I am always in a quandry as to how much to tip the housekeeping staff and whether to tip daily or to tip at the end of the stay. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.
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I am always in a quandry as to how much to tip the housekeeping staff and whether to tip daily or to tip at the end of the stay. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.
I'd suggest tipping daily because a cleaning team may change, or you will get a different individual day-to-day. It will also get you better service after Day One....you will notice, for sure.
My running rule is to tip $200J-300J ($3-4 US) as that is cab fare to and from work for most resort staff...
It makes me feel good knowing that (maybe) I insured them a lift after a hard days work.
I tip 500ja a day, and 1000ja when I leave if same person and great service.. No right answer but it's how I roll
Can I clean your room?:p
I hope I'm not being cheap!
(I do usually spread out 500J's among various staff when I leave...)
I just figure I am in their country and their cleaning up after me.. Least I can do.. I can afford it.. No your not cheap.. Leaving nothing is cheap.. Your fine..
I tip everybody for everything.....Sometimes I tip for nothing I have directly received.......I tip my own family........Because I can .......... and I get it back four fold...
I tip about $3-4 dollars a day. And the staff usually changes during the course of my stay. The avarage rate of pay for the cleaning staff, I think isn't enough for their day to day expenses. And I think they appreciate the consideration.
My last trip I happened to be in the room the first day when the housekeeper was there. I asked her if she would be my regular housekeep and she said yes, every day except tomorrow, I'm going to the big game. Oh really, I asked, what game? She proceeded to tell me all about some huge game in Montego Bay and was so happy it was on her regular day off, she was so happy to go. So I took out the amount of Money I would have been leaving every day and gave it to her all in one lump sum, and said "Have fun at the game!" She nearly broke out in tears. Gave me the BIGGEST HUG EVER! I knew what was her day off and left a little something for the "fill-in" housekeeper those days.
The next day, I was at a bar and there was a game on TV. I asked if that was the big game in MoBay. Ya Mon. BIG GAME! I watched to see who won and told the housekeeper (her name totally escapes me now) I saw the game. WE WON WE WON she said and I had the best time! Thank you Thank you! Not a day passed after that that we didn't chat a little in the pathway, or wherever we ran into each other on the property.
I bring $5.00 US bills to leave daily for the housekeeper and we leave a larger tip on the last day. Also, I highly recommend getting to know your housekeeper(s) by name and chatting with them a bit.
We have friends in the staffs of all the places we stay and are always happy to see them again. A tip and some acknowledgment go a long way. Too many people take the housekeepers, and security for that matter (we tip them too), for granted.
Thanks for all the responses. The idea of five dollar bills sure makes it easy. and I like the idea of every day, so the right person gets the tip
$5 is appreciated and keep in mind that your housekeepers can usually be a great source of procurement. Flowers, fresh squeezed OJ, etc. Another way for them to make a little more money and yet another easy way to get what you need. No worries Mon.......
It depends...sometimes it is easier to tip daily if there are several people involved. If it is the holiday season, which we often travel, we may tip earlier so that the $$ can help before Christmas. Otherwise, along with cash, we generally share our food or drink, depending on what they may want...with our housekeepers, gardeners and other staff. Being from a small rather "country" state, we were brought up to share what we have. So, we are very comfortable with always sharing drinks, food, fruit, etc... with the staff of the resort. It's just the way we roll here in our likkle state. My grandad was a Methodist minister here and in Virginia...food was a staple that was shared with others. SO, I guess I am just continuing the old traditions of West Virginia.
I guess everyone has their own ways of giving. They are all good as long as we give back to others. I feel blessed to be able to travel and I sure want others to benefit As one of my dear friends said, "Jamaica has been good to me" ....Yeah mon, it has been good to me too.......so let me give back!
As long as were talking tipping. Throughout the year I put money from various sources in my "tip" can. I use this for tip money in Jamaica. I usually wind up with ~$200.00. A few 10's, more 5's, a lot of 1's. I use them for bartenders, maids, porters, wait staff, etc...
I've never given much consideration as to whether U.S. is harder to use for them. Would They prefer to be tipped in Ja dollars? I know U.S. is widely accepted but would the workers rather have Ja dollars?
I was wondering the same thing about the US vs. JA currency. I always tip in US dollars. Perhaps JA would be better? IDK...
I bet the people will tell you it doesn't matter if it's JA or US. My wife and I have been setting aside our $5's since August. We now have more than $500 set aside. First time we ever did that and I'm sure we will be doing it again. It was a great idea!
When you are tipping your housekeeper, where is the best place to put the tip?
I personally like to put it directly into their hands, which is why I get to know my housekeeper, confirm THEY are the one there every day and which is their day off, then generally tip larger amounts when I see her rather than leave it on the bed. I do this only because I stayed somewhere once where I happened to be coming back to the room and someone OTHER than the housekeeper was coming out of the room. I inquired as to who they were and she was a manager of some sort who said she checks all the rooms before and after they are cleaned (for quality control). But it made me wonder if the full amount of the tips left on the bed for the housekeeper truly did go to the housekeeper. My mind began speculating all kinds of things including that perhaps she collected all tips and distributed them evenly to all staff. I have no way to know for sure what happened to the tips I left so now I just prefer to put it directly into their hands.
I leave it on the dresser or night stand wrapped in a little piece of paper saying "thank you". I found if I just leave it out, they won't take it so I include a little note.
One of the best suggestions I got off of this board was to bring lots of small US bills (1's and 5's) for tipping. Small JA bills (100's and 500's) aren't as easy to come by and are always needed for actual purchases. It was nice to always have tip money readily available.
we bring a couple of hundred worth in US $2 bills for tips.....they like the "oddity" of the "2" and many of the gals tell me they still keep one for "good luck"
so...it pays the bills, AND provide them with a "Lucky Talisman"