[NTarrant]

May be not quite the issue here, but about four years ago, my wife, son and sister had a meal in a resturant, a chain I recall but not which, where my sister ordered an avocado salad. The meals came and we tucked in but I kept looking at my sister’s thinking something was missing.

It was not until we had almost finished that I said, didn’t you have the avocado salad? Yes she replied, did you have any, then she thought and said no! An avocado salad, without the avocado! The waiter came and asked if everything was okay and I pointed this out (he had brought the bill) he said I’ll see the manager and came back and said he could knock a dollar off the price. The price was USD16.00, that he said was the best he could do. Needless to say he got no tip, he said no tip to which I said if you had tried to get more off the bill you would have!

[watersz]

With regards to the states and tips , if you are in restaurants near international holiday areas the wait staff frequrntly add 15-20% regardless of quality of service, to the bill as one pointed out to me. They are anxious not the get “stiffed ” by none paying forieners as they get taxed on what customers dont give them

[judynagy]

This is an easy one. Extra service of any kind from housekeeping, a tip. No tip left if no extra service.

Hotel housekeeping is kind of funny – often I notice that there’s nothing askew in the room, it’s been cleaned properly and I have fresh towels, etc. So I make a mental note to leave a tip when I check out. Never fails that the next day I get no coffee, a dirty towel is left in the tub, that kind of careless housekeeping. Makes it easier to leave nice tips for extra service from anyone as I travel.

I don’t tip ANYONE who just does their job. It’s ridiculous. Any extra service equals a nice tip, always..

[KeepDiscovering]

I travel once or twice a month and stay at hotels anywhere from overnight to two weeks. I do give a small amount of tips to housekeeping everyday I stay (as they work on a roaster) at a hotel – probably US$1, EUR1 or a similar amount in a local currency – unless the room is cleaning is really poorly executed (fortunately not yet occurred).

A hotel room is where one spends plenty of time after work in a trip so it makes perfect sense to make a little appreciation to ensure it’s kept clean and comfortable. If one can tip a witty taxi driver after a 15-min ride, why can’t she/he tip a housekeeper who spends half-an-hour cleaning your mess?

[MartynSinclair]

Interestingly I know BA staff have to (or until very recently did) tip $1 per bag in New York, otherwise they get chased out of their crew hotel. Perhaps a BA cabin crew member could confirm but I think it is only in NYC and irrespective of whether any porterage was used.

[VintageKrug]

I would hope I would not leave any hotel room in a condition which required an hour to clean up.

[KeepDiscovering]

Spending an hour to tidy up a suite is not outrageous, esp. considering that there are much more storage spaces that should be cleaned.

[VintageKrug]

I can entirely understand an hour after check out, but a mid-stay clean should not take more than 30mins max; I would be appalled if I left such a mess that an hour might be necessary – even in some of largest suites in which I have stayed.

As I set out above, I rarely tip housekeeping staff, but would hope to leave my room in a condition which left them able to perform their duties quickly and efficiently.

Leaving an hour’s worth of mess is extraordinary and could seriously affect a housekeeper’s ability to complete his/her expected tasks that day.

[watersz]

As a side bar
in 20yrs of biz travel I have been checked into an uncleaned room twice

any advance on that?

[Kaicat75]

I did get checked into a room that looked perfectly clean until i moved the bed covers back …….

how anyone can make a bed that dirty i have no idea but they had just remade it.

[judynagy]

YUP, I’ve opened hotel doors several times to find someone else already in residence. This indicates such a level of sloppiness on the part of the front desk that I try not to think about it. If they give me a key to someone else’s room, to whom are they giving a key to MY room???

[flyingbunny]

Never had a problem in the last 15 years. If I tip I always tip on the first day so room remains clean the rest of stay.

[TominScotland]

This is a really interesting thread. Yes, of course, hotels SHOULD pay their housekeeping staff properly but, in most countries they just pay the minimum that they can get away with, often below the legal minimum. Hotels are among the more frequent culprits for violation of minimum wage legislation in Europe and housekeeping staff, whether direct or agency employed, are frequently those who suffer as a result. In 1997 in the UK when the minimum wage debate was raised by the new Government, it was the hotel sector that squealed the loudest about the cost. As customers, we may think we pay alot for our rooms but frequently little of this finds its way to the staff who do the worst and most demeaning jobs.

I am currently in Hong Kong where there is a minimum wage debate raging at the moment. The media view is that it will be fixed (next year) at HK$30-33 per hour. The hotel sector is already complaining that anything over $20 per hour would be damaging to their businesses. Currently, many businesses actually pay less than that! Given living costs in Hong Kong, is that sort of pay appropriate and can employees be expected to deliver good service to customers if they are treated in this way?

If time and schedule allow, I try to search out my regular housekeeper on the floor and give a tip to her/ him directly, thus avoiding the “who actually gets it” problem.

[wittkim]

As an American, I’ve found this discussion thoroughly interesting. In the last several years, I have stayed well less than 100 days per year in a hotel and have only tipped once when a particular situation called for it. I am now transitioning into a job where I’ll be in a hotel more than 200 days per year and I have no intention of tipping the cleaning staff unless a unique situation presents itself (such as a toilet overflow or I pull too hard on the shower curtain).

While I understand those who post about wanting to tip those on the bottom of the food chain, I do not feel guilty about their position on that chain. If the cleaning staff is unhappy with their job, then it’s time to find another. I completely agree with the poster who thought about tipping a cleaning staff member, only to be disappointed in that person’s service the very next day.

I LOVE the Marriott hotel chain, but have found that the cleaning staff often leaves much to be desired, which leaves no room for a tip b/c no extra service was given.

[judynagy]

FINALLY an American whose first thought is not a politically correct one. What did your mother tell you? Get an education! Then you don’t have to have a menial job.

I’m a Hilton and InterContinental person, avoiding Marriott because of their gestapo-like smoking ban, but I’m amazed to read that their housekeeping leaves much to be desired. I’ve never known that to be the case with Hilton or IC properties, except maybe a few run-down Holiday Inns.

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