cxx

A few weeks ago we rented a house and the cost was so much per night plus a cleaning fee. When we arrived we were greeted by one of those envelopes that you see in hotel rooms asking for a tip for the housekeeping staff. We've rented loads of houses over the years, including this once before, and this is the first time we've ever seen one of those envelopes in one - is this the latest trend?

Mrs Danvers

I've seen them in hotel rooms as well as vacation rentals..

MsElui

i suppose its makes it crystal clear that the money is left as a tip, and then forestalls anyone coming along afterwards and saying the money i left on the side or the bed wasnt the tip and i want it now or crying 'theft'.

Bob

This pretty much.

lansbury

Never tip the rental cleaning staff. When we rent at the beach the cleaning fee is $150+, they best be paying a decent wage with that kind of fee.

cxx

Well given the cleaning fee was around $150, and we left the place pretty much as we found it so all they needed to do was wash the bedding etc, and run the duster / vacuum cleaner round, they were getting a pretty good hourly rate!
I don't have an issue with tipping envelopes in hotels, but in rental houses given the high cleaning fees it doesn't seem right.

TimFountain

"The envelope please" scheme is only at Marriott and I for one do not ever leave a single cent. They need to pay their workers a decent wage and stop expecting the guests to supplement their income. Grr.

scrubbedexpat091

Fees no matter how steep rarely go to the employees, like pizza delivery fees, the company generally pockets it, and the delivery guy/gal see's nothing.

I'd not be surprised if these cleaning fees on house rentals are the same, the cleaners get min. wage or close to it, and see nothing of the cleaning fee.

tonrob

Tipping cleaners - even maids in hotels - is far from the norm unlike, say, tipping servers in restaurants where it is absolutely expected.

A recent survey on a travel blog showed that among frequent travelers at most around 50% tipped maids. So it's a 'thing' if you want to do it but far from expected, and you're not going to be a social pariah if you don't. I would assume the same goes for rented accommodation.

Sarah

I used to be a housekeeper, it was my first job when I was 13, and I did it again to earn some money back in 2001. It's backbreaking work, constant bending over making beds and cleaning bathtubs, wiping up other people's pubes is horrible. (But hey, I was taught a good work ethic by my parents and I preferred it to being unemployed.)

However the cleaning fee is absolute BS. I guarantee that out of the $150 fee they're charging, only around $40 will go to the person doing the cleaning.

scrubbedexpat091

And its almost always the lowest paid in hotels anyhow, never seen a 13 year old working in a hotel though....

My current hotel outsourced housekeeping so no idea what they are paid, but based on the low rate we pay, I'd say no more then min. wage.

Twigstar

Speaking as an owner of a Maid Service here is how the routine goes with a vacation home we clean on a regular basis:

The 'owner' charges the guest a $250 per stay cleaning fee.
The 'owner' pays us $200 per stay cleaning fee.
We pay our staff $13 & $11 per hour (one is a supervisor one is a maid) we supply the car, supplies & equipment.

The said home takes 3 hours to clean (laundry included)

The maids are sometimes tipped by guests but we do not ask for tips.

Bob

I'm wondering if these are large cleaning services?

The missus knows a few who run their own service around here. They're basically a husband and wife bands and they hit the cape or other summer holiday home rental hotspots and they make a killing over the summer and then target the mountains in the winter.

A couple of them also tip the warehouse chap at Sears, so he doesn't log their products as being used for commercial use, so they get warranty repaired when they break down. The local vac shop if filled with the orange machines, which cost about $500 to repair due to labour/parts but sell for $360 on sale.

Sarah

My Aunt owned the hotel, it was a small place, me and my 14 year old cousin basically grew up there. It's a good intro into the world of work, and good motivation to stay in school so you don't end up there later