The Who, What, and Why of Tipping at Hotels - Socially Acquainted (2024)

One of my absolute favorite movies is Home Alone: Lost in New York doubly for my love of New York and Christmas but also for The Plaza Hotel scenes. Who can forget when the Bellman, Cedric, takes Kevin’s bags upstairs and lingers around for a tip. The “tip” Kevin gives is a shiny new stick of gum. The next time Cedric performs a task, he anticipates it’ll be more of the same and notifies Keven he still has some “tip” leftover but to Cedric’s surprise, Kevin flashes a wad of cash letting him know “no tip, okay” before closing the door in his face. While I hope no one is out there dishing out gum for tips, I know many people aren’t dishing out money either and you should definitely be tipping at hotels.

Don’t get me wrong, tipping can be so tricky. Do you tip the person who made sure your room was clean? Do you tip the person cleaning up after you? How do you know who to tip and how much you should even be tipping?

If you’re even considering the answer to the last question, you’re ahead of the game because you’re aware you SHOULD be tipping. As a matter of fact, you should be tipping all service workers. I’m a firm believer in if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to use that service, but I’ll elaborate on that in just a moment.

How Much Should You Tip

It depends. As a general rule of thumb, you should leave about $2 per person, per day for housekeeping. This means on a typical weekend trip with my partner and the kids, I’d leave $16. As you go up in caliber of hotel … think Four Seasons … you should leave closer to $5 per person, per day for housekeeping. As someone who worked housekeeping part time pre Covid-19, I can tell you tipping isn’t expected, just strongly hoped for, and we don’t know how many people you had in your room. I usually just leave $3 per day – I also make sure everything is in the trash, the towels are piled in the bathroom, and I normally remove the sheets from the bed. Two reasons 1. it ensures I left nothing in the covers 2. it ensures the sheets are changed for the next person. Use your best judgement based on the mess you make.

Why You Should Be Tipping

I know many people feel like the employer should pay a wage in such a way their employees aren’t relying on their tips. I get it. I used to be a waitress making a measly $2.13 an hour at a red and white striped awning restaurant whose name rhymes with CGI Cry Days. If you’re familiar with Charlotte, it’s the location that used to be on Independence Blvd and seemed to turn into an unofficial nightclub after 1 am. I wasn’t getting paid enough for regular waiting of tables and I definitely wasn’t getting paid enough for that. My whole first two weeks of training, not only did I ONLY make $2.13, I couldn’t even keep the tips I made even though I did all the work while someone else shadowed and critiqued me. Outraged and over it is an understatement but my point, I get it. They should be paying more but they don’t. Even if they did, a tip is still in order.

Unlike a product, services are hard to quantify and the quality is what you have to focus on. Time is money and isn’t it lovely to simply pay someone else to provide a service for you on something you don’t want (or have) to do. Now transfer that mind frame to staying in a hotel. It’s like staying at home, except having someone wait on you, cook for you, clean up after you. Obviously, the luxuriousness of your experience is going to vary by the quality of hotel you choose. Don’t expect Waldorf Astoria service at a Motel 6 but also keep that in mind when you’re contemplating your tip.

Before, During, or After

My mother likes to tip at the very start of her hotel stay. She actually takes cleaning supplies to her room and cleans everything herself as soon as she checks in. On her first morning, she’ll put the “do not disturb” on and seek out housekeeping in the hallway to ask for additional towels, cups, things of that nature and tip for the duration of her stay. Some people like to tip day by day and others, at the end of their stay. When to tip depends on a couple of things. If you KNOW you’re going to have the same housekeeper your entire stay, and you’re trying to ensure phenomenal service, tipping at the start is a great idea. Cruises are a great time for that. If you’re not getting service while you stay, tipping on the last day makes more sense. If you’re getting daily service, tipping daily makes more sense because often times, you won’t have the same housekeeper everyday. If you wait until the end to tip in that scenario, someone else would be reaping all the rewards of another housekeepers work.

Everyone Else You Should Be Tipping at Hotels

Did the Bellman take your bags to the room? You should be tipping them $1 – $2 per bag depending upon how heavy they are. Did the concierge go above and beyond to place a romantic set up in your room or a fun celebration for your child? You should be tipping them something commensurate with what they did. Did you valet park? I know it seems to cost a schmillion dollars to valet but that money goes to the parking people who, often times, don’t employee the drivers. I usually tip $3. Did you order room service? Check your receipt because a lot of hotels add gratuity on with the order, so if you leave a tip, that’s quite generous of you.

I have a little “travel fund” box my daughter gave me for Christmas that I save change, $1s, and $5s in. I use these funds for things like tipping at hotels and any tolls we may encounter along the way. When making your travel budget, do you factor in tipping at hotels?