I've been leaving $2 USD daily. I'd be more inclined to leave 50 pesos but I never seem to have anything smaller than a 100 peso bill. Is $2 about right? Last time I was there a month ago, the housekeeper ( same one every day) never said thanks, hence my question.
- Thread starter gas
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Tipping at hotels - santo Domingo
Tipping the hotel housekeeper at the hotel in SD is not required at all. So, leaving $2USD daily is very kind of you. 100 pesos is very good, but not required. It is not the same as tipping a waiter at the restaurant, where a tip is expected.
I have found that if you are courteous in conversation to the staff, then are equally as courteous back. If you are quiet, then they tend to try to not be in the way and just let you do your work, rest, or whatever you are doing at the hotel.
I have found that if you are courteous in conversation to the staff, then are equally as courteous back. If you are quiet, then they tend to try to not be in the way and just let you do your work, rest, or whatever you are doing at the hotel.
Really? I think hotel maids should be tipped if they do a good job - anywhere in the world.
I think it's nice that the OP is leaving a bit every day - some people wait until their last day to leave a tip, and it might be going to a different maid than they've had the rest of the week.
I agree with you that it is nice - and can be a way of showing appreciation for good service. I am only saying it is not expected or required in the same manner a waiter/waitress expects and lives off of tips.
Some housekeepers will give you extra towels, etc if they see that you are tipping them. Some will do that if you are just courteous to them and do not talk with them like a servant. And, I have nothing against people who tip housekeepers. I typically only tip when someone on the staff when they do something for me outside of their normal duties, for example, if I ask for extra towels - and give them the tip at that immediate time.
Pesos would be better, but $US is equally appreciated, I'd like to think. Tipping those workers is nice, they work hard 27/28 days a month doing the same thing and cleaning up the same yuck we leave behind.
Nice way to justify in your mind NOT to tip.......
News flash: Not tipping is the same thing as treating them like a servant........
Only worse.....
Actually I view the staff as employees of the hotel, which is what they are - employees, not servants.
Housekeepers are paid differently than waiters/waitresses at the hotel restaurant - because a housekeeper is not expected to make their money from tips, but a waiter/waitress is expected to make the majority of their money only from tips.
It is still good to give a housekeeper a tip if they did something good.
I've noticed this massively in santo domingo now, up to 38% I've seen on some of my bills, which I contest of course as I don't enjoy paying more than 24% anywhere, tips included. But it seems this is common now and the amount is rising fast. Check those bills before you hand over your cards/cash.
I didn't realize that tips were added to the bill like restaurants. But as you say, there's no way of knowing if the hotel keeps it. I think maybe I tip too much, but that's okay. I work in the service industry and know what it's like. Fwiw, I rarely ask anything extra of housekeeping and I'm one of those anal persons who cleans up the room for the maid, haha.
While we're on the subject, I generally leave 10% (more or less depending on service) at restaurants in addition to the 10% that's added to the check. Is that appropriate?
I don't rely on third parties to pass my tip on. 100 pesos/day is about the top I tip but I stay in lower end hotels. People tip 100 pesos and more for a bartender and they aren't cleaning toilets and washing your sheets.
You can save on your bill by offering cash and negotiating. The credit card fees are high and are automatically subject to tax.
You can save on your bill by offering cash and negotiating. The credit card fees are high and are automatically subject to tax.
I view most people who are there to serve me as servants, but I respect them for that and never abuse them or expect them to stray from job description. I was in a hotel in Saudi some years ago, we were eating and chatting, I lit a cigarete and started smoking and after a couple of minutes our waiter 'servant' put his hand to my left side and cupped it to receive my ash. These guys are not allowed to leave the table unless ordered to, which was quite a new one for me. I did in the end realize and told him to go get an ash tray before I stubbed this thing out in his hand. He did, but something tells me if I had not, he would have offered his hand as an ashtray all the way.
Yu don't get service like that in DR, hence I tip when someone does something nice for me, not just acts as we all expect each other to.
DR service is the sh1ttest in the world, when they open their eyes and smell the coffee and not the money and link the two is when they will step out of poverty and into the first world.
Only 10% of the 28% goes to the staff, and I've heard it's shared, and half the time the restaurant doesn't even give it to the servers. The other 18% is tax that goes to the government. He said he adds another 10%, which is only 20% total tip, "depending on the service". I'm sure if it's lousy service, they don't get an additional 10%.
You always tip your Housekeeper!!!! Your amount seems right for here in the DR. In the USA i would do $5 a day depending on the place maybe more.
unless you handed it to the housekeeper.. I would actually consider it stealing. I expect to not have any money or jewelry or anything in the room touched by the housekeeping staff. How do they KNOW it is a tip? I ususally leave a tip at the end of the stay..
I just say that because if you Handed it to her, I would certainly expect her to say, Muchas Gracias Senor because that if certainly about an hour's wages for her, right?
All good points. The additional 10%, given in cash to the server if they've made you comfortable, is appropriate and fair.
You place it on top of a note saying: "Para la ama de llave" and "Gracias". But in the hand is good too.
Usually if you leave the tip at the end of the bed it is known but i usually leave a note as well too.
I experimented with this at various hotels. Conclusion: any money on the bed is considered a tip, everywhere else - not.