Susan7

As a frequent Australian traveller to the US, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't realise that you are supposed to leave a tip for the person who cleans the room. US citizens at a recent conference indicated that they left roughly a dollar per day. Some people said at the end of the stay, others said they left it each day. Is there a norm for this in terms of how much and when you leave it? Also does it depend on the hotel? Should you leave more in cheap hotels where the salary is lower, or does it work the other way round, room cleaners get paid less in the more expensive hotels because they assume people will/can tip?

Also I'm told you should tip hairdressers and the person who washes your hair. How much is appropriate here?

Are there other situations other than the obvious--cabs, hotels--where tipping is customary?

LoveItaly

Hello Susan, don't feel bad as tipping the housekeeper as they are now called in a US Hotel is always open for discussion.

Here is a thread regarding the subject you can read if for nothing more than for amusement

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1

I do tip the housekeeper daily as I am sure that there will possibly be different ones on different days. I use to tip $2.00 per day but now $3.00 seems more the thing to do. I put the dollar bills on one of the bed pillows of the unmade bed so that the cleaning person knows it is for them. About the cost of the hotel room versus the tip..well that is a good question. I tend to stay at 3 or 4 star hotels and so do the same amount of tipping. If you leave $2.00 to $3.00 per day in my opinion that would be fine.

Hairdressers. Where I go the same person washes, colors and cuts my hair. I tip her 20% of the bill. I will leave it up to some other Fodorite to say what they do when they have a different person wash their hair. I would think the total of all tips should be 20% total.

Restaurants..it is the custom to tip 20% of the bill. Some people tip a bit less because of the tax but I and most people I know don't. We just tip 20% of the total bill. That makes it quite easy to calculate. If the bill is say $78.00 everyone I knows just rounds that figure up to $80.00 and leaves $16.00 for the tip.

I hope I have been of some help to you. I know the tipping customs here in the states are so different than in Australia. I wish we had your situation but sadly we don't. Cheers!

Lori

Many people so not tip the "housekeepers" (person who cleans room), particularly if they are staying one night in a motel along an Interstate, but it is certainly a nice thing to do but it's a personal decision. We do not usually "one night" anyplace and if we stay a few days we always tip the housekeepers.

We stay in Las Vegas often (4*** hotels), I always give the housekeeper $3 (used to be $2)a day and I try and give it to the person who actually cleans my room. You can leave it on the pillow as well as the other poster mentioned.

It really should not depend on the fact if the hotel is "cheap" or a luxury resort, the housekeepers have to do the same work (i.e. clean the toilet, scrub the tub, make the bed, etc.). It is all up to YOU tho, but it is not mandatory.

I live in AZ and it is NOT the custom to tip 20% in restaurants. 15% of the restuarant bill is considered fine .. maybe 18% now and then if service is really good. 20% is NOT the norm in many places in the U.S. (for example I am sure tipping in NYC or DC is more then in Utah. I think those who live in large cities have a different perspective of tipping then those who live in other areas of the U.S. I have friends who live in NY and DC and they tip higher then my friends who live in Missouri for example.

Again with hairdressers, it kind of depends where you live..I think people in NY tip more then people in smaller cities. 15-20% is fine where I live. Cabs usually will be 15%, altho if the cabbie is wonderful and helps with your luggage (if you have any) you can go a little higher.

Tipping is a delicate subject but the US is large, as is Australia, so what is the "norm" in one place may not be in the other. That is why I'd stick to about 15% when in doubt

happytrailstoyou

Tipping is up to you.

According to Frommer, tip a housekeeper at least $1-$2 a day.

I feel especially good about leaving tips at Holiday Inn Express type motels, in the belief that housekeepers at such places are less likely to receive tips.

I don't tip if I notice dust on furniture, fuzz-bunnies under the bed, or other inadequate housekeeping.

rhrd

Hairdressers, usually $5 or $10. I'm not going to leave $20 if I get a permanent. Tip percentage, if we like the service and the waitperson was attentive, we leave 20%, especially with places we frequent. If it was okay but not bad, 15%, and 10% if it was a buffet where you were only seated and provided drinks.

We have never left money for housekeeper service in hotels, however we often turn it down as we don't like the idea of people rifling through our stuff. The "do not disturb" sign works for this. I don't know of anyone who has left more than a dollar or two per cleaning as a tip. Some hotels have a housekeeping charge to avoid worrying about what people pay.

sylvia3

one more, susan7: tipping in the US is supposed to be supplementing pay for waitstaff in bars/restaurants, who are LEGALLY paid less than minimum wage on the basis of the expectation of gratuities (and they are taxed on those expected tips, so they'd better earn them!Lousy/substandard service, no tip at all). Other service providers, esp. cleaning staff, are paid at least the guaranteed minimum wage. Lousy job, low pay? Yes. However, there are many of those (as I've said, we don't tip the guy in the back of the hot smelly drycleaners). So, don't be cowed into thinking you must tip everyone with their hand out, or listen to lectures about how you should feel guilty about not tipping for your toilet being cleaned. (What are you paying all that money for, if not just that?)

happytrailstoyou

Some hotels have a housekeeping charge to avoid worrying about what people pay. That's a new one on me, and I've stayed in hundreds of hotels. HTTY

suze

It is not an obligation to tip housekeeping, but it is nice. If you do so, do it each day (rather than once at the end) because different people may clean your room different days of the week. I leave $2-3 on the unmade bed when I leave the room in the morning.

amy_zena

I had no idea about tipping hotel housekeepers! Has this always been the practice in the States?? I've only been out of the country for 5 years!

Jeangail

I used to leave a tip at the end of my stay but after reading past threads on this topic I have started leaving a few dollars each day. I am conflicted about what to do when there is evening turndown service. Last time I had 2x daily housekeeping service I left money in the morning as well as the evening. I think I left $3 in the am and $2 in the pm. It was an expensive addition to my room tab but I didn't think it was right to only tip the day housekeeper when the evening one had just as much work to do (wet towels, the bed, etc.)

SamH

Sylvia3 is correct in her description of waitpersons salary, which is below the national minimum wage level in expectation of received tips, which are taxed.

Things are a bit more fuzzy when you consider others who provide services...taxi drivers, doormen, hairdressers and housekeepers. Some of these folks make a set wage, minimun wage or more and some are on a strictly commission basis, say a taxi driver. Many of these folks are basically self employeed and their income is dependent on how many customers they can serve and how their pay / fees are structured.

LoveItaly

I live in Northern California and what I tip seems to be the norm here.

I know people who never tip the housekeeper when staying at hotels and of course that is fine if one does not want to. I just prefer to. Of course I wouldn't if I didn't receive proper service.

Tipping is always such a confusing issue Susan. I always have a difficult time when in Italy but I do try to tip per their custom rather than what I tip at home. Best wishes.

Susan7

Wow, thanks everyone, that's really helpful, I will be following your advice on my upcoming trip.

One last question on restaurant bills, a number of times I have been out with American colleagues at dinner and they seemed to be calculating the tip on the bill total "before tax." What's the feeling about that?

Ackislander

Calculating the tip before or after tax: technically "before", since you are tipping for service, and tax isn't a service. This is easy in Massachusetts, for example, which has a 5% sales tax. Multiply by 3, and you are there. BUT drinks aren't taxed, so the 12 drinks you order for your party don't appear in the tip basis. So then, tip on the gross including tax.

Susan7

I think I better invest in a calculator! Sounds like calculating tips in the US (particularly across state lines) should be listed as one of those mental agility activities to aid the memory.

Thanks again!

Jed

This is from Fodors regarding tipping in NYC:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...&feature=30014


LoveItaly - your URL doesn't give the thread you wanted.

happytrailstoyou

Fodor's says a $2 minimum tip for a taxi ride in NYC. That's 40% on a $5 trip. I don't think so. How about $1--a 20% tip.

bardo1

In the US, you should tip a taxi $2 or 15%, whichever is greater. $2 is a minimum taxi tip - even if it's a $3 taxi ride.

However, you only tip $2 for someone to retrieve your car from a garage - no matter how much you paid for parking.

I agree that in flyover country 15%-18% is an OK tip for a waiter or waitress. In any major city on the east or west coast, however, it's 20% minimum (more in NYC).

I leave $3 each night for cleaning staff at hotels, regardless of room costs or where it's located geographically.

I love travelling abroad where tipping is minimal compared to the US (or in some palces note done at all).

yellowbyrd

I have read through the posts and agree with leaving a daily tip of $3 for the housekeeper in a hotel or large inn. But what about this?....We like to stay at a small bed and breakfast on Cape Cod that provides great service and impeccable housekeeping every day. I think the owners actually do the housekeeping (not sure about this since our suite is always magically clean when we return each day) since their B+B is rather small (only two suites and a cottage). We usually leave them $20 at the end of our week-stay in the cottage or $10 if we are only staying for the weekend. Is that too cheap? They do give wonderful service and the place is impeccably clean but since they are small I figured that they don't hire someone for minimum wage to clean the rooms.

bardo1

I think when the person cleaning the room also owns the business a small tip (if any) at the end of your stay is perfectly appropriate.