The American Hotel & Lodging Association (ALHA) recommends tipping hotel housekeeping $1-5 per night. If you're going to tip, ideally: Leave it nightly, since someone different could be cleaning your room every day.
What happens if you don't have cash to tip room service?
With a mobile payment app, you can tip hotel staff even if you don't have cash on hand. Additionally, mobile payment apps provide a secure and transparent way to transfer money, ensuring that your tip reaches the intended recipient without any hassle.
As a result, some guests might think there's no need to tip housekeepers. But even if you never opt for room cleaning during your stay, you should leave a tip on your departure day, as housekeeping staff will be coming in to clean up after you and disinfect the room before the next guests arrive.
For valet and room services, leave anywhere from $2-5 (or more, if you're feeling generous). In some cases, tips are not expected by the innkeeper. Sometimes at a smaller bed and breakfast, the owner does not expect you to leave a tip, or they will include gratuity in your bill.
The waiter will set up the meal in your room. When you're finished, call room service to come for the tray or cart, instead of leaving it in the hall. A service charge is added to the bill. If a tip is not included on the bill, the usual amount to leave is 20 percent.
In the event that you check out of your room and forget to tip the housekeeper, you can still make sure they are tipped sufficiently! To do this, just be sure to go to the front desk and give them the money.
The standard for hotel housekeeping is to tip every day to ensure the money is going to the specific person servicing your room. “Because housekeeping is a 24/7 position, there are many teams that work in concert to keep each room clean,” Smith said.
If you forget to leave a tip for housekeeping, don't worry – it's not too late. You can still leave a tip at the end of your stay by placing the money in an envelope with a note thanking the housekeeper and leaving it at the front desk. You can also contact the hotel's front desk to add a tip to your bill.
Tipping is not expected in Denmark, as service charges are usually included in the bill. However, rounding up the bill or leaving a small amount as a gesture of appreciation for exceptional service is common. Denmark's tipping culture is similar to France's in terms of not having a strong tipping expectation.
Depending on the hotel, it might be possible to leave a tip with your credit card as you check out at the end of your stay, with requests for the money to be distributed to specific employees, including housekeeping.
If you tip at the end, the housekeepers who cared for your room earlier in your stay won't receive a tip. Instead, tip every day of your stay, as this ensures the tip goes to the person or people actually cleaning your room, says Grotts.
The tip doesn't have to be big — $1 to $5, says the American Hotel and Lodging Association. But fewer than a third of hotel guests leave any money for the housekeepers. The hotel association publishes a gratuity guide on its website that offers suggestions for tipping everyone from valet attendants to bellhops.
Tip every day to ensure your tip gets to the person who actually cleaned your room. Leave a note in your room with the money indicating it is for housekeeping. Tip $1 or $2 per person, per night in most hotels. In higher end hotels, $3 to $5 per person per night is typical.
Pro tip: Tip everyone: While most travelers know to tip a bellman or valet, few leave anything for the front-desk agent—despite their enormous power to influence the quality of your stay. “The front desk isn't a tipped position, so when you do tip, it makes them beholden to you,” Tomsky said.
Do you tip on top of service charge for room service?
While adding another 18% tip on top of the two other charges may not be necessary, you can overcome any tip-associated angst by leaving a few dollars or rounding up. If the hotel's room service bill does not include gratuity, then leaving a 15-20% tip is probably appropriate.
Once you have finished, the most polite way to return the cart to the hotel staff is by calling the front desk to tell them you are about to leave it outside your room. Then they will let room service know so that they can remove it as soon as possible.
If you would like your towels changed, please place them in the bathtub or shower. On check out do not roll up your sheets and doonas/blankets, this makes it harder for the housekeeper to prepare the dirty linen. Place all used bath towels/face washer in the bathtub or shower.
Tipping housekeeping may not be the norm, but it is nice to leave a small gratuity, especially if you leave a big mess or call for extra towels. Anywhere from $3 to $7 daily works, Osten says. The American Hotel & Lodging Association suggests $1 to $5 each night.
Brooke Bergen, a former front desk associate at a five-star hotel, advises tipping anyone in a non-managerial role, “including waiters, valet, bellhops, bar and restaurant staff, front desk staff, concierge, and housekeeping.”
While some hotels may allow guests to stay in their rooms while housekeeping cleans, others may have strict policies that require guests to vacate their rooms during this time. It's always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the specific policies of the hotel you are staying at before your arrival.
Cash has historically been the preferred method of receiving tips for service industry professionals, because it meant you were able to take those tips home at the end of the shift rather than wait for the credit card tips to settle and be paid out later.
The double-tip trick: When a restaurant party, usually 6 or more, accidentally pays a tip for a bill that already had a gratuity factored in, the server is supposed to let you know of your mistake, or in the case where you already have left the restaurant – remove the second tip from your bill.
