If you know me, I am always torn on the topic of tipping. As an American tipping culture is a big deal. In fact, you are looked down upon if you don’t tip. Yet tips are supposed to be for exceptional service? If tips are basically required, why don’t businesses just pay a decent wage to begin with? Unfortunately there isn’t an easy answer to these questions and for now, the tipping culture is here to stay. Since tipping is here to stay (for now), let’s talk about how you can improve the day of the hard working folks that make the wheels of hospitality turn.
As someone who has worked in the hotel industry and a current Uber driver, I know even a small tip from each person I interact with makes my wage go from, “getting by” to, “hey I can maybe start saving money for my next adventure.” I am not alone in this struggle. Some industries/postions have it a little easier than others. For the most part everyone knows the standards for restaurant and bar staff, but what about the people you probably don’t see in person like housekeepers?
Thankfully the American Hotel & Lodging Association have this quick and easy guide for you: Gratuity Guide
Did you even know that housekeepers rely on tips to live? For restaurant workers there is a little spot on the bottom of your bill that remind you, Uber/Lyft have popups that remind you, tablet POS systems at coffee and sandwich shops remind you…
Yet housekeepers say that, without the gentle nudge of initiatives like “The Envelope Please,” only about 30 percent of guests leave a tip — a figure Professor Blum found as well.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/business/hotel-housekeeper-tipping.html
Why Should I Tip the Housekeepers?
I spent one day helping out in housekeeping at the hotel I worked at. I was lucky and got one of the good days. Even on a good day, housekeeping is no joke. Math isn’t on a housekeepers side. Check-out is at 11am, check-in is at 3pm. That is only 4 hours to, in theory, fully clean all of the rooms to perfection. Yes the difficult changes depending on the staff/room ratio, but we haven’t even factored in late check-outs, early check-ins, VIP guest, different sized rooms, 5 different groups that partied hard, the family with terrible toddlers, and so much more.
It’s not an easy job. Do you want to know how I know that, besides living in their shoes for a day? If the job was easy, you would just do it yourself. These people do it all for you, because the industry and the guest demand it.
Some of the job requirements for a room attendant include cleaning, dusting, polishing, and vacuuming. Then there are the linens: changing the sheets and blankets each day, lifting the heavy mattress, and swapping out wet, heavy towels for clean towels. They also have to scrub down the bathroom and restock your toiletries, taking care to keep your personal items as you left them. All of that is on a “good day.” I have seen clogged toilets in hotel rooms that no living creature should have to deal with, but that is the kind of shit, literally and figuratively housekeepers deal with.
All that for a wage that is less than livable in most states.
Nationally, housekeepers’ wages are comparable to desk clerks’, whose average hourly rate the Bureau of Labor Statistics tallies at $11.28. But desk clerk jobs don’t require the flipping of heavy mattresses or exposure to cleaning chemicals that can lead to respiratory and other health problems.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/business/hotel-housekeeper-tipping.html
How Much Should I Tip the Housekeepers?
Well according to the AHLA gratuity guide, “tip $1-5 per night. The tip should be left daily (preferably in an envelope or with a note so that it’s clear it’s for housekeeping).” There is a range because every situation is different.
If you leave your room like the aftermath of a tornado, then you are on the higher end of that scale. I try and leave as much of my hotel room as untouched as possible, but I really only stay in them for a bed I can stumble back to after a day of exploration, but not everyone is like me. For some it is a home away from home because they travel for business for long periods of time or they are a bigger family. Just be honest with yourself about how much of a mess you leave behind.
“If hotels really wanted to institutionalize tipping, they could do it through electronic checkouts, or an app, or the TV, with a question like, ‘Would you like to leave a tip for your housekeeper?’” Professor Blum said. “We live in a tipping society. Even sandwich shops do that now. Why shouldn’t hotels do it?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/business/hotel-housekeeper-tipping.html
When Should I Tip the Housekeepers?
This question can be a bit complicated. A lot of people, myself included rather just leave one sum at the end of their stay. However all hotels run a little different and you may not have the same staff on a daily basis. I now would recommend smaller tips daily instead of the lump sum at the end, unless you know for sure you have the same housekeeper every day.
Conclusion
While I utterly hate the tipping culture in the U.S. I do not support short changing people that work hard. If you are ever unsure about tipping etiquette, just do a quick search online. A lot of well- intentioned people don’t tip, simply because they don’t know that worker relies on tips to make a living. Maybe one day we can convince companies to pay a decent wage and stop relying on their costumers to do that for them.
Do you usually tip your hotel staff? How do you decide how much tip?
