Maybe everybody tips hotel housekeepers, but I didn’t grow up doing that. My parents never taught this to me – maybe because we didn’t stay in hotels much. Now I stay in hotels a lot.
The great Gayraud Wilmore taught my HH to do this and HH taught me, and now I take a few $5 bills to leave for the person who cleans my hotel room with a little note.
It’s important – if you are going to leave a tip – that you do this every morning because – if you wait until the end of your stay – the person who cleaned your room on Day 1 was not necessarily the person who cleaned the room on Day 3.
I share this not because I am a sweet person, but because the world is a hot mess and everybody needs some unexpected joy.
I was in a lovely hotel in Baltimore for four nights last weekend and I did what Dr. Wilmore has taught my family to do. And you would have thought that I’d left each housekeeper keys to a new car.
Little notes were left for me in return with words of deep appreciation. One housekeeper left me bonus bottles of spring water. I was overwhelmed with how little it takes to make someone’s day.
Do most people not tip hotel housekeepers? Really, it’s important. Those people work very hard for little money. Have a happy Thursday.
A Church for Starving Artists 
I hand the money to housekeepers when I see them. I have tried leaving notes in hotel rooms, but here in California, the housekeepers do not read or speak English. They have no idea what the note says and would leave the money where it lay. Even when i see them in the hallway and give them a tip and thank them, they just smile and try to understand what I’m saying. I do my very best to leave our hotel rooms neat and clean so their work is made easier.
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I also didn’t learn it growing up, but I do it consistently.
The author of the book Evicted said that tipping better is the easiest way we can improve the lives of working poor (while we also work to change the systems).
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I learned the practice of tipping from a friend and will have to start leaving notes. By the way, considering tipping servers more than usual. Thanks.
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Yep. Always. It’s a hard job; I try to do anything to make it easier. Good for you!
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Some years ago I was part of a contentious meeting. Every night when I got back to my room, there was a thank you note in my room. The persons who cleaned my room were truly a blessing to me during that tough week. For a small tip, I received a big blessing.
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