tip was the towel artist.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by 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!

Hi OurDogCisco,

I believe that the housekeeping staff at WDW is not considered a tipped position but we tip $1 per person per night no matter what resort we stay and no matter where we travel.

Tipping is always optional even when you are dealing with tipped postions. Example the valets. We tip $2 each way when we valet but tipping is a personal choice.

Tipping will not automaticlly get you anything extra. Sometimes we get towel animals sometimes not. It depends on who is cleaning your room that day. The same person does not clean your room everyday. That is why we tip per day not at the end of our stay.

I hope this helps you out. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by 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.

We tip $1 per person per night. We but the money in an envelope and right housekeeping on it and usually put it right infront of the TV. Seems to work fine no matter what resort we stay at. Disney or non-Disney.

As far as Cast Members not being allowed to accept tips goes I believe that refers to CMs in the parks and things like that. But, CMs in positions that are traditional tip positons do expect to be tipped. Example, Bell Services, Valet, Wait Staff. Technically I do not believe housekeeping is a tipped position at WDW but this varies from hotel chain to hotel chain so we tip no matter where we are staying.

Hope this helps you out and hope you have a great trip.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by 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!

We tip before because it is not the same person taking care of your room everyday like on a cruise. We tip a little each day $1 per person per day. We have never had an issue with housekeeping at WDW.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by 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

$15 an hour for a housekeeping position? That seems a little over the top. That is $31,200 a year based on a 40hrs work week. I thought that the cost of living and wages paid were a lot less in Florida? I thought that housekeepers no matter where were paid $7 to $9 a hour at the most.


$31,200 in Florida is equal to someone making $41K here in Mass and I doubt anyone is paying there housekeeping staff $19 an hour.

Anyone how works in the Hotel industrdy know for sure?

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by 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...

We use the envelopes that are in the desk drawer in the hotel room. We write housekeeping on the envelope and leave it in front of the TV. It has always been taken.

 

[callahanjulie10]

I am sure that I will get some FLAMING responses for my views but I also had read before I went to WDW that you were supposed to tip the housekeepers. I had never heard of this before and I live in a resort town in Florida and worked for resort management company who had housekeepers to clean the condos that we rented. Our housekeepers, unlike servers, make really good money. In the early 90's our housekeepers were paid $35 for a 1 bedroom, 1 bath/ $50 for a 2/2, and $75 for a 3/2 condo. The one bedroom took about 2 hours to clean and each additional bedroom/bath took an extra 30 minutes. Not bad in my opinion.

Anyway- when we checked into POR I was given a couple of info sheets and on one of the sheets it addressed this topic

"Our guests frequently ask us what the custom is for tipping. At WDW resort, it is customary to tip the following positions for EXCEPTIONAL service: bartender, bell services, coctail server, food and beverage server, and valet parker."

No housekeeping listed. I did tip $3 on the first day because I requested an ironing board and iron and coffee maker. I was given no extra anything like towel animals, etc.
I guess I tipped because I just wanted to see for myself. I will not tip anymore to get a clean room. This is required for a hotel not considered exceptional service.
You can do what you feel is proper but I will not be tipping for mousekeeping.

 

[SamanthaL]

loriencke- I do not tip housekeepers because i am making an "I have money statement". Quite on the contrary. I do it because providing a service to the public can be a tough job. I should know I waitressed for 6 years and put myself through nursing school.
Do it if you want, or don't. It's up to you. We have posters saying housekeeping makes under $7 up to $15 an hour. Quite a difference I would say.

 

[WDW2002]

Personally I do not care what a mousekeeper makes per hour (do they care what I make an hour??). Mousekeeping is not a tiped position.

 

[Trekker]

I always love this topic, there are as many different opinion as there are posters.

Just a thought - If tipping is based upon the hourly wage of the person performing the service, we had better start tipping all the people who keep the parks clean, or serve us a soda, or prepare our lunch at counter service, or collect tickets at the gate, or..... None of these positions are paid a very large salary - but all are paid above minimum wage because they are not tipping positions.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I too have always tipped a few dollars a day wherever I stay. I think that is just a thankless, yet important job.
I HOPE to get a little better service by doing so. And usually I do. POR in May was the only exception to this I recall.

Just as an after thought -- try going into any (even half decent) restaurant in Chicago and go to the bathroom without a buck in your hand! Now THAT is ridiculous. $1 to hand me a towel and stand there and annoy me!
Even HRC in Tijuana jumped on this bandwagon!

 

[kidzmom3]

Luv2Roam-what would happen if you did not tip them in the bathroom? I am just wondering because this has never happened to me. I think that I have gone to fancy resteraunts but never had an attendent in the bathroom.

If they make $15 an hour they make more than me and I would be hard pressed to tip. There are many thankless jobs out there, were you clean up for others. Housekeeping in the hospital I work for, for example. And believe me they clean up MUCH worse messes than any hotel room. I know they make about 8-10 an hour so ... I guess this isn't really coming to a major point, but people do choose a job, weather or not it is "thankless"

 

[Tesabat]

I always tip IF the room is done to my standards - but, that's my choice. My mother always did so - now I do so. And, I do that anywhere - not just at WDW. I don't tip because I expect towel animals or any special treatment.

In my area, housekeeping is a low paid position - between $6 - $7. I'd be surprised if WDW paid $15 per hour for housekeeping. That seems really high to me.

Tipping is really a personal choice, period. If you don't usually tip housekeeping, never heard of tipping housekeeping, don't believe in tipping housekeeping, well, then, don't. It's as simple as that. If you have a good housekeeper, then you will most likely receive the exact same service as the person next door who happens to tip. If your parents always tipped growing up, and you've always tipped on any vacation you've ever taken, then, by all means, do so at WDW.

IMHO, there's no right or wrong here, just different people making different choices.

 

[polyfan]

SamanthaL- those that are in the position of housekeeping have chosen to be in that position, and I am sure are well aware of what their hourly wage is going to be. If soemone has the desire to make more money then I suggest they find another occupation. Everyone chooses their own. Do you get tips for the "extra care" that you give as a nurse? Housekeeping is a standard service, and that is why people choose to stay at a hotel/motel/resort. If I wasn't looking for this service, I would not being spending the money to stay there. I could stay in a rental, and do my own.