Do You Tip Housekeeping? If So, When?

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dsoup's picture
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Do You Tip Housekeeping? If So, When?

I may have asked this before, but I'm always asking everyone. When I stay in a hotel I tip housekeeping on the last day. Several people I know say that's a bad idea because then only the last housekeeper gets the money. I figure it will all work out in the end. I've also taken the money to the front desk with the assumption they'd split it up, but who knows? Should I be tipping every day? How do you handle it?

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Usually tip on the last day.

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Bella's picture
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I'm a bad person..I don't tip Mousekeeping unless they do some towel art that literally knocks my socks right off my footsies. Call me cheap but we just don't.

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We tip everyday when staying in a non-DVC resort. In a DVC resort they usually just come once, so we tip then.

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I like to leave a couple of dollars per day, since our housekeeper tends to change at least once during our visit.

cdub's picture
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We tip at the end, but we always worry about the same thing.

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I know from experience if you leave a tip on a daily basis they will be more likely to leave u a towel animal. But dont think every housekeeper knows how to make them all, and you could get a different housekeeper on a daily basis.

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admin wrote:
I like to leave a couple of dollars per day, since our housekeeper tends to change at least once during our visit.

We tend to take naps right around the time that Mousekeeping comes and usually we've had a different person every day. That's why I've always been leery of tipping at the end.

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lilone4ever wrote:
I know from experience if you leave a tip on a daily basis they will be more likely to leave u a towel animal. But dont think every housekeeper knows how to make them all, and you could get a different housekeeper on a daily basis.

Welcome to the board, btw! I agree there are definitely varying degrees of towel animal skill out there!

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We're all over the board on tipping and haven't been consistent. Sometimes we tip at the end all at once; sometime we just don't tip at all; and sometimes we take envelops that I stamp with Mickey stamps and leave a few dollars every day.

Just seems to depend on our mood. But if Mousekeeping leaves me a towel animal, I leave a tip the very next day biggrin

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lilone4ever wrote:
I know from experience if you leave a tip on a daily basis they will be more likely to leave u a towel animal. But dont think every housekeeper knows how to make them all, and you could get a different housekeeper on a daily basis.

Welcome to the boards!

We usually get a different mousekeeper every day, too -- that's why we do a dollar or two each day

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Most of the sites I found said anywhere between 1-10 dollars, depending on how messy and expensive the room is. For me, the hard part is remembering to have cash on hand.

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Kenny wrote:
Most of the sites I found said anywhere between 1-10 dollars, depending on how messy and expensive the room is. For me, the hard part is remembering to have cash on hand.

So true! I don't usually carry cash, but I do in Disney World. Unfortunately I so often find myself with only 20s, which is terrible for all kinds of tipping situations.

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We tip daily just in case it happens to be a different maid one day or two during our stay.

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dsoup wrote:
Kenny wrote:
Most of the sites I found said anywhere between 1-10 dollars, depending on how messy and expensive the room is. For me, the hard part is remembering to have cash on hand.

So true! I don't usually carry cash, but I do in Disney World. Unfortunately I so often find myself with only 20s, which is terrible for all kinds of tipping situations.

Your mousekeeper would tell you that a $20 is GREAT for tipping situations! biggrin

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Based on a tip from a frequent traveler. We tip daily anywhere we expect to stay more than 2 nights. Just as important I write a small thank you note. This has resulted in our rooms getting cleaner as we stay, shiny clean. We get towel animals every night and usually extra towels (in case we want to use a sub pool).

Total cost $2 per night

One more thing, if you see the mousekeepers make sure you are friendly and grateful for their services. Nothing crazy, just old fashioned good manners.

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I tip daily, I leave a special "Mousekeeping" envelope with a note on it someplace that I know they'll see it. Usually by the dirty dishes. I leave $5 if there's just 2 of us and $10 if all 5 of us are traveling. Housekeepers can change and I want to make sure that the person cleaning the room gets the tip. Housekeeping is one of my favorite parts of traveling, so I'm especially thankful for them. muchlove

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See... my wife and I are with DVC... so we only get housekeeping usually just one time while were there. So we usually don't tip because it comes out of our yearly fee's and such. Maybe we should so that the housekeeping gets a little extra... so maybe this November we may leave something... but its just hard when they only come one time during the whole time were there.

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We tip $2 per day. We tend to have the room serviced every 2-3 days of our stay and make sure we leave the tip each time the room is serviced so the tips are spread out. Before leaving for WDW I put the $ amount needed for room tips in an envelope so that I don't spend it on other things, then I'm sure that I have tip $ for housekeeping. I do the same for tipping at restaurants (I approximate the dinner cost beforehand by researching menus, even though we're using the DD plan). I hate leaving tips on CC's - I always leave tips in cash. I know the servers prefer it that way too. I again put those tips in envelopes then date and seal them, then don't open them until that day. I know it's a bit obsessive but it works.

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Mase wrote:
See... my wife and I are with DVC...

I frequently will "order" mousekeeping, not having it is my biggest pet peeve about DVC. I also like the AKL club level rooms, and those come with mousekeeping, so I usually end up tipping. I had not considered that it was part of my dues or that extra fee that I pay when I add it on. Disney is so notorious for underpaying it's staff, it just seems like I should be leaving a little extra for the girl in an envelope rather than hoping it should trickle down.

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GammaGammaHey wrote:
I again put those tips in envelopes then date and seal them, then don't open them until that day. I know it's a bit obsessive but it works.

Not obsessive at all, just another way to budget for it. I do all my tip envelopes (Magical Express, Bell Staff, Mousekeeping and Table Service) before we leave home, knowing it's already set aside gives me some peace of mind no one is forgotten.

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DVC Mom wrote:
GammaGammaHey wrote:
I again put those tips in envelopes then date and seal them, then don't open them until that day. I know it's a bit obsessive but it works.

Not obsessive at all, just another way to budget for it. I do all my tip envelopes (Magical Express, Bell Staff, Mousekeeping and Table Service) before we leave home, knowing it's already set aside gives me some peace of mind no one is forgotten.

I think that is a good idea.

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When I was at AKL, I stayed in a concierge level room. I asked my concierge about tipping and she told me that $5 a day is a good start and leaving at the end would work as they are supposed to divvy the tips to those who worked in the room.

I am staying at ASMu this time and I think I'll do it daily instead.

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We've always left tips daily, usually $1 - $2 per person who is staying in the room. If the standards of cleaning fall, we'll cut back on the tip. We used to make little 'Mousekeeping' envelopes o they knew it was for them, but now we tend to just leave the money under the little 'your room has been cleaned by' name card. My Mum always seems to end up very good friends with out mouskeepers, which has worked out great in the past for extra towels and toilitries etc!

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I try to tip every day, but sometimes forget - usually about $3-4 bucks a day for the 2 of us. I've also had the experience where I didn't have anything to leave a note, so I left the money in the sink... and then found it neatly folded on the counter. I guess it's a plus that they aren't taking random change left in the room, but I felt bad they didn't take it!

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Clairenmn wrote:
I try to tip every day, but sometimes forget - usually about $3-4 bucks a day for the 2 of us. I've also had the experience where I didn't have anything to leave a note, so I left the money in the sink... and then found it neatly folded on the counter. I guess it's a plus that they aren't taking random change left in the room, but I felt bad they didn't take it!

That's always why It easier to leave it at the end, but I always feel like they might not divvy it up.

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Thought maybe this info might fit best under this heading....
i saw a Mousekeeping job posted at Disney Jobs.....
pay is $8.50 an hour and they are responsible for
Up to 14 rooms.......

Becca1005

Wow! MM, I think you just did a MAJOR favor for whomever does the Mousekeeping for our room (in 19 days!! whoowhoo!lol!)! We always tip generously (we're lucky enough to be able to and it makes us feel good!), and we were just talking about how much we were going to tip each night. We were considering 'uping' the tip. Well, I've decided we're definitely uping it now! I mean 8.50 an hour and you have to clean up to 14 toilets per day (think about that for a minute). But really, I personally get paid way more than that to sit at a computer and type and even if I didn't get paid more, I never have to deal with total strangers' body fluids (sorry for the grossout there, but it's true!). That, by itself, warrants some extra dough!

Side note, I was telling Sean about Mrhubs' tip envelopes and saying I had to do something like that this trip. Sean said "What about Thank You cards? Why don't we make some up telling mousekeeping that they're appreciated and they are a huge part of the 'magic'?" <- Isn't he awesome? muchlove

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He is awesome!! That's a great idea mickey to make thank you cards with your tips!

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We tipped $2.00 a day this past Oct. and our room was spotless, we were greeted with numerous towel animals and the wonderful lady who cleaned our rooms always made sure to ask how we were doing and if everything was ok. We also were given more soaps and shampoos than we could possibly use as well as towels!!

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Mrhub showed you what I think of as the back of my envelopes. The front side is blank and I always write Mouse Keeping and a quick thank you note on it.