Marriott hotels launch envelope campaign to get guests in the habit of tipping maids

[TexasTowelie]

NEW YORK — Do you leave a tip in your hotel room for the maid? Marriott is launching a program with Maria Shriver to put envelopes in hotel rooms to encourage tipping.

The campaign, called "The Envelope Please," begins this week. Envelopes will be placed in 160,000 rooms in the U.S. and Canada. Some 750 to 1,000 hotels will participate from Marriott brands like Courtyard, Residence Inn, J.W. Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance hotels.

The name of the person who cleans the room will be written on the envelope along with a message: "Our caring room attendants enjoyed making your stay warm and comfortable. Please feel free to leave a gratuity to express your appreciation for their efforts."

Shriver, who founded an organization called A Woman's Nation that aims to empower women, says many travelers don't realize tipping hotel room attendants is customary. "There's a huge education of the traveler that needs to occur," she said. "If you tell them, they ask, 'How do I do that?'" She said envelopes make it easy for guests to leave cash for the right person in a secure way.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/restaurants-hotels/20140915-marriott-hotels-launch-envelope-campaign-to-get-guests-in-the-habit-of-tipping-maids.ece

[font color=green]While customary to tip, I view this as more of an excuse for Marriott to pay their room attendants less than minimum wage?[/font]

[dhill926]

1. I always leave a tip….

so I think this is a good idea….making sure it goes to the correct person.

[Fred Sanders]

4. I think it is a good idea also, I think the maids may agree...I have no idea what they are paid, but

if it is minimum wage then what is the problem?

[customerserviceguy]

54. Me, too

Although I leave it at the end of the stay, which may mean that it doesn't go to the worker who was keeping my room tip-top in the beginning or the middle of the stay. I will have to re-think how I do this, and the envelope is a good way to designate something for the housekeeper.

I do stay at a lot of Marriotts and Hamptons when I travel, and both chains give excellent service on the room, their workers certainly deserve extra consideration. I always say "thank you" to them when I see them in the hallways, I'm sure a sizable number of people ignore them.

[calimary]

63. Yeah, I like to leave a tip, too. These people work HARD!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

109. it,s a very hard job.

[still_one]

126. same here

[LiberalAndProud]

2. I think maids pretty much top out at minimum wage already.

I think it's a good thing to encourage tips. If you saw some of the messes they have to clean up ...

[Fred Sanders]

6. I agree. Every hotel should at least have an envelope labelled FOR MAID, nothing else needed.

And just saying, the OP comment using "Consuela" is kind of, well, you know.....labelling.

[TexasTowelie]

13. Agreed, I'm removing it. nt

[elehhhhna]

3. Shriver has a very one-percentric approach to women's empowerment

educate the proles about tipping. wow.

[truebluegreen]

86. +1

I hate tipping: I see it as a method for employers to keep their labor costs down by pushing them onto the customers. I think it is both unfair and degrading.

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. Plenty of hotels do this already.

I have stayed in thousands (not an exaggeration) of hotels over the last 27 years and have seen tip envelopes in many, many rooms in various chains.

And FWIW, I don't think your assertion that this is "an excuse for Marriott to pay their room attendants less than minimum wage" applies.

Housekeeping staff are not food service workers.

[TexasTowelie]

8. I sincerely hope that I'm wrong and Marriott does not use it as an excuse.

It's in my cynical nature to wonder how corporations treat their workers though.

[left is right]

72. I agree with you

I think it is a move to eventually cut the pay of cleaning staff and that makes it a bad idea. However, it isn’t fair that wait staff have to pay taxes on their tips but hairdressers and hotel cleaning staff do not. Not that I am advocating that these other tipped employees should pay more taxes

[SoCalDem]

76. Exactly..PAY YOUR MAIDS a living wage

When we travel, we always refuse maid service except for when we ask a maid in the hall for fresh towels. I do not need for someone to make the bed and tidy up every day

[CTyankee]

150. Oh, I love not having to make a bed every day. However, I tip when I leave.

It's just so nice to come back to the room where the bed is made for you. It's a little pleasure...

[MADem]

66. +1 nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. How about paying a living wage instead of expecting customers to do it for you?

The tipped employee model is one of the most seriously fucked-up aspects of American working culture.

[NightWatcher]

12. DING, winner. I love how they launch the campaign because they wont pay a decent wage

Hotels are damn expensive these days and you're hard up to find a decent room under $125

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. Beg to differ

I can find you rooms that well qualify as "decent" for less than $100 all day long. Not in Manhattan or on Rodeo Drive perhaps, but certainly at almost every interstate exit with more than one property.

[Art_from_Ark]

56. It's difficult to find them near major airports

Even if the base rate is $90 or so, with all the tourist taxes and other expenses thrown in, the bill will usually top $100/night.

[FrodosPet]

16. Either way, the customer is paying

Like I was taught early in my retail career - free is not free. The customer always pays - the question is how much.

Raise the room rates and make EVERYONE pay, not just the generous people.

[merrily]

103. YES. All companies should pay a living wage and not

leave up to whim or stinginess or forgetfulness.

They know damn will not everyone tips or tips well.

[Fred Sanders]

18. Your idyllic notion of fairness is what the $15 minimum wage issue is all about, to unchain workers

from the corporate notion that they will work harder for tips than they will for the personal dignity of fair wages for fair work.

Corporations in competition will always keep the workers as chattels model, competition will force that, unless the entire field is levelled by mandatory minimum wage and benefits law.

[handmade34]

19. couldn't agree more...

"The tipped employee model is one of the most seriously fucked-up aspects of American working culture"

[yeoman6987]

45. I know what you are saying, tips could be better in the long run

If you straighten up 30 rooms and the give 5 bucks a room. That is 150 which is a nice amount. Instead of 7 additional dollars an hour if 15 dollars an hour would be 56 dollars a day more and after taxes, not much. It all depends though.

[Spider Jerusalem]

59. That's a shitty justification for not paying a living wage, honestly

and people can still tip.

[rocktivity]

10. They could pay a higher wage with what they spent on the envelopes

rocktivity

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Yeah.....cause $.03 per room per day is a hefty raise! n/t

[rocktivity]

17. Plus what they paid the printer, designer, distrubutor

and the "consultants" who came up with the idea.


rocktivity

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. Yeah, and when you add all that up and buy them in the quantities they're buying them....

for all the properties under the Marriott banner, it probably works out to about three cents per envelope.

[FrodosPet]

31. Don't lick them!

[FrodosPet]

14. Charge more and pay more

If you charge $90 a night, start charging $100. If you are charging $180, charge $200. And use the money to pay the desk clerks, housekeepers, groundskeepers, and maintenance workers a living wage without tips.

[Fred Sanders]

21. And what will all the hotels across the street do..they will offer the lower price.

[FrodosPet]

23. OK make it a room tax that EVERY hotel must charge

Something has to be done to get hotel workers, restaurant workers, store clerks, taxi drivers etc more money without relying on tips.

[Fred Sanders]

26. Increase the minimum wage, it could be $15 base with higher minimums for other more skilled

labor jobs...the only solution is a doubling of the stalled federal minimum wage.

[yeoman6987]

48. Oh how funny

And folks cry over gas prices. You want families to pay additional ten dollars that they don't have? So free with other people's money.

[Gormy Cuss]

22. If many travelers don't understand that tipping is customary, it isn't.

I say that as someone who has always tipped the chambermaids (base is $1 per $50 rack rate, extra for extra service.)

Employers should just pay the staff for doing a good job and let tips be an extra.

[rocktivity]

24. DING DING DING! Gormy Cuss, you're our grand prize winners!

Last edited Wed Sep 17, 2014, 03:24 PM - Edit history (2)

Employers should just pay the staff for doing a good job and let tips be an extra.

If MANAGEMENT has to beg their customers to tip, they're not managing right. People aren't tipping less out of cheapness or ignorance, they're tipping less simply because they can't afford to tip more.


rocktivity

[Gormy Cuss]

27. I have "chambermaids" in my family

and I know that their cheap-ass employers tell them that if they work harder/better they'll make more money. To put it bluntly, fuck that.

[Historic NY]

60. I pay to insure prompt service...

if I need something towels or extras...A place I normally stay at with a big sounding name now caters to business class so they bumped up the room $25 dollars from the previous year. I've been going there 10 yrs, when I asked, they couldn't explain. I'll move down the road where its 40 dollars cheaper. A weekend is getting expensive.

[Nye Bevan]

25. I really wish that when you check in they give you the option of charging a daily tip for the maid

to go on your room bill. I usually tip $2 per day but sometimes don't have the right cash, and it would be so convenient if it could just be charged to my room bill.

[Fred Sanders]

29. The only workable solution is a much higher minimum wage...there is no other.

[MohRokTah]

28. Nope, that's where I draw the tipping line.

I travel for business. My business reimbursement policies include tips for wait staff in restaurants, for cab drivers, but I cannot be reimbursed for tipping maid staff in hotels.

Pay them a living wage instead.

[Fred Sanders]

30. If you were being reimbursed for leaving a tip, you would not be leaving a tip, your employer would.

[MohRokTah]

32. I am only there at my employer's behest.

When I am on business, I follow my employer's tipping policies to the letter and expend none of my own money.

That's means precisely 18% on the cover for a meal, and precisely 10% for a cab ride. Not one penny more.

My employer drives those numbers, not me. I will never expend a dime of my own money to alter that. Business trips are paid for by my employer, not me.

[MohRokTah]

33. Also note, for pleasure travel, I am under my own policies.

I tip 10% on the hotel bill for the maid staff, a minimum of 20% on a restaurant tab (that's for mediocre and poor service. Excellent service rates 1/3), and at least 15% on a cab fare.

[Fred Sanders]

34. If your employer reimburses you for other tips, then why not a 10% hotel house staff tip?

I just do the tip, at any time, but I know the wages paid and they are not adequate in most places.

[MohRokTah]

35. That's the policy.

I follow it to the letter. All tipping is very specifically spelled out, and my employer stiffs maid staff.

[cherokeeprogressive]

39. "...my employer stiffs maid staff." LOL!

Yeah, it's your employer fartin' in those sheets... innit?

[Skittles]

47. I hear you cherokeeprogressive

I've done many business trips and always tipped the maids....because I appreciated them, not because I thought I'd get the money back (I did not)

[MohRokTah]

50. When I am on business travel, it is my employer, not me.

Sorry, but I must be reimbursed for any outlay during business travel. It is not pleasure travel.

If it was not required by my employer, I would not be there.

It is my employer, not me.

[Skittles]

58. well I disagree

I tip maids when I appreciate them - I don't stiff them because my company stiffs them

[cherokeeprogressive]

89. I can't imagine checking out of a clean hotel room and NOT leaving a tip.

This guy would be an embarrassment on a business trip.

[MohRokTah]

51. I cannot and will not be expected to go to additional expense at my employer's behest.

Business travel is covered in total by my employer. If my employer demands maids be stiffed, so be it. I will not expend a thin dime of my own money for business travel. I am paid a salary and I am reimbursed business expenses. If maid tipping is not considered a legitimate expense by my employer, there will be no maid tipping when I travel for business.

I cannot be expected to give up my personal income because of my employer's policies.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

53. You should call the hotel and tell them not to clean your room before you get there

After all, it's just for business. You don't need to be sanitary or comfortable.

[JimDandy]

61. No. That is the HOTEL's entire business model

a clean hotel for daily rent. They need to pay their employees a living wage and charge rates that provide that wage. Tipping needs to be solely discretionary, if at all.

[CreekDog]

145. feel free to treat tipping is solely discretionary

understand that the result of your action (and yes the employer's, but yours also) is that the maid may need to consider eating discretionary.

and if you're okay with that, you just hold onto the $1 or $2 you could have left behind for having your room cleaned each day.

[JimDandy]

154. I cleaned hotel rooms to put myself through college.

Hotel maids need a living wage!

[CreekDog]

158. and you're going to tip them until they get one, correct?

otherwise, i got no time for nonsense.

[MohRokTah]

83. They clean the room for my employer, not for me.

While on business travel I will not tip maids.

[KittyWampus]

91. here's the thing, leaving even a dollar or two would be an acknowledgment that the maids are

appreciated.

It's about kindness.

[MohRokTah]

111. It's bullshit.

It is NOT customary to tip maids in the US, never has been.

Marriott is trying to keep from paying their staff a living wage by pushing this tip bullshit.

[CreekDog]

146. we enjoy watching you begrudge people $1 or $2 per day to clean up after you

seems fair. you feel resentful that you might have to part with a couple bucks, and how dare you be expected to help them eat.

[Gormy Cuss]

151. I've heard people say that it's not customary to tip cabbies either.

Or delivery drivers. Or hairdressers and barbers.

The thing of it is, unless you live under a rock and have no access to the internet there is no excuse for ignoring tipping customs.

[morningfog]

127. They clean the room for you.

You think your employer gives a fuck if you are a slob?

You should just leave a note telling the staff to get bent and leave you to your filth.

[CreekDog]

160. he's afraid to cheat his employer by not letting the maids clean his room during his stays

i mean, he could make his own bed and just let the maids clean after he leaves, but then the toll that would take on his conscience, to think that his employer was getting ripped off not getting maid service while he is out at his work related meetings and whatnot.

it is just too much to bear.

he has to do the moral thing and let the maids clean.

[A HERETIC I AM]

67. Bollocks.

Last edited Tue Sep 16, 2014, 09:55 AM - Edit history (1)

I cannot be expected to give up my personal income because of my employer's policies.

I don't know who you work for or what you do or even the average price point of the rooms your company pays for, but I'm a damned truck driver and I tip the Housekeeper.

These posts of yours make you look more and more like a selfish prick.

You aren't a selfish prick, are you?

Would it kill you and/or screw over your personal budget to leave a finback on the desk?

For fucks sake, man!

[stillwaiting]

87. Your questions have obvious answers for this poster.

It's no wonder that I almost always disagree with their prolific postings...

[former9thward]

69. How cheap.

Because you are not being reimbursed you will not spend a dime. Thank god you are not an employee of mine.

[cherokeeprogressive]

98. Get a business card: My cheapskate employer is paying the tip; adjust service accordingly.

And give it to everyone who provides you with a service.

Get one for the hotel staff that says you don't give a shit about them and advise them to adjust the service accordingly.

[MohRokTah]

118. A clean room, clean towels, etc. is the business model of a hotel.

I should not have to pay extra for what is expected from the rack rate.

[CreekDog]

161. and it is clean when you arrive, and you can pick up clean towels from the front desk

if you're not going to tip for daily cleanings of your room (and making of beds, etc.), then put up the do not disturb sign and refuse cleanings *during* your stay.

[MohRokTah]

163. I'm rarely in a hotel room more than a single night when traveling for business. eom

[CreekDog]

144. Put the tip in your travel claim

what's the big deal? if they cover a tip for your restaurant meal, they'll cover a couple bucks per day for the hotel.

and if they don't, put up the do not disturb sign on your room and don't have them clean it.

but don't take the damned service then refuse to tip for it. jeez.

[CreekDog]

159. you haven't told us why you don't refuse maid service during your work trips

why avoid that question?

[MohRokTah]

164. Because that is their job.

They get paid to clean the rooms.

And my room is probably a 2 minute job on any given day.

And nearly all of my business travel involves no more than a single night in a hotel room. In fact, I've most likely spent a grand total of 8 hours in said room.

[morningfog]

166. And the truth finally comes out. It's got jack shit to do with your employer's imaginary policy.

Quick! Self-delete!

[Gormy Cuss]

124. So on your own dime, housekeeping is worth $10 per day on a $100 motel room

but worth nothing when your cheap employer isn't going to reimburse you?

Interesting moral compass heading.

[Skittles]

46. I can honestly say

I never once thought about reimbursement when tipping the maids

[MohRokTah]

49. When I am on business travel, it is my employers tipping, not me.

I follow the policies to the letter.

I refuse to pay one thin dime of my own money for business travel. My employers are the ones who decide who can and cannot be tipped when I travel for business, not me.

[Skittles]

57. I disagree

I appreciated what they did for ME and tipped accordingly

[MohRokTah]

82. When I travel, the maids are performing a service for my employer, not for me.

No tipping while on business travel. It's that simple.

[KittyWampus]

92. A kind person who appreciates the work of others would leave a few dollars of their own.

It's also called "going above and beyond", because it's the right thing to do.

Even a few dollars would signal your appreciation.

[MohRokTah]

94. No, I refuse to expend any of my own funds on business trips.

I get paid to do a job. My employer pays for business expenses on the trips they require of me, I do not. According to my employer, maids should not be tipped, so when I travel for business, I do not tip maids.

It's that simple.

[Sheldon Cooper]

104. So, if you should have explosive diarrhea, and leave a nice mess splattered

all over the bowl, that is actually your employer's shit that the maid will be scrubbing off?

[A HERETIC I AM]

119. his answer is likely....

the 4th .gif of yours.

"Oh please"


"I've never had explosive diarrhea in my life, and if I did, it is my employers explosive diarrhea, not mine."

[smokey nj]

123. ......

[reflection]

121. .

[cherokeeprogressive]

99. Do you get paid while traveling for business or do provide that service for free?

[MohRokTah]

100. I get paid for working.

Why should I expend what I am paid for something my employer should be covering.

My employer's policy is that maids are not tipped, therefore, when I travel maids are not tipped.

[cherokeeprogressive]

105. I guess the biggest difference between you and me is that I would NEVER admit in public...

To being that big of an ass.

The word, the proper phrase for tipping, is gratuity. Gratuity. Look it up, read the definition twice, then contemplate what kind of person would base their "gratuity" for service on how much of someone else's money they had in their pocket.

You must be a huge hit with the bar staff.

[likesmountains 52]

107. No kidding...is a few bucks gonna kill his personal budget?

I think I'm glad he/she doesn't work for me.

[MohRokTah]

110. I am allowed one drink with dinner. eom

[cherokeeprogressive]

115. Well you sure as hell wouldn't be having that drink with me.

I wouldn't sit at the same table with someone who believes gratuity should come out of the boss's pocket.

[MohRokTah]

116. Only during business travel.

When I'm on my own traveling time, gratuities come from my pocket and are considerably different from what my employers policies reflect.

[CreekDog]

147. then claim the tip on your travel claim

certainly you claim the tip for taxis and restaurants? no?

[MohRokTah]

155. Yes, because policy explicity spells out how much of a tip I can give to taxis and in restaurants.

There is no allowance for tipping maids in my company's corporate policy, though.

[MadrasT]

96. I travel on business, tip hotel maids, and it never even occurred to me

to attempt to expense it for reimbursement by my employer. I have no idea if we even have a "policy".

I *make* money when I travel because I don't have to feed myself for the duration. I am also not home using water or electricity.

I have no problem coughing up a few bucks a day for the housekeeping staff that cleans my bathroom and makes my bed. (Which I would be doing my own damn self if I were at home.)

[Skittles]

122. THANK YOU

I tip while I'm on business trips - heck, on any trip, because I very much appreciate what they do for me

[wellstone dem]

130. that's what I was thinking, I'm money ahead on travel because the company pays for meals

And I'd have to eat at home (though it would be cheaper eating at home), so I'm ahead the money I would have spent to feed me at home. I don't mind helping those who keep my room clean and comfortable, and work so hard doing so.

[LexVegas]

141. That's shitty, on your part.

Jesus.

[MohRokTah]

142. Oh well. When traveling for pleasure, I do tip maids. eom

[Luminous Animal]

36. Pay them a living wage.

[Stargazer09]

37. I tip the maids

But I agree that this sounds like an excuse to not pay them a living wage, while shifting more of the financial burden on travelers who are already paying an awful lot of money for their rooms.

[d_r]

38. you know what

if they pay them more I'm still leaving a tip.

[NightWatcher]

40. Who's next? Tip a teacher if Jr gets an A? Tip a nurse if you get well?

No, I'm not tipping everyone just because their boss won't pay. And for the bosses at Marriott to be the ones asking you to pay their employees because they refuse, is just astounding.

If I'm at a hotel and someone goes above and beyond, or on a long term stay, maybe but not just for a regular nights stay.

[customerserviceguy]

55. Nurses and teachers

get far better pay than hospitality workers, especially the 'invisible' ones. So, yes, I tip them.

[Journeyman]

41. Glassdoor.com reports Marriott housekeeping makes an average of $8.32 an hour. . .

If Maria Shriver really wished to "empower women," she'd work for a living wage for every worker, regardless of gender.

[Laffy Kat]

42. Always tip!

Tip every day and you will never run out of clean towels. First thing you do on checking in: make the front desk workers your best friends, and 2) tip the housekeeping staff. You will have such a nice stay.

[TexasTowelie]

43. Well, you know what I say?

Don't forget to bring a towel, you never know where hotel towels have been.

Thanks for setting up the joke. TxT

[Laffy Kat]

52. True, but my God they stink of bleach.

I find the bleachy smell somewhat reassuring, 'cause you are right. And always wipe down the T.V. remote. Blech

[whistler162]

75. I usually bring a microfiber towel

that can roll up into a small package. Dries better and is just handy.

[Skittles]

44. I've always left a tip

and when I did work TDYs I left a thank you card with the tip (I tended to make more requests to them)

[951-Riverside]

62. Well, I won't be going to Marriotts. I already pay an arm and a leg as it is

Unless they help me with my bags they're not going to get jack from me! If they want more then they should go to the owners who are making obscene profits.

[Prophet 451]

64. Your last line got it right

This is just an excuse to count maids as "tipped staff" so they can pay them less.

[laundry_queen]

65. I spent my high school years as a chambermaid

The stories I could tell...

NO ONE ever tipped us except the Japanese tourists. We would get so excited if we got those rooms. We would get a loonie (Canadian $1 coin) under each pillow in each room. That was huge to us at the time. Our supervisor tried to rotate the rooms so that everyone would get those rooms at least once during the tourists' stay.

Lucky for me, they paid above minimum wage at the time ($.60 more an hour) because the were out of the city with no bus service, so few people wanted to work there. Recently, I took a look at the same hotel to see what they paid - 1.5 times minimum wage now. A couple of dollars an hour below what I made in an entry position in accounting (with a degree).

I definitely don't think tipping should be a substitute for a living wage though. When companies advocate this, it definitely makes me wonder. But for those who stay in hotel rooms often - most of the women I worked with were very poor. Tipping would be a huge help to them. I was lucky because I was a HS student, so I just needed money to pay for my car insurance and gas (for my $500 car, lol) and save for post-secondary so the wage wasn't horrible to me, but I bet it must've been super difficult for those women to live off that wage.

[No Vested Interest]

70. Tipping chambermaids is not customary in the US. In Europe, maybe, but

not in the US.

I've seen cards in rooms - My name is Zelda (example).
Trouble is, Zelda may not be tidying your room every day - she may be off, and Rosa may be there. When you leave a tip rather than giving it directly to the individual, you can't be sure the person you want to get the tip will indeed get it.

Secondly, I don't carry much cash, and what I do have I want to be with me going out into the world. In restaurants, I use a credit card & add on the tip, same thing at the hairdresser, etc.

Many travelers have experience with cruises, where tips are now charged per diem, usually $11 or $12/day charged to your bill. That covers all staff - waiters for 3 meals/day, room maids, bartenders, and all others. If you break that down per staff member, it's not very much, and likely many travelers take their tipping cues from that experience.

[SheilaT]

71. I am very aware that the people who clean my room when I stay in a hotel

are paid as little as the hotel can get away with. I always tip. And I give $10/day. When I'm staying several days, I often get a sweet note from the cleaning person, and it's clear that all to often guests tip nothing.

Yes, I agree that it might be better to pay everyone a genuine living wage. Until then, while I am not rich, I do budget that $10/day at a hotel. It's gotten so when I stay in some sort of budge motel I'll tip less, and then I feel extremely guilty, because the maid there probably makes even less than the maid at the high-end hotel, and why should I give her less just because the room cost me less?

There's an interesting scene towards the beginning of the movie "My Blue Heaven", where Steve Martin, who's playing a mafia guy in a witness protection program, and Rick Moranis are on an airplane. Martin orders a drink, tries to tip the flight attendant who of course refuses the money. A minute or two later he slips the money into her pocket, saying to Moranis something along the lines of "It's always worth tipping people who help you in any way." That actually had a profound influence on my tipping behavior. As I said, I'm not rich but I budget for the tips, because I'm still a whole lot better off than many people.

[Trillo]

73. How about a living wage instead?

Or a living wage and tips?

I agree with the OP that tipping is an excuse for employer to pay less per hour.

[Chisox08]

74. What about paying the maids a living wage so that tips aren't needed

I know the CEO will have to take a slightly smaller bonus or forgo the newest G5 jet, but I think it's worth it.

[badtoworse]

77. I usually leave $3 or $4 a day for the maid.

I figure there most likely making minimum wage and need more.

ETA: The thing I struggle with is whether to leave a daily tip each night or total up the nights and leave it all when I check out.

[B Calm]

78. I don't tip motel maids. What they charge to spend a night for a little room,

they can afford to pay a living wage! Tipping will only encourage motel owners to pay even less!

[badtoworse]

79. That's pretty self-serving.

There aren't many things you can do at the individual level to help people who only make minimum wage. Tipping is one of them and people who can afford to should tip generously.

[B Calm]

80. I want them to organize and join a labor union. Tipping them

will do the opposite!

[badtoworse]

81. Are you out there organizing?

[B Calm]

84. No, I'm not a hotel maid!

[Oktober]

85. What an odd cause...

[Romulox]

88. It's like Lovey Howell lecturing the hoi polloi on largesse. Shameless. nt

[FSogol]

90. BS. Marriott should pay their workers a living wage and not just help them beg. n/t

[Orsino]

93. Tip heavily until we can get them living wages. n/t

[TBF]

95. I think it's about time employers pay their employees -

I am sick and tired of subsidizing the wages of servers and now hotel maids. The employers should be required to pay a living wage. Period.

[cbdo2007]

97. We should do away with ALL tipping.

It is too confusing and unclear what you should or should not tip for. It gives companies an excuse to pay their workers less. There are lots of people out there working hard for us all every day in different companies, who can't/don't accept tips, so singling out a few specific industries where you should tip is ridiculous.

[dilby]

101. How about Marriott pay living wages.

So Marriott is basically trying to shame their customers into paying the wages that Marriott should be paying.

[upaloopa]

102. They are not going to pay them less than

minimum wage. It is a chance for you to increase their take home pay.
It is a chance for you to put your money where your heart should be.

[Not Me]

106. I tip regularly, and a few times a year do a very large tip.

It's is something that a friend and his wife do, that I have picked up on.

The last time was recently at a destination wedding for my niece that was held in an all-inclusive resort in Mexico.
We stayed a week, and had planned to go into town a few evenings for dinner, but found that the food and company at the resort was quite good, and stayed put. Toward the end of the week, I realized that we had a bit of cash left over, and the housekeeper who had kept our room up for the entire stay (read: worked 7 days in a row) was working down the hall.

I took $200 and handed it to her and tears rolled down her face. Twenty minutes later, she showed up at the door with her husband and young son. They wanted to thank us. That amount that we would have spent on two evenings dinner is probably what she makes in a week, and their gratitude was heartwarming.

[Liberal_in_LA]

108. good idea

[tazkcmo]

112. I agree!

"While customary to tip, I view this as more of an excuse for Marriott to pay their room attendants less than minimum wage?"

Once they start getting tipped then Marriott can pay them 2.13/hr. What a deal!

[TeamPooka]

113. I always tip because I'm a messy guest nt

[tenderfoot]

114. A tipping society is an excuse for employers not pay people for work done

Period.

Stick that in your tip jar.

[MohRokTah]

117. Don't get me started on tip jars

NEVER NEVER EVER put money in a tip jar. Any company that allows tip jars might as well say, "we're too cheap to pay our employees enough money."

[cherokeeprogressive]

132. I NEVER put money in the tip jar. I put it in servers' HANDS. MY gratuity is PERSONAL and heartfelt.

And I NEVER tip on my credit card. I'd be one of those rich people whose credit card receipts show up on the internet with a ZERO on the gratuity line. I tip CASH ONLY.

I bet you tip, WHEN you tip, only to get frequent flier miles.

[MohRokTah]

133. I tip wait staff, bartenders, cabbies, even maids when traveling for pleasure and not business.

When I receive the absolute WORST service possible in a restaurant or bar, I tip precisely 18%. That is a tip that expresses my displeasure with the service. I have tipped 50% on the cover for tremendous service. Typically my tips for wait staff run between 20% and 25% for usual service.

Cabbies get a minimum of 10%. When traveling for business, I can tip as high as 15%. When traveling for pleasure, 20% is what I tip for tremendous service.

Maid staff get nothing when I travel for business. When I travel for pleasure, I usually tip 5% of the rack rate unless the service sucks, then I tip 2%.

Valet parking is tipped from $2-$5, depending upon the location and the cost of valet service. You only tip the valet who retrieves the vehicle.

I tip $2/bag for bell service.

[tenderfoot]

136. So are employers that pay wait staff peanuts!

Cheap fucks for sure!

[badtoworse]

138. +1 This guy is a piece of work.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

139. I also tip cash only

Well, on occasion, I haven't had the cash, but I rarely put the tip on the check.

Yeah, I look like a cheapskate, too, but I frequent the same two or three establishments frequently, so my servers know I tip well.

[cherokeeprogressive]

131. This post is an excuse for not leaving an acceptable GRATUITY for services provided.

It shouldn't matter HOW MUCH your service provider is getting paid. You get provided good service, you leave a fucking gratuity.

PERIOD. End of fucking sentence.

Your problem is you don't understand that "tipping" is a synonym for "gratuity".

Put that in your fucking pipe and smoke it.

[tenderfoot]

135. I leave 20% because I know they're paid for s*** in the first place.

But anything to excuse not paying a decent wage. There's nothing wrong with being a waiter or waitress for a living either.

Have a nice day!

[MohRokTah]

137. The more you sout off, the more I'm convinced I should stop tipping altogether. eom

[CreekDog]

149. by all means, if it makes you to feel better to punish low paid employees, then that's what you do

if that is your goal, then you should stop tipping altogether.

after all, if depriving low paid workers a few bucks is the most effective way for you to get DUers back for their responses to you and if that's the most effective way to punish Marriott, then by all means stop tipping altogether.



on the other hand if withholding a few bucks in tips can do so much for you, imagine what giving it can do for someone who may get to eat because of it.

[CreekDog]

153. Hillary wants her avatar back

[bullwinkle428]

156. So you're punishing cherokeeprogressive by taking money out of a hard-working

service employee's pocket?

[Algernon Moncrieff]

120. An old boss told me something a long time ago

I travel for business. I had a boss who told me that leaving $1-2 greatly increased the chances that items left in your room (phones, watches, etc.) would be "found". He saw it as cheap insurance.

[edgineered]

125. Penny Pritzker of Hyatt holds what position?

We cannot neglect the fact that what policy becomes is at stake. Pritzker has a huge interest in lower costs to hotel owners, destroying unions, reducing wages, etc and is in the perfect position to stick it to everyone. HRC would love signing this across her desk!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Pritzker

currently serving as the 38th United States Secretary of Commerce. She is the founder of PSP Capital Partners and Pritzker Realty Group.[1] She is also co-founder of Artemis Real Estate Partners.[2] ...[3] In 2011, the Forbes 400 list of America's wealthiest showed her as the 263rd richest person in the U.S., estimated net worth of US $1.8511 billion,[4] and the world's 651st richest person. In 2009, Forbes named Pritzker as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

Pritzker has contributed to numerous campaigns. Among the recipients have been the presidential campaigns and exploratory committees, including those of George W. Bush, Joe Lieberman, Bill Bradley, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain (2000), Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton.[28]

[phylny]

128. We stay at Marriotts almost exclusively, because of its rewards program, and we customarily

tip $5 each day we are there.

I also bundle up the towels and place them on the sink or the toilet so housekeeping doesn't have to pick them up off the floor.

I understand that companies need to pay their employees well, but the day and night I'm there, they're not being paid well enough yet, and I appreciate those who work for my pleasure and comfort..

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

140. I pile up the towels

and strip the beds and put all trash in the trash can.

I can't stand traveling with folks who leave trash everywhere. ugh

[RobinA]

143. There Are People

who don't put trash in the trash can? That's weird. Admittedly, hotel trash cans are tiny and/or oddly shaped, so I often, being a newspaper reader, have to put stuff next to the trash can, but why would one not throw away trash in the appropriate receptacle?

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

165. Well, Coke can left on the end table

Coffee paraphernalia left on the counter, etc. You don't have to be a total slob to leave trash lying about.

[bullwinkle428]

157. I hang up all of the used towels over the shower curtain rod. I had a

housekeeper compliment me for leaving such a clean place everyday at an extended stay-type hotel while traveling on business several years back, and that actually left a very positive impression on me. She said that so many people are incredible slobs...made me feel that much more sympathy for housekeepers as a whole.

[atreides1]

129. Great idea

My wife and have been doing for several years now!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

148. Tipping is a tax on generosity.

If you want more money to pass from your guests to your staff - which is a laudable goal - then increase prices and wages.

On the rare occasions I eat somewhere with waiters, I do tip, but only because it's expected - I'd rather the extra were added to the bill, and I didn't have to think about it.

[rocktivity]

152. Why not cut the pretense and just turn the housekeepers into contractors?

Let them pay the hotel for the "privilege" of cleaning the rooms and make ALL their money back in tips -- that's how most strip clubs do it! Make tipping mandatory as opposed to "customary" -- look, ma, no labor costs!


rocktivity

[steve2470]

162. Pay the maids at least $15 an hour and...

place the tip envelopes in the rooms. That works. I'll pay extra per night knowing the maids are better compensated. Tipping is a nice idea in theory, but way too many people leave too little. Ask any server.