glashtyn | Entries tagged with housekeeping

I love being surprised with twenty dollars in one day, but honestly, it's not even remotely normal. And it pisses me off that more people don't stop and think of how hard our job is. Delivering pizza is much, much easier. And they get tipped each and every run.

Here's a very basic tipping guide:

1 Night Stay - Tip is not always necessary, but is definitely appreciated. *Exception if room is trashed, or **if there are more than two occupants or children.

2-3 Nights Stay - Two or three dollars if the room is gently used. Five if it isn't so gently used.

3 Nights - 1 Week Stay - A dollar or two per night for the housekeeper that is cleaning your room each day and three to five dollars for the one that has to clean it in order to have it ready for the next guest. If it's trashed it needs to be at least five dollars.

1 Week or Longer Stay - There is always a challenge when a person has stayed at length in a hotel room. The longer the person was in there, no matter how neat they tried to keep it, there is going to be a lot of ground in dirt and corner that haven't been thoroughly cleaned, as the daily housekeeper has been told not to disturb the way the guest has their things too much. The longer you stay the more you should give the housekeeper that is going to have to clean your room to ready it for the next guest. I am not going to say that there is any ultimate amount that should be given, but I recommend ten dollars for a week, and twenty dollars for under a month. More than a month and it is kind of up in the air. One gentleman stay for more than a year, may even two and he tipped the women who were going to clean his room fifty dollar each. Most people will never stay that long. But if you are there for a month try and think of ow much yo have to clean if you didn't thoroughly clean for a month in your house and reach into your pocket.

*If the room is trashed, no matter how long you've been in there, one day or one month, leave a generous tip. Yes, it is our job to clean it, but having to clean up a popcorn fight, rearrange all of the furniture, or having to search high and low for the remote, eats into the time that we are expected to get the room cleaned within. A tip will seriously cushion the animosity we feel towards you the next time we have you stay with us. We get paid just above minimum wage at the hotel in which I work and I nearly cry at the sight of some of the rooms I've walked into.

** If you have children there will be ground in food in the carpet, hand-prints on the mirrors, the stench of diapers in the garbage can, and something sticky on the furniture somewhere, and there will not be a tip for the extra mess. If you are in a group of some kind, with a team, or a wedding party there is a more than ninety percent chance that your room will contain a large amount of garbage, there will be food left to rot somewhere, booze will have abounded the night before you leave, and there are more beds packed into that room than the Von Traps would need. And never a tip. LEAVE A GENEROUS TIP. You've created a huge mess that I would have had to clean up myself even in a hotel, if my father was with us. Think about the fact that someone is going to have to clean up this mess. And when you're there as a group there are going to be more rooms like yours. You don't like popcorn fights to be left on the floor of your bedroom. NEITHER DO WE. Please don't ask us to clean this up with out the thank you of a tip. It is because of rooms like these that the last two days that I have worked have been ten hour days.

A little note: That change you dumped from your pocket onto the table and left - is an insult. I cannot even buy a cup of coffee for what you left.

Also, a cold bottle of water left in the fridge goes a long way with us. We're tired, hungry, hot, and probably thirsty. Think of how nice it feels after a run to drink some plain cold water. Well, we're running all day.

1. We clean up after you more than waiters ever will - so why is it that they get tipped and we get the coins you dropped on the floor? Take this as a general rule - long stay: tip well, big group: tip well, kids and families: tip very well. We don't expect ten percent, but something is always appreciated. And that change you dropped on the table from your pocket is simply an insult.

2. We recycle whatever we can. Don't take anything from the rooms that you're not going to use. We all know about how you take the soaps, shampoos, pens, and pads and then wind up tossing them out.

3. If you have kids, keep your eyes on them at all times. We are not there to babysit or keep them safe.

4. We hear everything you do and tell each other everything we hear. When you're belligerent, nasty, terse, or vulgar we all know about it and we all dislike you for it.

5. Stop leaving your latch open so that you don't need your key. Other guests can and do walk right in and take your stuff.

6. Most housekeepers will not steal from you. We need these jobs too badly to take anything from you. If it's not there - you lost it or you left it somewhere.

7. We are not your maids. We are the hotel's housekeepers.

8. Whenever you have a large group we dread having you here. You leave bags and bags of trash, you never tip, you take everything out of the closets, and you are generally a large problem. Other guests complain about your noise and we know you're not going to leave until the last possible minute. You take anything you can from soaps to toilet paper and paper towels. Everything has to be turned over.

9. Our hotel is on a budget too. The furniture we have is not cheap and replacing things creates a huge cost. Treat it better than how you would the furniture in your house.

10. Our hotel has a check out time for a reason. Housekeepers have time limits to how long they have to clean a room. When you don't check out until noon, we have to wait until after then to clean the room for another guest.

11. The first night that you check in your sheets are always fresh and clean. You cannot tell me when you wash your sheets at home that even bleach gets every single mark and spot off. And we're using white sheets. We change your sheets every three night after that to save money and energy. Like I mentioned before - our hotel is on a budget too.

12. My cart is just that - mine. It is not there for you to take things at your whim. I pack my cart so that I can clean the rooms that I have been assigned each day. If you're taking things off of it instead of asking me for what you need, I am unaware that I will be left without what I need to clean the rooms later in my day.

13. Just because I am smiling and friendly does not mean that I am happy or having a good day. It is a part of my job and uniform. I get paid to make you think my life is amazing.

14. Tell us when you've done something to our rooms from stopping up the toilets to breaking a glass. This is always helpful and prepares us for cleaning your room.

15. Don't use our pads of paper as coasters. The tables are all waterproofed for a reason.

16. Yes, I've called you every single name in the book.

17. We want you to make yourselves at home, but remember - this isn't home. Don't actually treat it like you would your home.

18. That decorative pillow - is just for show. We recycle it. Toss it off the bed.

19. We cannot for the life of us figure out how you managed to get the entire counter top in the bathroom covered in water. Do you do that at home? Really?

20. There are reasons that we need to know how many people are going to be staying with you in a room. If we don't know and there is a fire we'll assume that everyone is safe when you alone make it out. Also, it's good to be able to supply you with everything that you need while you stay with us. If we have it written that there is only one person when there are really three then we'll only replace one towel because we don't know any different.

21.Do not leave the Do Not Disturb sign up when you leave. It's not funny. And it makes us upset with you. We cannot enter a room that is supposed to be vacated until after checkout time has passed. Meaning, that if you left the sign up and you left earlier in the day I am going to have to wait and that makes my time out later and makes me have a loner day than needed.

22. We are timed for each room that we clean. If your room is a disaster then we are going to have to take longer than the allotted time to clean it.

23. If it's garbage at least try and get it into the garbage can. We leave them in the room for a reason.

24. Turn off the television. Turn. It. Off.

25. A thank you note can go a long way to let us know that you don't just think of us as your personal maids.