What Do You Tip Your Hotel Maid?

Personally, I don’t tip fast food people at all - regardless. That’s their job.

Maids I feel for as it is truly a hard job. It could make their day and give you piece of mind that they’re not gonna do anything to your stuff lol.

$5/10 max I would say personally.

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I generally leave a 1$ bill under each of my 2 pillows on the bed that I use during my stay - then a 5 -10$ tip when I check out… It also depends on service, last place I stayed there was a very rude housekeeper that didn’t get squat! Some go out of their way to help… and they get more… I’ve also found if your a good tipper, your less likely to have your stuff gone through and/or stolen while you’re out. .02 db

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I know they have a hard job, I worked in a hotel for a while. Even for $5 a room, if they do 20 rooms, that’s $100. Wow.

I need a new job. No job I’ve ever held involved tips, so in many ways I don’t get it. I get paid for the work I do by the company, and don’t expect the customers to individually supplement my wages.

Although, overall it may be more of a “pay for performance” system where if you do a lousy job, you don’t get paid as much.

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3 peso’s….. lol… my room smelled weird

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Yep $3-5 is fine. I couldn’t tip any less than that without feeling embarrassed. I remember when we went to Egypt for our holiday, everyone seemed to think a good tip was a £1 coin ($2), so carried round bag of them. It must be in one of the guidebooks or something.

The reality was they thought £1 was pretty cheap. They also had the added hassle of trying to get these changed into notes, as nowhere would exchange all these coins. The managers had told them to smile and be very thankful when guests did this even though it was a complete PITA for them

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In Dubai, I tipped the chap who brought my bag up to the room way too much. Didn’t have any smaller notes. Reading about average tipping rates later on, I discovered that I’d given him 10x the norm.

Bet he was a happy camper that day.

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I haven’t really tipped maids, but I probably should. The hotel I stay at when I’m in Palo Alto - The Creekside In - has excellent staff. The room is always clean, linens and soap stocked, and 2 bottles of complimentary water instead of that $3 - $5 a bottle water. However since the room is expensive, not for the area but in general, I just figure it’s included with the expense. However I doubt they get paid more just because the room costs more.

When I went on a vacation with my wife a few of years ago, we went to a fancy hotel. Since it was the first time I had gone to a 4/5 start hotel, this was before I was traveling a lot, I looked online for a tipping guide. I can’t find it now. Most of the guides say $1 - $5 a night depending on the quality of the service, your mess, and the quality of the hotel. I love coming into a nice clean room and appreciate the staff for making it so. I’ll have to start tipping next time to show my appreciation.

I bet when that maid saw $40 she assumed it was a nice tip because of your shirts. Sure sounds like she earned it though.

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If in a country where they use a different currency I just leave all the money that is too small to be re-exchanged

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I once left about $100 for tips. I was renting a beach house for just over a week and it was a mess! So we each put in some money for the two maids that had to clean the entire thing.

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Hmmm In this my Indonesian Country 100.000 Rupiah you can enjoy in hotels

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I usually leave $5 per day as long as they do a good job on the first day. If I ask for something special, I will sometimes leave more.

I also always tip the bell hops well so that they take care of my bags.

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If it’s a 1 night stay I don’t usually tip. If I’m staying someplace for several days, I tip $5 per day, especially if they do a great job!

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My grandma used to be a maid, and it really made her day when she was left a tip. Most people don’t bother or forget… usually it was the most messy ones that didn’t tip.

$2-$5 should be the norm (per day). And yes it should be tipped daily because different maids will be there on different days.

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di Reply:
August 30th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

I work as a maid at a hotel and am rarely given a tip. I know I do a good job of cleaning their rooms. My guests are regulars and I was told they were told they didn’t have to tip. Is this common in hotels? Am I doing something wrong? Also if a guest “leaves a tip at checkout” who gets it the front desk who DOES NOT clean the room? or do they leave it in the room?

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booksellar Reply:
October 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am

What tip is expected (at end of stay) if a person does not want their room disturbed?

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I tip $3 in a restaurant and $5 in a hotel (might tip more if I like the service)

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a few bucks… but usually under a pillow or some other “hidden” place, never leave it on the table. One time I noticed that a few people checked out and one girl ran into the rooms before the other one started to clean. After that I just leave the tips in some place where only the maid who would clean the room see it. Bed, recycle bin, bathroom, etc.

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Well, personally I tip considering two things:

1. The job they’re doing….
2. The country I’m in…

2. Might not be relevant for some ppl, but it is to me…not that I want to go out on the cheap, but I think it’s unnecessary to tip someone 10$ if their monthly salary is like 60$…it just doesn’t make sense…(depending on your own country that would be like tipping a huge amount, e.g. like tipping 250$, and you wouldn’t do that either)…that being said, I tip generously and yes I’ve tipped 10$/day although their monthly salary is only 60$…that’s because they did a really great job and I enjoyed seeing them with a huge smile on their face

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I leave instructions and a few jars with different money values.

Jar 1: Take $8 if you make the sheets extra fluffy.
Jar 2: Take $9 if you make the sheets extra fluffy and and the pillows extra fluffy.
This is proper etiquette and the way it was done in the old days.

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I would definitely leave a 5 i guess, i think thats fine. If its a good job.

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man I tip everybody that is doing a service for me. I used to wait tables and I know that despite what everyone thinks, not everyone tips. If a person knows they are not coming back to a place or no one is looking, they will be as cheap as possible - most of the time. I try to be one of those people that appreciates good service and votes with his wallet.

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I would give her a crash course on how to blog about being maid and tell her to push affiliates to make some serious $$$….

Just kidding….I would say for the weekend I would tip $5 per day, unless there is something extra nice they did or helped out in some way that isn’t normal of a maid.

I think you tipped just fine.

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I hate the concept of tipping. If someone really does a great job I have no problems tipping.

Companies, please pay your workers right, even if that mean raise prices.

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For restaurants I generally tip 20%, because it’s just easier for me to calculate (10% of bill x 2, round up to next dollar). I also know most wait staff are not even making minimum wage before tips.

For hotels it varies, and I hate to admit I generally don’t unless it’s a long stay. I also think it should probably vary as to where. $3-$5 might seem cheap if you’re paying $300+ per night.

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I also think it should be said that you should spread the wealth when you can. $5 may not seem like much to you, but could make a huge difference to the employee, especially if everyone tipped.

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1% of your daily income

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I usually leave 10% of the nights bill when in US but in the UK I don’t tip as the staff usually seem to care a lot less and just do the necessary work to get paid.

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I usually leave $10/day because I think of it this way: If I can rent a room for a 100-something a night or whatever, whats another 10 bucks to support a hard working person!

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lol.. yeh this can happen.
i would leave 2-5$ max.

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I also had another thought: We give a nice tip to the porter for taking our bags to the room, so why not tip the person that is actually keeping your room in order day to day, although sometimes the maid might be different day to day like Shoe said.

So those of you that don’t tip I think you should tip the maid! Even if you don’t tip big, a tip still counts. In the end it adds up.

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Jeremy, I generally leave $5.00~$10.00 based on the length of stay. Maids are very effecient when it comes to items left on the floor, I found my shoes cleaned and polished one afternoon! Hope to see you at SES on tuesday! Respectfully, Nicholas

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$3/day rounded up to the next bill. I leave it the last day usually under the “cleaned by xxx” card. Absent the card, I just leave it on the table. Not sure if the $$$ is appropriate but that’s what my folks always did.

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Being a Hotel Manager I can speak a little from both sides. It depends on the type of chain, economy, business, or resort, also your length of stay 1-2 days to 3+. Also this depends on how much linen you use how often you have the beds changed and if you have any special requests.

If you able to stay long enough for them to do things you like that are out of the routine or if you leave an extra large mess Id live $3-5. Now if your in a resort level hotel I would start at $5, but for most economy/business chains even some of the nicer ones most of these carry enough house keepers to not over load them. Back to the $3-5 per room. I try to tip them the same way I would a pizza delivery driver. If everything is clean and in place and I am taken care of special request wise generally I just leave $5 a day.

It also seems that the housekeepers remember everyone when they come back at $5 a day tipping, this can only be good as you will always have a clean room!

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Talking about services, its always the little things that matters most. I was in boston last week attending affiliate summit, and stayed at Nine Zero, they day I arrived I totally forgot my tooth paste and it was 3 am. I called the front desk and asked if they could get me some tooth paste, they actually sent someone out at 3am and got me what I wanted.

Then right before I left, I totally forgot to pack some of my cloths that was in the closet, they actually packed and shipped it overnight, my cloths arrived home before me LOL.

So yes if I make a mess in my room ( usually partying too much after networking events) I leave 40 to 50 on the night stand with a note thanking in advance.

Otherwise just few bucks, just to cheer them up

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DO NOT TIP YOUR MAID!!! You are undermining the wages of working staff when you tip. As soon as an employer can say that significant monies are coming through tips they will try to justify a wage drop to the minimum wage for employees who earn tips. In case you don’t know, it’s much lower than normal minimum wage. And tips come up short compared to paid wages. Employees inevitably lose out on social security contributions as well as a range of other benefits because this income is not properly reported by the employer.

So all the big spenders here need to think twice about being pressured into tipping in workers who do not historically earn tips. You are relieving employers of responsibility and causing long term erosion of wages. Yes a few in every industry make good money with tips, but as a whole… Tipping destroys wages and frees employers of responsibility. Most restaurant workers can’t afford gas and it’s worse now than it was 15 years ago when it was my job.

Maids have not depended on tips historically. Do not make this yet another industry dependent upon the kindness of strangers rather than the responsibilities of employers.

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Americans loves to give tips… i heard the waiter and waitress will serve you badly if tips are not given. Tips are generally good, but too much is simply not healthy. coz next time the maid might treat those that doesn’t subscribe to the ‘tipping’ idea badly.

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I usually leave a few dollar tip for a one day stay or up to 5 or 10 per day for longer stays in nice hotels where my stays are usually comped.

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Usually - 2 euro coin \ day

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I worked in maintenance at a hotel in Branson, Mo. At the time I made 10.00 per hour. The girls that cleaned the rooms made less then that. And to tell you the truth they worked a lot harder then the maintenance staff did.

I don’t know what the rule of thumb is for tipping but nowadays I always tip 5.00 per day. Because the girls may not always clean the same room or may be off that day. That way all of the girls are covered.

It’s better to play it safe. Plus if you tip they won’t dig through your stuff. LOL

John

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I typically tip VERY reluctantly $5.

I can’t tell you how insane tipping maids drives me, I pay damn good money to sleep at the hotel, and now I have to pay someones salary because the hotel is so greedy they want to let us do their job.

Overall America is tip crazy, everyone wants a tip for doing their freaking job. Other things that really bug the ship out of me in regards to people wanting tips.

Taxi Drivers, I’m paying $4 a mile, wtf do I need to tip you!
Drinks, I buy a $4-5 drink and I have to pay someone $1 to give it to me?
Meals, you pay $100 to go out with some friends, and now you have to give someone $20 just cause they brought out the food. Sure they did a service, but it isn’t my responsibility to pay them. When do you see restaurants tipping Sysco and US Food Service for providing them with chicken? People don’t give me 20% extra for services I provide and products I sell.

One thing I really hate, but I do it anyway.

On a side note, am I the only one that HATES it when a roofer/painter comes and does your roof and vandalizes your lawn with this giant sign advertising their business? When they are done, I give them an invoice for $50/day for renting my property. There are already a zillion signs on their trucks, freaking at least ask me first!
I’m sure there are others, but I can’t think of them now.

I tip, and I tip better than average, but boy do I make a stink about it (privately and to my wife, I am more than curiousness to the staff)

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di Reply:
August 30th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

Just curious how much do you make at your job?If you can afford a hotel I am guessing more than 9-10 bucks an hour… Do you know how little maids get paid? I know it is not your place to Pay me. I totally agree. Why not try complaining to the hotel mgr. when your room is not cleaned well and see what their answer is….

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If you get a bonus at work, is that not like a tip? I’ve worked where employers give unscheduled spot bonuses for excellent work. Of course it is much more than a $5 tip and can often be tech products related to the job, but it essence it’s still a tip. Scheduled bonuses are also like tips. If you reach a certain level of expectations and you get extra money above your salary - tip.

Those who complain that they hate tipping and that people shouldn’t get tips should also give up their bonuses.

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It all depends on how many days your staying and the overall quailty of service that the maid leaves on the first day. Start off with a tip of 4 bucks and if the service goes down meaning towels were left, trash wasnt removed etc, the tip should go down. If the service goes up, meaning extra bars of soap, extra towels, extra coffee packets etc is left, then extra money should be left.

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Marc - I’ve never thought of it that way but that’s a good point. Wait staff are paid abysmally (I don’t understand the justification as to why they aren’t paid minimum wage) simply because they are supposed to earn their “tips.”

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The same maid may not service your room every night of your stay. If you wait until check-out time to tip for the entire stay, your tip may not go to the right person.

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Leaving cash or change in the room is not a clear enough signal, as a hotel maid must be very careful about taking anything from your room. Enclose the tip in a sealed envelope (check the desk drawer for hotel stationary) and mark it “Chambermaid.”

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Tip according to service and hotel type: In a luxury hotel, tip about $3-5 each night. For an average hotel, $1-2 per night is fine. If the maid goes above and beyond in service, such as providing extra soaps and shampoos or folding towels in the shape of swans (for example), feel free to leave a dollar or two more.

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di Reply:
August 30th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

I guess I will have to learn the swan towel folding trick?

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Leave a tip in cash, not with spare change.

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The standard is five bucks a day - especially in upscale hotels.

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When I went to Cuba we tipped them with stuff like soap and toys/clothing because for one they can’t accept money (it’s hard for them to sneak it out) and they are very poor.

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It depends on the hotel- in some places they don’t come back and clean every day so why leave a tip! if all they did was throw the comforter back in the bed during your stay, I think you’re ok leaving a tip at the end rather than every day.

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I usually just leave a tip at the end of the stay.

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You’re supposed to tip your hotel maid every day, but be careful because some hotels add a “housekeeping” or similar charge to your bill of $2-3 a day, which is their way of forcing you to tip the maids. This happened to me when I went to the New york because it ends up being part of your bill and you have to pay tax on it.

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I throw down $3 for each morning I request housekeeping service. Sometimes I just put up the Do Not Disturb sign if I don’t require anything.

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I’m the cheapest person you’ll ever meet and I’m also a greedy bastard.

I don’t tip anyone, for anything at any time… not even in restaurants.

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Nancy Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

Jeez, post your picture so I will know to tell the waiter to spit in your food, the housekeeper to *piss on your sheets, and the sky cap to lose your luggage!!!!

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I usually leave $1-2 per day, though they usually only have to clean it once per stay since I leave the “DO NOT DISTURB” sign on the door 24/7.

I read that was “typical” somewhere and have just been sticking to it ever since.

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This is the first that I am hearing that you tip maids. I guess now I will be leaving $3 - $5 per night. What a jackass I feel like right now. To think, when I was leaving they were talking shit about me behind my back. DOH! Won’t make that mistake again.

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“DO NOT DISTURB” and then 5-10 on the final day depending on the mess. Generally it is not that bad though…

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I’m a sucker when it comes to tipping. I always like to give like 25% or more for meals. For hotels I actually have rarely tipped because I simply didn’t know about it.

I guess now that I know, I will start.

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I leave $3 a day at the end of the stay. A lot of people say to tip per day because the maids change, but I figure they can sort it out.

I once tipped a maid in France rather nicely mid-stay, and she later stole $125 I had stashed in a drawer. She’d gone through all of the rooms and done that.

Another time I left like $15 for a long stay and my girlfriend later handed me the money saying I’d mistakenly left it behind. Ack!

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I reckon $40 is a good tip. $50 if you want them to take real good care of you, and $200 if you want them to stay the night.

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I don’t think i’ve ever tipped a maid at a hotel. Why should I? Aren’t they getting paid a normal hourly wage by the hotel? With the cost of hotels, I’m not going to be throwing in any extra cash.

As far as waitresses, I usually tip 20% but I get tired of hearing all the waiters/waitresses complain about low wages. When I was in college they were the highest paid people I knew. While I was putzing around as a cook in a restaurant, they were raking in cash. In most restaurants I’d rather if they did it fuddruckers style and just called you when your food was ready and allowed you to get your own refills. Most of these people don’t deserve squat.

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$3-$5 bucks and escalate each day if service is good. If they half-ass it I dont bother leaving anything the next day. I always tip a lot more at the casinos if I’m winning.

Biggest tip I have left for a maid has been $100. (strippers are a different story : )

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Don’t use the glass cups in the bathroom.

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To me it depends on what I had in the hotel room when I checked in. Than I compare to what the maid does and if the maid adds or does anything above and beyond. I usually leave $10, sometimes $5. But I am always mindful to those who are in the service industry cause I was there once. The hours and average worker wage is squat and considering what we have to do and “Clean Up” is not worth the pay sometimes. And I would at times go out and above my usually duties knowing the customers are due some respect and need some extra comforts(No Puns intended PLZ)

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Are maids like waiters in that they can double their salary through tips?
My sister was a waiter during her gap year and she got so much in tips!
I’ve never tipped a maid before but might start.
I definitely won’t leave £20 or so lying on my bed from now on!

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Well, from nothing to 15$ that depend on the service.

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I always tip the maid well when I’m at a hotel. I don’t think some people realize that a lot of them actually make crap money. I’m not saying that people should leave $50 a day, but $2? What the hell? Holy cheap. Somewhere between $5-8 would be good.

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Whoa - are you saying I shouldn’t have left that open suitcase of 20s on the hotel bed ?

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Always leave a $3-5 dollar tip, just seems right. If they do a great job and I am spending a few days sometimes I through a $10 for them.

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Damn, I’m glad I read this thread.

I had NO IDEA tipping chambermaids was a social norm. Now I know to tip. I’ll probably tip $3-5 as everyone else has kind of concluded to, or just $1-2 if they do a lousy job.

I stayed at a nice hoel a few months ago and the maid was really good - she took all of our bathroom stuff, put them on a sheet, and lined them up in order of decscending size. I absolutely loved that!

I don’t mind tipping at all, and am usually a generous tipper - but I’d much rather tip a chambermaid than a waitress since I believe the former is a much more difficult job (lonely, have to clean up bathrooms, and much less pay).

Heh.. just really surprised tipping them was the norm.. never even came across my mind!

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I started googling “chambermaid tipping” because I’m really curious about this now, and saw this commend from an actual chambermaid which is helpful:

“As a housekeeper at a hotel, I know that we had many people who would stay for a week or so at our hotel and they never tipped. This frustrates us because there is a lot that we do to keep the room the way it is. So tips are always welcomed–even if they are just the spare change in your pockets.

Also, don’t tip when you arrive. Sleep first, then tip. And if you are staying an extended stay, chances are about 99% that you wont have the same maid as you did the first day. So make sure your tip goes next to their housekeeping card (if there is one). And make sure it is conspicuous.

At my hotel, we are not allowed to touch any money unless it is either on top of the pillow or on top of the housekeeping card. If you are staying and extended stay and like your housekeeper, you may be able to go to the Front Desk and request that housekeeper perform the housekeeping duties for the duration of your stay. Although this may work, be advised that there are certain days when housemaids don’t work so as to prevent overtime. So it may not work in all situations–but it’s worth a try!

And finally–if you have a suite with a jacuzzi, whirlpool, or some other sort of large, aquatic leisure device in it, be sure to tip accordingly. If you use it, maids spend a lot of time disinfecting and cleaning it. So take that into mind when you tip. “

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I at most give 20 pesos (that’s $0.5) LOL….

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I usually tip a ten. I know some people go by a state by state percentage. Similar to waiters in a restaurant.

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Sometimes I’ve tipped at the end of the stay, depending on the days of the week or how the maid card was written. Sometimes they’ve even said their schedule on it, which is helpful.

I also like my bar philosophy, tip high at the front end of a stay/binge. Then you get better service from them.

Lately, I put the do not disturb sign on the door and I don’t get housekeeping every day because I don’t want anyone seeing or messing with my tech gear. I don’t clean my bedroom everyday at home so I don’t need it on the road either.

One time I locked myself out of a room at a nice hotel, asked a housekeeper to let me in. She just let me in, no checking or qualification. Good for me at the moment but also scared me that it would be real too easy to be a smiling thief.

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Yeah its nice that people leave tips for maids lots of them have to clean there home after cleaning up after people all day great post shoe!

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Like Jonathan said, I’m a sucker when it comes to tipping. House keeping at hotels are under paid, yet they do a ton of work. So I try and leave them a $20 or so.

Remember, they are cleaning your bathroom where you leave your toothbrush;)

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I don’t tip maids even though I feel the most compassionate for them and their plight (usually undoc’d immigrants). I try not to tip much anymore. Guess I’m jaded about life–it’s up to each one of us to improve our lives rather than depend on others.

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di Reply:
August 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

In “today’s” economy it is not always easy to “improve oneself”….. You may be surprised of the background of some of the maids. Not all of us are immigrants……

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If I have excess gifts from expos, I keep them on the bed with a note as a gift (usually written back of biz card). I have lighter baggage and some publicity…

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I must be a bad girl then, because the last time I was in New Orleans I tipped the maid with a voodoo curse. The reason, the maid kept stealing a piece of gum from a pack I left laying on the night stand in the room every day for a week.
Needless to say by the end of a week I wasn’t too happy with her so I went and had a visit with Marie Laveau at Saint Louis Cemetery #1. Its a New Orleans thing, you would understand if you lived there… I think things worked out just fine. I went home happy anyway.

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Ha wow I’d you found out the hard way shoe!? Haha but at any rate I guess I never thought about tipping the maid. Growing up I always was told to hide my money so that they didn’t feel I was in fact tipping them or leavin them money!

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Usually $2-3. From reading all the comments, I realized that I should be tipping more.

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I can’t believe that this post sparked so much conversation! I always tip alot in restaurants especially for good service, but haven’t followed the same course in hotels (well 20% or more would be a really big tip!!).

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It depends on the hotel, if it’s a 5 star and the maid was good, I will leave about $3 for each day of my stay, if it’s a lower quality hotel, then anywhere from $2-$5 total is fine!

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I’m going to be honest, I’ve never tipped a maid - I didn’t even think about it! I do tip others very well — I’ll keep that in mind I suppose?

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Lotta cheap folks here. I tip $3-5 per day.

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I always thought $5 was the standard.

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I worked for tips for like 7 years while i was going to school so i always tip more than i should. my wife thinks i’m crazy but if you have worked for tips you know the difference from getting two bucks and getting 5 or more. that extra couple bucks really adds up.
man am i glad i don’t work for tips anymore so many cheap people in utah

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I agree $5 is the standard.. well it also depends on how you have liked the services of that certain person

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I would say $2-$5…I’d like to say depending on how good of a job that they do- but how do you know? You tip them before they clean. If that person did a really good job, you could tip more the next day…but it may be a different maid. I’d say $3 a day is a good number.

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@ Rankish Hardish, is it not a bit of a hassle carting jars around, and have you ever had all the jars nicked?

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Wow! I cannot believe how many replies! I read all though! A lot of reading, came across some humor, most tip amounts were $2-3 or more commonly $5.

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$2 - $5 depending on the service and how much of a mess I have left the night before. Checkout day usually a $10 if I the service is pretty good.

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It depends on the size of the hotel. On big hotel small tips and in small hotels big tips.

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Please ask clickbooth to change that ugly flashing ad on the right panel.

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$10 seems too high! It is equal to 1 hour of work!

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It depends on how long you stay, the type of hotel and how messy you are.

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Honestly, I’ve never tipped a hotel maid as I always regarded their service as part of what I already paid for for the accomodation. Hmmm, I now kinda feel bad about it. Well I’ll start tipping them off.

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I tip anywhere from 2-5 if it’s only a few of us staying.

One time we made a huge mess in a suite (lots of people), and we left $25

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Hey, just noticed i am in the top commentator’s list.. Wooho…
but plz correct the anchor text - dont include the comment number.

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YEAH!! You’re most definitely the GREATEST blogger in the world man!! Giving the maid 40 buck$ like that! Awesome, even if it’s not intentional. A hundred kowtow to you!!!!

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I’m w/marc. I only tip if I do something insane to the room (a night of food poisoning).

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I live in Australia and we just don’t tip anyone. When I was in the US we were constantly handing over money for this and that. For the hotel maid we used to leave $2 a day….we had no idea what was the standard rate so just hoped we did the right thing.

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Given that cleaners tend to be low paid and do a hard job, it’s nice to leave them a tip. For many of us a few dollars isn’t much money but can make a huge difference to someone who is struggling to get by.

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I think about it mathematically, not by the crappiness of their job. Say they do 50 rooms in 8 hours. They make minimum wage, so like 50 bucks wages. $3 per room is $150, so they make $200 in 8 hours, which is like $48,000 per year. Not too bad. So, what I’m saying is that $3 or $4 is sufficient, but just make sure you tip each day.

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The least advantaged people get the crappiest jobs… I try to think what it would be like to do that job myself for $7 an hour or whatever they’re getting paid, even $15? I wouldn’t do it for $50! It’s hard, disgusting, physical work. Leaving $5 a day is half of what I paid for one beer the night before… and each day I tip, afterward the room always is sparkling.

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I think it depends on the hotel, size of the room and if you made any special requests like extra towels or a tooth brush or something. Generally speaking though, $3-$5 is cool.

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Work maid is not easy. I think she was pleased to see 40 dollars.

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As a Hotel Manager, I first have to say Thank You for blogging about this. Housekeepers are some of the hardest working people in the hotel and almost always the most underpaid. Most make $7.00-$8.00 an hour and rely on tips left by guests. It is best to tip every day because as you mentioned, the same person may not be cleaning the room every day.

My housekeepers are told not to pick up any money unless it is on the bed or on the desk. Most times their tips are left beside the weather cards on the desks, that way they know for sure that it was meant for them. Even if there is no weather card, there is usually some type of card left in the room that identifies the housekeeper so I would leave it there.

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I think that $ 10 is normal money for maid. Usually I leave 10 dollars.

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$3? Jeez…

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Dena if “housekeepers are some of the hardest working people in the hotel” why doesn’t the hotel value their employees and compensate them accordingly? Relying on members of the public, who may or may not remember to tip them, to boost their wage packet seems pretty shoddy.

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As a longtime expat in Japan, tipping just rubs me the wrong way. It’s so nice not to have to tip — and still get great service.

I wouldn’t feel bad about tipping maids, but the arrogant sense of entitlement that waiters and bellboys have about it really annoys me.

And of course those deadbeats are not declaring it on their tax returns.

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@bulbboy if you owned a hotel, would u?

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@Dena- Thanks for the insight! I knew they didn’t make much- but you would think they would make at least $10/hr. It must be a pretty disgusting job…

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