# timeshare housekeeping help - how much do you tip?



## Transit (Sep 18, 2006)

Hi, I'm new to this game and was just wondering how do you guys tip housekeeping when you use your timeshare ? If housekeeping only comes once midweek do you just tip for that day and do you tip for # of rooms or # of persons staying at your unit? I searched the forum but found only a little on this subject.


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## Princess Sunflower (Sep 19, 2006)

*Good Question*

That's a really good question and I've always wondered that myself. Curious to see what people have to say.


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## Keitht (Sep 19, 2006)

I pay nearly £400 per week for maintenance fees i.e. about $700 and expect the resort to pay staff properly.  I don't tip.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 19, 2006)

Tipping is a nice thing to do.  I am absolutely positive that maids only make minimum wage or a little over.  I don't expect people to clean up after and for me without a tip.  If the maids make just $6.00 an hour, it seems only right to tip about $15 a week.  I give the mid-week cleaner $5.00 and $10 when we leave.  That money doesn't mean much to me, just enough for a box of donuts and coffee, but to the maid, it means feeding her family nutritious food and paying the light bill.  I would never presume that a maid is being paid "properly."  If everyone tipped, the world would be a better place, in my opinion.  

My grandmother is a classy, proper lady and she taught me to tip housekeeping.  

I also tip well at restaurants.  I tip 20-25% of the bill.  I save plenty of money by using coupons and always tip on the full amount, before the discount.


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## rapmarks (Sep 19, 2006)

My home resort hires an outside company to do the cleaning.  they pay them $50 a unit, laundry is sent out, and the people who work for the company tell me that it takes two people twenty five to thirty minutes to clean a two bedroom unit.  As I pay over $500 in maintenance fees, I feel they are justly compensated.  In Wisconsin Dells, cleaning people make a lot higher than minimum wage, they make higher wages than lifeguards and most other positions in the tourist industry.


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## BSQ (Sep 19, 2006)

our home resort provides _recommendations_ on tipping housekeeping, waitstaff and bellmen.

Their guideline is $2 per day.  I find our maids do more than just tidy up and the serivces they provide is worth so much more than $2 to me, that I tip accordingly.


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## Dottie (Sep 19, 2006)

If there is no cleaning while we are there we leave $10 unless the until is really nice looking.  Then we usually leave 12.  Also maybe about $12 if they tidy up mid-week.  For daily maid service we usually go about $2 a day.  It is good to see that we are in about the same ballpark as others.

Dottie


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## Cat (Sep 19, 2006)

If there is no cleaning during the week, we don't leave a tip. Even if not required to, I make sure all dishes are washed and put away, that the beds are stripped and sheets piled near the front door, and all towels are put with the sheets. We empty all trash and sort recycling (when they have it,) placing it in proper depositories . In other words, we do much of the work that they would have to do, so I consider our help sufficient. We also leave all unopened food with a note that they may take it, and try to leave at least two cold sodas in the fridge for them.

If there's a midweek cleaning, I leave $5. If the midweek cleaning was extraordinarily good, I add another $5 to the $20 we customarily leave at the end of the week.

On very few occasions, we have not tipped because the "housekeeping" service was so deplorable that they left dirt unattended and took towels that they failed to replace. Minimum wage is no excuse for sloppy work. 

BTW, this has never happened to us in Mexico or in the Caribbean - the housekeepers are eager to please and meticulous. We have left as much as $5 per day for them. They leave extra towels and make animals out of them on the bed, and strew it with rose petals in a lovely design. What a nice touch! That took some extra time, and it's worth it to me to pay for. It's only in the States that we have found lazy housekeeping staff.

Cindy makes a valid point that the generosity we can muster for housekeepers makes for a much friendlier atmosphere. As she said, it's not much to us, but it's probably a lot to many of them, particularly in less affluent countries. Rarely is generosity wrong.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 19, 2006)

rapmarks said:
			
		

> My home resort hires an outside company to do the cleaning.  they pay them $50 a unit, laundry is sent out, and the people who work for the company tell me that it takes two people twenty five to thirty minutes to clean a two bedroom unit.  As I pay over $500 in maintenance fees, I feel they are justly compensated.  In Wisconsin Dells, cleaning people make a lot higher than minimum wage, they make higher wages than lifeguards and most other positions in the tourist industry.



That does not assume that the menial labor worker, the housekeeper, is making a good wage.  Unless you have been in a service industry, it is difficult to say whether that industry's wage is fair.  You feel they are "justly compensated," but do you really know?  I think that would be interesting to find out.  I should actually call my own resorts and ask that question.  

I know people who think that a nice restaurant probably pays the wait staff more than a lesser restaurant.  They will tip less % for that reason.  It is not something people should assume and is not true.  My foster son (now 27) works at Pappadeaux  His hourly wage is $2.10 (maybe slightly more), so those tips are definitely something he counts on, especially since he is allowed so few tables in an evening.


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## skulipeg (Sep 19, 2006)

I believe in tipping for good service.  I am, by no means, anal about cleanliness, but at almost every resort we have been to, we have had to pull out the vacuum cleaner, broom, etc. almost right away to tidy up the place.  Toenail clippings and used floss on the bathroom floor are NOT acceptable, nor is the unidentified vitamin/pharmaceutical tablet left underneath the bed that could easily have been found and ingested by my daughter.  Countertops should not be so sticky that one has to pry a newspaper off of it.  And one should actually be able to tell when mid-week cleaning has taken place, apart from just the replacement of towels, which I could easily do myself.  If the work is done well, then I will leave a tip.  If not, then I won't.

And I completely agree with Cat - in Mexico I am always more than pleased to leave tips of up to $5/day - the service there has never been less than stellar.  Wish I could say the same about the US resorts - the preceding examples were from just one resort on our most recent trip!

Sandra


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## Dave M (Sep 19, 2006)

rickandcindy23 said:
			
		

> That does not assume that the menial labor worker, the housekeeper, is making a good wage.  Unless you have been in a service industry, it is difficult to say whether that industry's wage is fair.  You feel they are "justly compensated," but do you really know?  I think that would be interesting to find out.


Good point, Cindy! 

In Hilton Head, Marriott imports over 100 Jamaicans each year for the high summer season and a period on each side of that peak season. Marriott was unable to find anywhere enough U.S. workers for the hourly wage it was willing to pay. 

It's a good deal for all. Marriott (and, thus, the owners through their maintenance fees) pay less, even after taking transportation and housing for the imported workers into account. The imported workers are able to save enough so that they do better than if they worked in Jamaica.

Through discussions with the previous General Manager and at the Owner's Forum, I do have some info as to how much they make and it isn't much. Accordingly, I always tip generously when I stay at my home resort there.


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## brother coony (Sep 19, 2006)

:whoopie: Tips should be given for service  that some one performs for you 
I am well paid in my work but when I do something extra for a cliant and that person gives me more than my fee (a tip) it tells me that that person appreciate what I did,I feel Good, so if I ever have to do any thing for that person I always try to give that extra, I tip $3 per day at my resort , and whenever I check in and housekeeping staff sees me I get extra toiletries ect.
When I am at other resort if its daily maid service I normaly carry some thing inexpensive but nice and give to the maid the first day of cleaning and the rewards I get back are ten fold
 Brother


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## riverside (Sep 19, 2006)

We have only stayed in timeshares in the Caribbean and Mexico and we've always had maid service daily.  We always leave $3.00 on the pillow each morning.  Those people make a whole lot less than I do and I'm glad to help out.


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## talkamotta (Sep 20, 2006)

When in Mexico, I always  tip the person who is cleaning my unit.  At least $10/per day.  But I dont put anything in the tipping pool.  

When there isnt a midweek cleaning I dont leave a tip.  But I clean up everything, start the dishwasher and strip the bedding.  I take out the garbage.  

Now if I would ever leave the place in a mess, I would tip big time. 

If the unit isnt clean when I arrive (once it wasnt)  I scream...  and raise hell.  

If there is a mid week cleaning and I see the person, I will tip. I guess I just dont like leaving money sitting there.  

My son does a weekly rental on his condo.  I have gone to clean it for him when my other kids aren't able to.  If he wasnt my son I would get $50, but I get a kiss.  I figure it takes me 2-3 hours to clean the place. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 5 levels.  And I do all the laundry there.  $15 to $20 isn't bad wages. If it was in a condo complex, you could cut that down quite a bit by doing some multi-tasking.  

Both my older sons worked in housekeeping at Snowbird when they were in high school.  (Skiing was free).  If they took the luggage down for storage while the people skiing, they were tipped very well.  They only got tipped for doing something extra.


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## rapmarks (Sep 20, 2006)

Pardon me if I bore you with this story.  I have already told of my neighbor (now selling timeshares) who peviously did house cleaning and had so much more money than us, but we were teachers.  Or my friend who gets $25 an hour to clean. and gets tips too.  But my daughter's friend worked her butt off to finsih a college degree at UW at Madison and lived so poorly at the time.  I thought when she came out to my daughter's wedding she would want to rent a campsite rather than  a hotel.  my daughter said no, she is really making good money, she's not teaching, she is working for a cleaning service.  The Jamaican staff is probaly not doing so well, but in areas without the big influx of immigrant workers, the pay is pretty decent.
so I tip for mid week cleaning, but when I leave a unit, like Cat, I have the dishes done, the beds stripped, everything ready for a quick clean.


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## philemer (Sep 20, 2006)

rapmarks said:
			
		

> Pardon me if I bore you with this story.  I have already told of my neighbor (now selling timeshares) who peviously did house cleaning and had so much more money than us, but we were teachers.  Or my friend who gets $25 an hour to clean. and gets tips too.  But my daughter's friend worked her butt off to finsih a college degree at UW at Madison and lived so poorly at the time.  I thought when she came out to my daughter's wedding she would want to rent a campsite rather than  a hotel.  my daughter said no, she is really making good money, she's not teaching, she is working for a cleaning service.  The Jamaican staff is probaly not doing so well, but in areas without the big influx of immigrant workers, the pay is pretty decent.
> so I tip for mid week cleaning, but when I leave a unit, like Cat, I have the dishes done, the beds stripped, everything ready for a quick clean.



Self-employed domestics make a lot more $$ than those working for a wage in the service industry. My DIL works for a company that cleans commercial buildings and the starting wage is $8/hr. She only makes $9.50 after working there for 18 months.  Of course, ID wages are behind most of the nation. My sis has her own cleaning business and charges $16/hr. (homes). 

Do I tip the maids? No, but I think I will now. At least a couple of bucks. I tip my barber and the waitresses so why not the maids?

Phil


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## Dave M (Sep 20, 2006)

There are many good compensation survey sites on the Internet. I also have access to some other good surveys because of my corporate responsibilities related to compensation. 

I sampled three resort areas - including one mentioned herein. The average pay for a housekeeper (i.e., a maid in the timeshare or hotel industry) is about $9.50 in Orlando and Salt Lake City (near Park City) and about $9.75 in Madison, Wisconsin (near Wisconsin Dells). Note that wages are usually a bit lower in smaller communities than in a nearby large city. Sometimes wages are a bit higher in a resort area, reflecting the higher costs to survive in that resort area and the difficulty in attracting qualified labor.

Those rates (which could vary a bit, depending on what survey is accessed) don't strike me as equating to being well paid. I don't think I could survive very well on that level of income. And I would certainly appreciate some small gratuities. 

In theory, if I were a housekeeper, I would perform my job as well as I could simply because it's my job to do so. However, like the waiter/waitress (I have been there) seeking tips, I imagine that many housekeepers try their best in cleaning a timeshare unit in hopes that there will be a tip during or at the end of the week. 

I don't disappoint them.


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## Gadabout (Sep 21, 2006)

I wouldn't tip for your basic clean unit (as in, nothing other than your room being clean and properly stocked upon check-in).  That's what you're paying for with your MFs and are entitled to. 

As to tipping, waitpersons are one thing, as in some states they are paid less than minimum wage by law, so tipping does make a difference.

Housekeepers are usually paid at least minimum wage, and perhaps more. I don't agree with the argument that "that's the only job someone can get", which people use to justify their need for tips (and this includes "tip jars" at coffee stands and other places). There are always choices as far as employment, and you can often find well-educated people working these same types of jobs by choice, usually because the hours are flexible, or they're trying to get their 10 years in for Social Security, or there are other benefits (at some pizza places, for example, employees get to take home the "mistake" pizzas).

And, just to throw the question out there, does anyone feel it is stealing from the employer when giving out extra toiletries and such in the expectation of/thanks for tipping?


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## sxmscorpio (Sep 21, 2006)

I never tip a hotel or time-share cleaner.  If someone does something above what is required then yes perhaps but they are being paid to clean the unit so I don't think I owe anyone anything - and I don't believe we should tip waiters either who are also doing their job by bringing me my food or taking my order..but I do because its the accepted custom.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 21, 2006)

Tips for services is the general rule.  Housekeeping is a service to me and I appreciate all they do to make my stay pleasant.  I tip the newspaper carrier, my hair stylist, the milk man (usually at Christmas), give the mail carrier a Christmas tip, I even take a soda or two out for the garbage guy a few times in the summer, when it is extra hot.  

My mother-in-law was a housekeeper in a motel and received low wages for very hard work.  This was many years ago when no one dreamed of tipping the maids.  She was also a live-in maid for many years and received room and board with a pittance salary.    I hate cleaning my house but cannot afford a maid.  I so appreciate having those few weeks of vacation without the hassle of housecleaning.  To me, leaving $15-$20 a week is just nice and makes me feel good.  

It is similar to tipping at a restaurant.  Leaving 15% is an okay tip, but if another $2.00 makes the tip 20% or more, I do it.  It is just two bucks!  

I have been in some dirty units and would never tip the maids for those.   I always thought I was entitled to a clean unit as well, but sometimes you just don't get a clean place.  Most of my stays are exchanges and I am a guest, so I don't feel entitled to stay without tipping.


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 21, 2006)

sxmscorpio said:
			
		

> I never tip a hotel or time-share cleaner.  If someone does something above what is required then yes perhaps but they are being paid to clean the unit so I don't think I owe anyone anything - and I don't believe we should tip waiters either who are also doing their job by bringing me my food or taking my order..but I do because its the accepted custom.



Tipping wait staff is not a custom, it is a necessity because they only make $2.10 an hour, even at Pappadeaux, the most expensive restaurant within ten miles of my house. :annoyed:


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## Carolyn (Sep 21, 2006)

My husband and I are firm believers in tipping everyday if the entire unit is cleaned.  We leave app. $5/day for 6 days and figure what's another $30 when you're on vacation.  In return, we get wonderful service and are treated like royalty.  When we stayed at a small non-timeshare hotel on St. Barts, our maids always left freshly picked tropical flowers in a vase in our room every day.  It was our understanding they didn't do this for every room.

Carolyn


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## bluehende (Sep 21, 2006)

*what a bout this*

I generally leave a 10 for the maid.  The bottom line is that I have good employment.  The 10 means very little to me but might make  a little difference for someone.  Saying that, the unit has to be clean.  

How about this scenario

    We recently stayed at Massanutten.  The unit had an envelope for a tip for the maid.  The instructions said to not leave the envelope in the unit but to deposit it in the suggestion box upon checkout.  It did have a 3 question or so survey on it and the unit number and week.  This made me a little nervous as the money passes through some hands before it gets to the intended person.  I did leave my normal ten but if I knew the maid who had prepared our room was getting it all I would have left more.  The room was immaculate.

Wayne


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## JLB (Sep 22, 2006)

We feel bad if we forget, and we do sometimes.

If service people do not want a tip, or if it is inappropriate to tip, that is normally disclosed somewhere.  I've yet to stay in a resort or hotel that had a notice not to tip housecleaning.

But we do reserve the right to not tip, as an expression of a truly horrible experience.  Actually, we find that hard to do unless the reason for the truly horrible experience is the person we are withholding the tip from.

Sorry if I disagree with someone on this and they take it personally.  I don't have anyone in mind.


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## rapmarks (Sep 23, 2006)

dave m,  thank you for the figures you presented.  i believe that Wisconsin Dells pays a bit higher than Madison for housekeeping as it is a low population area with a high need for workers.  What is interesting is that it is hard to get a job that pays as high as housekeeping here.  my friend, with a teaching degree, is working for the medical center and hates the job but it pays the best she could find, almost 10 an hour.  She says she does scut work. almost half the women who recently retired are working for Land's End, at least for the christmas season, and earning much less than that.  None of these women want a full time permanent job, so that makes a difference.


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## mav (Sep 23, 2006)

We spend a few weeks each summer in Newport, R.I. and there is daily maid service at the resorts. I leave $3.00 per day, and also at Pollard Brook which has daily maid service.  When we go to  the Royals in Cancun I leave $5.00 per day. The maids there clean my unit like they are cleaning the streets of Cancun after a party, and we are very neat people. I always tip the maids when I am at a resort.  On check out day I leave an envelope for whoever does the final cleaning. I doubt the maids  have any money left  to take a  vacation on their small salary, and they spend their working life cleaning other peoples toilets. Shesh!!  We spend about 4 months a year traveling. I feel very blessed.


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## Transit (Sep 24, 2006)

*Thanks*

thanks for the advise


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