When you stay at a hotel do you tip the maid daily?

I just leave a tip at the end but I see your point. Usually there is a card with the maid’s name so I would think that would be changed if the maid changed.

@janbb Good point, sometimes the hotels have the maid’s name, but not always. Plus, I think if they get money the first day, they might give me special attention of some sort. They know for sure they are getting money from me. i think a lot of people don’t tip at all.

Usually I tip daily. One, I want good service. Two, I’m concerned that if I don’t, the maid that serviced our room for the day won’t get her tip (in case it changes or she’s off one day-etc).

Often when leaving a tip, I’m also leaving a note with instructions:
-Please leave comforter off of the bed.
-If we could have two extra bath towels
-We’d like two bottles of water please

You get the gist.

I think maids do not pool the tips. Most of the places I stay at, one maid services on wing or one floor.

@SpatzieLover Me too, I often leave a note with the tip.

no.

Hmm, I hadn’t thought about the fact of the maid changing. I think I wil change my tipping habits.

I always leave a big fat tip at the end. I don’t know if they pool their tips or not, I guess I just assumed that they did. Also, I usually have the do not disturb sign on the door during the entire stay, so no one is actually cleaning anything until the last day.

I suspect they pool the tips as a matter of course. As far as I can tell, tipping does not affect the service. Usually the tip is applied by the hotelier at the end of the stay, anyway. If they are honest, they divide it amongst all the maid and other support staff, including valets and whatnot.

@wundayatta Do you mean you leave the tip on your credit card on the bill?

Yes.

@wundayatta I honestly never knew you could do that. Learn something new every day.

Nope, typically just at the end of a stay. I so rarely have small bills (or coins). I find with Euro/Pound coins that even if you leave them out, they tend not to be taken. So I’ll just leave a tip at the end if I have the cash.

@JLeslie Some places have a line on the bill where you can add a gratuity for the staff. Not every place does it, but often enough.

@wundayatta Maybe I have not been staying nice enough lately? Much of the time the desk just asks if they should charge everything to the card on record, and I never see a receipt or sign anything. Some hotels, the receipt is under the door at the end of the stay, and all I do is turn in my keys at the end, the bill is barely mentioned. I tend to stay at Marriott properties, some Hilton, the big chains most of the time.

@JLeslie I tend to stay in smaller places—Inns and B&Bs. More of a personal touch, perhaps?

You do know that Marriott is owned by the Mormons, and that their profits support Mormon idelogies and political candidates, right? They are also quite anti-union, and I’m not clear as to how well they treat their employees. Well enough to keep out unions, probably, but is that well enough? I don’t know.

We stay at one place a lot and tip daily plus we make the maid’s job as easy as possible. We get amazing service plus we usually get little presents from the maids.

@wundayatta The history I know about Marriott is they are a wonderful company to work for, and the founder cared very much about good service and his employees. As a side note, JW Marriott Jr spoke at my high school graduation. I once saw a movie about Marriotts history, I’ll see if I can find it online.

For a while we were staying more at Hilton properties because my husband had acquired a lot of points during business travel, but in the last few years I have switched back to Marriott, and have been much happier, especially with their moderate properties. Hilton hotel and Embassy Suites is almost always a very nice stay, but Hampton Inn I am disspointed all too often, and with my husband’s racing hotel choices are often at the Hampton Inn level.

I’ll look into the information you provided though. I am not very upset about money going to the Mormon church necessarily.

Thanks.

@wundayatta You tip at B&B’s? I never think to do that. Although, I do sometimes bring a small local gift from my city. Like candies we make here.

For anyone who is interested this might be what I saw about Marriotts biography, but not sure. I can’t view it on my Ipad.

I tip daily because it seems that the person cleaning the room isn’t the same every day.

I tip daily to help spread it around, and to give them an incentive to be more helpful.

Tipping isn’t part of Australian culture. So I don’t tip.

I can’t remember when I last stayed at that type of hotel. I guess I am just too European now and wouldn’t think about it, so my answer would be no, unless it was something I was told was expected.

Having been a cleaning lady myself, I never leave the typical big mess behind in my room, regardless of where I am. Most of the places where I stay more than 1 night are in self-service apartments, so I do the cleaning, but there is a person hired (and paid well) for going in and cleaning in between tenants. The two weeks in New Orleans last year were like that, so before we left, I stripped the beds and cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen and the garbage was taken out and hoovered, so the cleaning lady didn’t have too much to do. As a thank you to the group, I bought a nice table cloth for the apartment. I am always very grateful for the chance to get away and appreciate the people who make it possible.

Most times, it is one or two men who stay there at a time, and I HATE to think the mess they must leave.

I don’t tip, as I stated above, but after reading the posts (which I have not done since this question was asked) I see that some people tip because they want or expect better service. I think the service is the same whether you tip or not. Each day of your stay, unless you request otherwise, your bed is made and if you need towels, they give you new ones, and they tidy up the bathroom and (probably) vacuum. They put new soaps and shampoos and take out the garbage. I always try to leave the dirty towels in a pile in the bathroom, as a courtesy, and I try to put all the garbage in the garbage pails. In other words, I tidy up each day as I go.

@jca Tipping at hotels seems to be hit or miss, not everyone does it. Although, I think in tip books it does say it is expected in America. I don’t always tip. If I stay a single night I often don’t tip. It probably does not affect the service much, but they probably are paid very little, and a couple dollars is a lot to them, and not much for me. Especially when I leave a list of requests I feel better leaving something.

I tidy before the maid also.

Oh, and I don’t like hotels where they only have valet parking, and have a bellboy automatically load up luggage. I don’t like feeling forced to tip when I easily would have parked my car myself (prefer too) and somehow I lugged my luggage all the way through the airports, I certainly can walk it another 300 feet to my room.

@jca It’s true the maid service will clean up daily, but when you tip daily, they will actually spend more time in your room and leave your room much cleaner and neater. My profile shows that I use extra towels, which I always find in my room, and I also expect extra coffee. I have often discovered little treats, like a vase of fresh flowers.

@YARNLADY: That’s fine. I’m happy with the regular quantity of towels, and for me, as long as the bed is made and the room is tidy, I don’t expect anything else.

@YARNLADY I have a lot of special requests, so I feel I have to reward them. I also have foam pillows only, and a cover sheet over the couch if it shows any signs of not being clean enough. I test it with a wash cloth when I first enter the room. I also carry my own disinfectant spray which I use on the drawers and most other surfaces when I first enter the room.

Sometimes, if I’m going to be there several days, I will request a disinfected room in advance.

I don’t ask for any of that. They have supervisors looking after them, so the rooms are always cleaned to a certain standard, which is good enough for me.

@jca ha, ha, I can’t believe I commented to myself When I am paying the kind of money I pay, I expect special service. My husband and I are elite members of several hotel card holders.

@YARNLADY Impressive. I ask for a third sheet if the bed is not triple sheeted (which is rare because I do my best to avoid places that don’t triple sheet, I dread a hotel room with bedspreads. I also request an extra blanket in the winter, sometimes even in the summer. Ask for a fifth pillow if the bed only has four. I would leave on my note whatever seemed to be missing, like coffee or tea.

It seems that fussier people are more inclined to tip every day.

@janbb You callin me fussy lady?

@Adirondackwannabe if the tight shoe fits…...

@janbb Nice to see you. Good weekend?

@YARNLADY: I understand. I’ve stayed at some excellent hotels (Fairmont in Boston, Fairmont in SF, Arizona Biltmore are a few examples) and the rooms have been very clean and the service excellent.

Although, a lot of the time I get the extra things myself down at the front desk. I still tip, because I want them to leave the extra blanket on when making the bed, and not put the bedspread back on the bed if there is one.