Reader mail: How much do you tip at extended-stay hotels?
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Reader Kim writes:
I just got back from a trip which included an extended stay hotel. The rule at this place was “no housekeeping for stays under one week.” If you wanted fresh towels, you could go to the office and ask for them. (This was Crossland Studios, fyi.) So when I checked out, and it was time to leave the tip for the housekeeper, I wasn’t sure what to do. What’s a fair tip for a room that’s never serviced during your stay? The room was clean at the time of check-in. I left one dollar. My question: Am I being a cheap-ass? Or is this fair?
No housekeeping… classy! The hotel equivalent of the buffet restaurant.
I feel sorry for housekeepers at extended-stay hotels. The tips must suck. But for that sort of non-service, I’d only tip whatever you leave for a one-night stay in a “real” hotel. If it’s a really cheap room, like a Motel 6, a dollar might be okay. If it’s a decent place, two bucks and up.
What say you, gentle readers? How much of a tip is enough?
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May 9th, 2007 at 2:24 am |
I’ve always thought that the hotel bill includes housekeeping and tipping is only for extraordinary service, e.g. when you get diarrhea and thus make the housekeeping’s job unpleasant.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:00 am |
I think $1 is kind of insulting…. I live by the ‘Starbucks rule’.
When the occasion calls for a tip that is other than 20% of a bill… and is not for service that is particularly above and beyond… then the tip should be equivialant to the cost of a tall frou-frou drink at the local Starbucks - rounded up to the nearest even $. This amount seems fair because it is enough to buy something (somewhat) meaningful, while not enough to cause any real pain on my pocketbook.
In most hotels this comes to $3 to $5 per person/day… in this case I probably would have tipped only once - but still at least $4 or $5….
May 9th, 2007 at 8:14 am |
@Mark — Define “really cheap room.” $40? $50? Some Motel 6s aren’t that cheap anymore, either.
@petri — Not tipping at all seems really really cheap. Unless you’re in countries like Japan where tipping isn’t the norm, it’s appropriate to leave a tip if the room is clean. In the US, at least.
@amsNYC — Whoa! $4 or $5 seems like way overtipping to me, but if you’re comfortable paying that, then great. (and good for the housekeepers where you stay!) That rate might make sense to me in overpriced NYC, but would you leave that on a $50 room? The starbucks standard is cute. I guess I’m glad I’m not addicted to Starbucks, and can save my money for vacations.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:29 am |
I never tip at hotels unless something extra was done.
Expecting a clean room is a given.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:36 am |
I didn’t think a tip was expected in a standard hotel room either, but I would never just leave $1 if I was leaving a tip. That would make it seem like you weren’t happy with the service.
I think before I’d leave a tip for housekeeping, the service would have to have been special enough to warrant leaving at least $5 or $10 for, say, a weekend’s stay.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:46 am |
I understand that some people feel tipping for housekeeping is standard practice, but I’ve always wondered where it’s standard practice.
I know growing up, when my family stayed in hotels, my parents didn’t tip. –Not because they’re cheap, but because it just wasn’t something people did.
I’ve discussed it with coworkers (we’re from all over the States) before, and there are a couple who believed in always tipping, a couple who tipped occasionally, but for most of us, it’s not a situation where we were taught to tip people.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:49 pm |
This is always an interesting conundrum and can be very enjoyable to sit back and watch the debates flow.
For example, disboards.com always has lively debates over how much to tip the housekeeping at Walt Disney World hotels.
Like Patrick, my family didn’t tip at hotels growing up, just because it wasn’t done. But, I find myself now tipping about $2/night each place I stay (irregardless of rate).
Is that right? I don’t know. I seem to stay mostly at Marriott/Sheraton/Hilton so it’s not the most upscale but it’s not the Ritz, either.
In general, I find myself instincively getting out the $2 each morning and leaving it on the table.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:09 pm |
$2 per night sounds about right to me, if it’s a clean room serviced daily. For the extended stay hotel that isn’t serviced, $2 for the stay. If it’s not clean, then no tip.
My fear when I don’t tip is that the housekeeper sees no tip and then doesn’t feel any incentive to clean. Which makes me want to leave no tip, again.
While I try to leave something every morning, I often forget and then double up the next day. Same thing if I don’t have singles. If it’s the same housekeeper, she comes out even. But if it’s a different housekeeper, the lady on day one got screwed and the lady on day two got lucky.
But honestly, I wish the hotels would just pay their staff a living wage, so we wouldn’t need to deal with this BS.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:17 pm |
“Cheap room”… yeah, good point. How about: Sub-$40 roadside motel?
May 9th, 2007 at 6:59 pm |
I don’t necessary WANT housekeeping staff in my room. I’d do fine without it except for clean towels now and then.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:55 am |
I must be in the minority here. I have always believed that a tip is for service rendered. If there was no housekeeping done at all - why tip? Leaving a tip when in a hotel that does do housekeeping makes perfect sense ($2-3 per day is what I leave) but again, where there was no housekeeping? No, I don’t agree.
May 10th, 2007 at 2:09 pm |
I guess the tip would be for the cleanliness of the room upon your arrival.
May 10th, 2007 at 6:01 pm |
In my opinion, if I’m staying someplace for 1 night, I don’t tip. Why? Because it’s not like my room was cleaned for me after i was there and I continued to stay there and “come back” to a clean room. I’m not going to tip because the room was clean when I checked in. That would be like tipping someone at the restaurant for a clean and set table.
As far as extended stay where your room was not cleaned while you were staying there - I wouldn’t tip honestly.
I only tip when I’m staying for more than one night and my room is cleaned and bed is made on a daily basis.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:59 pm |
We must stay, together with our two cats, in a $66 a night hotel because our home is unliveable now due to water damage from our neighbor.
I keep it all very tidy, make our bed, clean the floor and bathroom, get new supplies, etc.. We don’t really need any maid service but there is a law in our state saying that housekeeping must come in every three days. Still, I usually stretch that out.
That’s ok. They swab a clean floor, bath-tub, sink and so on. If we get new sheets I help.
My question is how to tip the lovely ladies?
How much for, say, an eighty day stay? Personally? Each time they come into the room?
(This would have to be retroactive at this point)
Thank-you for your attention to this detailed posting.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:31 pm |
Personally, I’d do a couple bucks every time they actually clean. You’re doing a bit of the work, so they’re not doing out-of-the-ordinary work. But tipping each time (instead of one big tip at the end) ensures that the person who actually cleans actually gets it. Just my opinion.