Tipping Cleaning/housekeeping?

[mbw1024]

Do you leave a tip in your villa for the cleaning crew that will be coming in after you have left? We have the last 2 times but I just always wonder if they get it and if that is the norm. What do you do? Thanks!

[Xislandgirl]

I never have and the few times I cleaned for the villa company, I never received one.

We had numerous cleaners so I think you would be tipping the person that made sure it was clean when you arrived and the person coming after you coul dbe different, not sure if that makes a difference to you.


I always try and start the sheets and towels in the laundry, make sure the frisge is clean (except for things that they can take or leave behind for the next guest) and make sure the place is picked up so I never say the need to tip.

[mbw1024]

interesting, thanks for that POV.

[California Girl]

I left a tip, but who knows who ended up getting it. I don't leave tips at hotels, though.

[Gromit]

I don't tip either and I do all the things that X does as well.

[Maryanne]

I leave twenty bucks in the (very clean) villa at the end of a stay.

I always leave 5 dollars a day in a hotel (each day since the maids usually change). I feel bad for them. Their job is hard, and yet more visible people (doorman, bellman) get tips for barely doing anything.

[lazylane]

We are in the vacation rental business and provide a tip envelope for our guests if they are so inclined. I know our housekeepers appreciate it very much. Even though one might leave the place in tip top shape, we still require our housekeepers to go over every inch as you never know what you might find!!

[djmom]

I haven't tipped, but I always do all the towels and clean up the kitchen completely too.

It makes me laugh to hear all the others on this board that are doing it (cleaning)....I don't think it is typical of a normal traveler, but for some reason I think it is going to be typical of members of this forum....

[Margy Z]

Yes, we tip - usually a min of $2 per person, per day, or $5 a day if it's just the two of us. We generally have a mid-stay cleaning and we try to meet the housekeeper and ask her if she will be the one coming in after we leave. If she says yes, then we leave an envelope with her name on it when we are leaving to go home. (We also ask her about what she wants us to do with any leftovers, etc.) If she says it won't be her or that she is not sure, then we give her the tip for the number of days we have been there before she leaves that day (or we leave for the day) and then we leave another envelope marked "Housekeeper" when we leave the house for the last time. We also ask about starting a load of towels, etc., which seems to be appreciated if there is a same day turnaround and the housekeepers will be right in to clean after we leave. Leaving a load of wet laundry in the washer when they will not be in for a couple of days to clean could mean some mildew-y towels - that's why we ask and don't even start it if we can't get it finished in the dryer.

[Marcia (Mrs. Pete)]

We have never left a tip but, as others have mentioned, we leave the villa in very clean condition. I get the sheets/towels started, make sure all of the dishes are done, do a quick sweep up and obviously, remove all of the garbage. We leave a lot of food behind, too. That pretty much goes to the cleaning person.

I've never thought to leave a tip. Hummmmm.

[flip-flop]

I don't tip, but I do tidy and clean and start the towels, etc like others. Is that crazy?

edited to add: I do tip when I stay in a hotel, just not when in a villa.

[djmom]

to me the tipping is more for when you stay at a hotel for more than a day or two and they are in your room every day, to tidy up and for turndown,service. So you are tipping them for that... is that "proper etiquitte"?

Are we all cleaning our houses obsessively before we leave on our vacation as well? guilty.

[canucknyc]

Suddenly I don't feel like such a freak! I clean/do laundry before leaving the villa, make sure a hotel room is neat and tidy before checking out, and YES, I clean my house obsessively before leaving for vacation! Phew - glad to hear I'm not alone

[Wakey]

I know plenty of people that "straighten up" their homes just before their housekeeper arrives.

[Jan&MikeVa]

I've never tipped, until this last visit. Our cleaning lady called to see if she could come early, she wanted to be home to watch the inauguration. The villa was one of the cleanest we'd been in and she was so sweet. So we tipped her $20.00, meeting her probably had something to do with it.

We're like everyone else, we get a load of towels in and leave the place very clean & tidy.