Edumacate me on my own possible bad behavior

[cardaway]

We don't tip housekeeping at DVC resorts. We have at other hotels, but only if they do an exceptional job during our stay.

Always tip the bell service personel, but only when we use them, which isn't often.

[Baltosam]

We would only tip if we were leaving a mess outside of the normal cleaning the room would get otherwise. My wife usually cleans the room to a point where a lazy mousekeeper would only have to make the beds and put in the fresh towels.

I don't know why she does this in fact I tell her its people like her that are probably why there are problems found at check in since human nature would allow some mousekeepers to take short cuts under those circumstances.

If it were up to me I would leave a mess and a tip.

[administrator]

We always tip. Always. Why?

1. Karma.

2. They have crappy jobs; I know I wouldn't want to do them.

3. Karma.

[OttawaWendy]

This is really helpful for me. From now on I will tip on full service cleaning days if we are more than usually messy. (I'm going to go ahead and say that's every visit from now until OB is about 18!). But I'm not going to feel bad about not tipping on trash and towel days or if we are quite clean (say a short stay and we didn't cook).

[carolina_yankee]

Originally Posted by administrator

We always tip. Always. Why?

1. Karma.

2. They have crappy jobs; I know I wouldn't want to do them.

3. Karma.

A very concise summary of my policy, too.

Dirk

[It's Me]

Interesting perspectives. And to me, they all make sense.

We have always tipped. $2/person on T&T and $5/person on full cleaning/or checkout day.

Always thought that was normal, since they are cleaning up after us even though we aren't messy, and always clean up before leaving. I guess I never thought about them being paid a full wage and therefore not necessarily a tip-able job.

We will continue to tip though. As another poster mentioned, it's not the nicest of jobs and just seems like a good thing to do.

However, reading here, it's definitely is a personal choice and not a necessary one.

[thomas94502]

My wife is very generous to anyone in need. For example, she's a sucker for panhandlers and the homeless. She also tips whenever she can. Prior to our vacation trips, one of my duties is to get her a wad of $5 bills so she can hand them out at the airports, restaurants, and hotels.

For a regular hotel, we leave $5 per day for the maids who are paid low wages and usually work very hard.

At a DVC villa, we usually tip the maid who prepared our room, especially if they are just finishing up when we check in. For a two bedroom villa, it's usually a $20 bill. Then another $20 on trash and towel day and another $20 when we leave.

We are not wealthy, but we consider ourselves fortunate and appreciate a job well done. As a previous poster said, it's karma.

[Beach Club Bum]

I tip them becasue I invariably ask them for something; more towels, clean sheets, more pillows, more coffee, to clean something up for me, etc.

[AZeno]

I'm quite arbitrary when it comes to tipping Mousekeeping. Generally, if I encounter the mousekeeper and he/she is cordial, shares a smile, wishes us a good day, then I'll usually leave $5 or $10 on trash/towel day and then again at check out. But if I don't encounter the mousekeeper, or am greeted with a scowl than "no tip for you".

We also own at an offsite timeshare where we receive maid service every day by the same individual for the duration of our stay. When we stay there, I will leave a tip of $3 to $5 per day based on how well the room was serviced the previous day.




.

[OttawaWendy]

There's something about this timing aspect.

When you tip a server, or barber, or cab driver or bellman, it is in response to service just offered. The worker knows that they are going to get tipped in response to service, and so the prospect of the tip encourages good service. In fact, I understand tips to actually be an acronym for To Insure Proper Service.

The difficulty with the structure of mousekeeping is that when we don't have it every day, there isn't really that aspect of encouraging good service for the job at hand. You are leaving a set amount while you aren't there, so that doesn't connect with the service offered, and because you don't get service tomorrow, there isn't that kind of "rolling incentive" that exists in another place.

Don't get me wrong, I get that it is not a pleasant job. But I agree that selling trinkets in the hot sun for minimum wage isn't a pleasant job either and we don't tip those people. We don't consistently tip on the basis of low wages - we tend to tip where service is immediately rewardable. But this isn't that. It is interesting how it doesn't fit the usual pattern.

I wish they were all paid well by their employer (who is essentially us).