Mousekeeping Tips for DVC?

[Mrs Potato Head]

Since DVC has limited (in same cases, no mousekeeping services based on length of stay), do you still tip mousekeeping?

Just curious....TIA!

 

[Cruelladeville]

I don't tip, since no one did anything to deserve a tip in the first place. I think tipping is supposed to be a reward for service, and if you are not getting any service--

 

[twotoohappy]

I tip a few bucks on trash and towel day and then a larger tip on check out.

This will become a debated subject (again) to tip or not to tip.....

When in doubt, I tip and even if it's just a few bucks, you'll make them happy

 

[bicker]

Disney's housekeepers are non-tipped personnel. They're supposed to decline gratuities (but I doubt many do). Tip if you would like to. Don't tip if you don't care to. If you do decide to leave money, don't worry about them "having to turn the tips in" (I doubt any of them do, and doubt that anyone really is checking to make sure they do, so no one will get in trouble because you tipped). Having said all that, if you do want to tip, it would be appropriate to tip for the one night's service; a few dollars should cover it.

 

[bom_noite]

You know, I spend 60 days a year in hotels around the world. I never have gone out of my way to tip housekeeping - but - usually I will collect my loose change and leave it in a glass.

In fact, I never thought to tip housekeeping until I was in India 10 years ago. I had to kill a Saturday till my 10pm flight. That day the housekeeping staff came and knocked on my door 3 times - just asking me if they could do anything and making sure they knew how much they enjoyed me staying there!

Took me 3 times - finally got the hint! Nothing gets past old Bom - I will tell you that!

 

[bicker]

Yeah, two places I've been to are really gratuity-driven cultures: India and Egypt. The "hand outstretched" is very prevalent in both places.

 

[BCV23]

I tip on checkout day. I leave a smaller tip on t&t days when I remember that housekeeping indeed will be coming.

Although mousekeeping is not listed as a position for which tipping is customary, they don't make a lot of money, those villas are large and I do appreciate their work.

Bicker, I've never seen any indication anywhere that housekeepers should not accept tips. I believe many of us tip in the other resorts and I see no reason to not include mousekeepers in DVC accomodations.

 

[bicker]

Yup, I didn't see any indication, in anything printed either. That's why I was so surprised when I heard what the GM of the BoardWalk resort told me.

 

[BCV23]

Yup, I didn't see any indication, in anything printed either. That's why I was so surprised when I heard what the GM of the BoardWalk resort told me.

Maybe he made it up!

Seriously, that really surprises me. Although it was many years ago now, I called either housekeeping or the front desk about leaving some leftover pop or something for the mousekeeper at the Polynesian. I was told to leave a note detailing what I was leaving and then the mousekeeper could accept it. No alcohol though. To this day, that is what I do with unopened groceries. If they can accept that stuff, why not a tip?

So how do we get the official word?

 

[CarolAnnC]

I have been told that a CM in a non-tipped position (not just housekeeping) will be required to decline a tip twice from you, but the third time you offer they may accept. This is face to face of course. Valet and waitstaff are exempt since they are tipped positions.

I, too, leave a note with a trash and towel day tip, and any requests I make for replenished items have been granted me.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't tip, since no one did anything to deserve a tip in the first place. I think tipping is supposed to be a reward for service, and if you are not getting any service--

They do completely clean the room after you leave, it was cleaned before you got there, so there is some service involved. I leave a small tip on trash & towel day and when we leave.

 

[bicker]

So how do we get the official word?

Send email to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

It's someone else's turn.

Please do post the reply you get. I keep a file of the official statements I either get or read online, for future reference.

 

[jekjones1558]

Tipping is totally voluntary, but I believe that maid service is an undervalued and underpaid position everywhere. I have found that a few dollars on trash and towel day and a larger tip on cleaning day is greatly appreciated by mousekeepers. I believe it is the acknowledgment, as well as the cash, that is important. Sorry to sound like I am on a soapbox. I just feel that these female dominated positions do not get a fair shake in our economic system.
Here is the envelope I use to leave tips so that mousekeeping knows that money is for them:
mousekeeping envelopes

 

[TDC Nala]

Not for trash and towel service. Maybe if I stayed long enough for a full cleaning.

 

[cathydisneynut]

Thanks for posting this info! I was wondering what to do about tipping for our DVC holiday, as I have always stayed offsite before, in villas.

Thanks again!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The same subject came up on this board a week ago. Here's what I wrote:

Even on the shortest DVC point stays, there's one full cleaning associated with your stay. You can either think of it as the cleaning that took place before you checked in (cleaning up to have the villa ready for you) or the cleaning that will take place when you check out (cleaning up after you).

I'm sure that some DVC guests leave a tip for housekeeping on check-out day, and others do not.

Unlike sub-minimum-wage hospitality cast members — such as bellman, valet parking attendants, and dining room servers — for whom tips are the bulk of their income (and for whom tips are expected), housekeepers are not officially in such a "tipped position." But housekeepers still work awfully hard for fairly low wages.

We tend to leave some cash on the master bedroom pillow on check-out day.

Short answer: Tip housekeeping if you want to, not because you have to.​

This subject has come up on this board many times over the years.

What I don't understand is why some guests tip DVC housekeepers based on the length of their stay (without daily cleaning). If someone stays three nights, why should it make sense to tip three times as much as if someone stays just one night?

I'm equally puzzled why anyone would write that DVC members do not get any service from housekeeping. Then how come the villa is clean when they check in? And how come it's clean for the next guests after they check out?

Finally I'm puzzled why some DVC members feel a need to vacuum and to strip beds. It makes sense not to leave a pigsty with trash and dirty dishes all over the villa. But why vacuum when the housekeeper is going to vacuum anyway? And why strip the beds? It only takes the housekeeper a few second to strip each bed, so what does leaving the sheets on the floor accomplish other than to make the housekeeper bend over to pick them up?

 

[Mrs Potato Head]

Ok, I asked this question because I have never fully felt comfortable with how much to tip housekeeping in a hotel before. With the added confusion of this situation not be being a true "hotel" stay, but actually an "ownership" situation, I am unclear in my own mind if the cost of mousekeeping to me actually comes out of my annual dues. If so, I really don't know why I'd tip (at least not excessively) because all it truly does is ADD to the cost of the vacation for me, and if I've paid for it elsewhere, I want to consider that.

Now, I'm not trying to be cheap here...but if you think about the cost of the points as an owner, versus the cost of a hotel stay to a "guest", then I'd have to consider the added cost of ownership (AKA annual dues) in the equation when considering gratuitites. In other words, I've paid for the room with my points (ownership interest), and I pay for ongoing maintenance of the resort with my annual dues. Isn't housekeeping part of the ongoing maintenance? So aren't I already paying for this service?

Yes, I understand that mousekeeping isn't the highest paid profession. But neither is the vendor that sells me the soda from the cart at Epcot. I don't tip him...yet if he were a waitor, I would. So I'm trying to figure this all out in my head...

I want to be fair, so please don't FLAME me.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Now, I'm not trying to be cheap here...but if you think about the cost of the points as an owner, versus the cost of a hotel stay to a "guest", then I'd have to consider the added cost of ownership (AKA annual dues) in the equation when considering gratuitites. In other words, I've paid for the room with my points (ownership interest), and I pay for ongoing maintenance of the resort with my annual dues. Isn't housekeeping part of the ongoing maintenance? So aren't I already paying for this service?

Yes, I understand that mousekeeping isn't the highest paid profession. But neither is the vendor that sells me the soda from the cart at Epcot. I don't tip him...yet if he were a waitor, I would. So I'm trying to figure this all out in my head...

I want to be fair, so please don't FLAME me.

I won't flame you -- I agree entirely. Yes, they clean before and after we leave, but that's part of the MAINTENANCE of the property! We actually usually just cancel the T&T and/or the full cleaning ... we take our trash out ourselves and I always wash the towels myself.

And IIRC, someone posted on a similar thread on the Resorts board that maids make $10/hour at WDW. That's not exactly minimum wage.

 

[Boston5602]

Although I have stayed at BW 8 times , not once as an owner , I have always tipped daily . I put the money in an envelope with a Disney character on it and it says thank you mouse-keeping ( got the set up from someone on the internet ) and depending on size of the unit I would leave appropriate cash amount . One time I was leaving $10 a day ( studio )and I was there for 10 days solo ,then I got sick and needed Housekeepings assistance and gave them $50 but they earned it that day.


Now as an owner I will still tip but glad it wont be as many times

P.S. any one who cleans up after me doesn't get paid enough



.

 

[MinMouse]

We have always left a tip at the last day or our stay until last Easter week. We stayed in a studio for the first time. We're used to having six people in the 2br so we usually have lots of extra towels. We needed a lot more towels and some more coffee. We left a nice note and 10 dollars and boy did we have towels. I think it was something like 14 bath towels. The mousekeeper also cleaned our dishes and did a lot more clean up than we have ever gotten on T&T day. The mousekeeper knocked on our door later that day to make sure we had everything we needed and say "God bless you." We thought it was $$$ well spent and have done it every trip since. I always appreciate coming into the clean room and even if they are making $10 an hour I can't imagine living on that in Orlando.