A new union contract in New York City will pay housekeepers over $100,000. That’s good news because you no longer need to feel obligated to tip.
The owners of nearly 250 hotels in the city reached agreement with the union, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, on an eight-year contract that would increase wages by more than 50 percent for workers, union officials said. The hotel owners will continue to pay the full cost of providing health-care benefits for 27,000 union members and their families.
The unusually generous terms were ratified by the board of the Hotel Association of New York City, which represents the hotel owners, and is scheduled for a vote Thursday by the members of the hotel workers’ union, who have a history of moving in lock step with their leaders.
New York City has banned Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms for short stays. And they’ve effectively banned new hotels. That’s limited the supply or rooms and taken many out of the market, which drives up the rates incumbent hotels can charge. That’s largely been at the behest of hotel worker unions. Owners of existing hotels are earning a lot more, and want to keep those profits flowing uninterrupted. They are now in a position to share economic rents created through lobbying efforts with workers.
That was the literal goal of the policies, even though it meant limiting visitors to New York City. 2025 visitor totals (65 million) were still below 2019 levels (66.6 million). Not only didn’t they return to trend they didn’t even catch up. It’s guests who lose (they pay higher room rates than they otherwise would) and the rest of the city (less economic activity from fewer visitors), but both hotel owners and workers win.
In 2025, 13 of the 15 New York City Council candidates backed by the union won their seats. They’ve gone 26 for 26 in the past, and their one of the heaviest spenders on city council races. By law, all New York City hotels must provide daily housekeeping unless a guest affirmatively declines, and it’s illegal to offer an incentive like points for a guest to decline. And generally, most hotels are barred from entering into housekeeping outsourcing arrangements.
Housekeepers in New York City cannot be considered low wage workers. Hilton’s CEO admitted he doesn’t tip housekeepers. The CEO of a major hotel ownership group admitted that the push for tipping is so they can pay lower wages.
By the way, the average visitor to New York from Germany has household income of $92,200. The average visitor from Spain has a household income of $88,500. From France it’s $80,300. And from Italy $80,000.
Lol, who the hell tips a housekeeper?
I stay in hotels regularly where I’m paying $300–$500 a night, and I don’t tip housekeeping — especially since I don’t even use daily service unless I’m staying longer than a typical Monday–Friday trip. At some point, this stops being about generosity and starts being about a broken pricing model.
I’m frankly exhausted with what tipping culture has become in this country. I worked my way through school as a bartender and waiter — back then, 10–15% was considered a solid tip. Today, you’re handed a screen defaulting to 20–25%, often with a prompt to add even more on top of that. That’s not organic generosity — that’s engineered pressure.
And I’m clearly not alone. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans now believe tipping has gotten out of control, and about 65% say they’re tired of it altogether.
Even more telling, 72% of people say they’re being asked to tip in more places than they were just five years ago — everything from coffee counters to self-checkout kiosks. [forbes.com], [qsrmagazine.com] [pewresearch.org]
Meanwhile, the economics have quietly shifted. The average restaurant tip today is already around 19%, up significantly from the 10–15% standard many of us grew up with.
Yet despite that increase, most people still feel like they’re being asked to subsidize wages directly — and roughly 3 in 5 Americans believe businesses are relying on tips instead of paying proper salaries. [pos.toasttab.com] [oysterlink.com]
That’s the real issue for me. I’m already paying premium prices — whether it’s a hotel room or a meal — and then I’m being asked to layer on another 20% to effectively fund payroll. At that point, just price it transparently and pay your staff appropriately. I would much rather see an all-in price than this constant expectation to evaluate and compensate labor on behalf of the business.
I’m still perfectly willing to tip 20% for genuinely good service — especially in sit-down restaurants where there’s real effort and interaction. But the current system has drifted far beyond that. In many cases, tipping no longer reflects service quality; it’s simply become an expected surcharge.
Until pricing and compensation are aligned more honestly, you’re going to keep seeing this pushback.
many hotels offer an envelop in the room suggesting a tip.
NYC hotels are pricing themselves out of the tourist business. Increasingly, only business travel on expense account is paying. I find myself staying farther away unless it’s January, when rates are less crazy.
There is more than 700 hotels in NYC. Most are non-union. Most housekeepers do not make anywhere near $100k, even in NYC. Most hotels in NYC fly under the radar of unions, as they’re too small.
Many Hotels have either ditched or are in the process of ditching or have eliminated daily maid service. Things like Laundry and other items have already been outsourced, and sent out of the building by many properties.
The whole purpose of Tipping is to ensure good service. There is no requirement there, and many do not. In many Asian cultures tipping is considered rude as they are paid well. In the NYC area…Well paid housekeepers are far more of the exception than the norm.
Cue the doom and gloom in NYC commenters. Meanwhile, NYC welcomed 65 million visitors last year, and ranked first in hotel occupancy in the top 25 markets. Even with international being impacted for reasons outside of the control of NYC, travel from UK/Italy/Mexico was still up YoY. The city is doing just fine and with the world cup this year is projecting over 66 million visitors for 2026.
If you have an extra $5-10 bucks after your hotel stay, leave it on the desk for hard working staff that, you know, have to live in a very expensive place. Guess what’s not a fun job? Making beds. If you don’t or if you forget, don’t sweat it.
As for “tipping culture is out of control” – who cares? Meanwhile, the restaurants in NYC that tried to move away from a tipping model in NYC (Danny Meyer’s places) brought tipping back, because that’s just the model and they couldn’t compete for staff without tips. Sorry if the free market is conflicting with anti-tipping ideals.
@Peter — Mhm. Gary knows this is just rage-bait for the blue city/state/NYC-haters and/or those who feel strongly about tipping (or not) and/or those who wanna punch-down on workers (and immigrants). It’s really got it all.
@Peter says
I think you may have conflated what I said or the point I was trying to make (didn’t even mention NYC). Yes, the tipping culture is out of control, when the clerk at the local convenience store flips around the payment screen before finalizing the sale and it asks me to tip him or her for ringing up my soda and chips or be shamed… Yes, that’s out of control and it makes you feel like a heel if you press the “no tip” button while the person in looking directly at you. That’s what I was talking about being out of touch and control. It is now “expected” instead of freely given for great service.
No tips. This culture is out of control
@Peter — Also, speaking of NYC, holy moly… it is scorching hot outside today. Like approaching mid-90s in mid-May? If this continues, the summer is gonna be brutal. Be safe, friends!
@1990
No one brought up politics, immigrants, or “blue states” except you. The thread was about housekeeping wages and tipping—maybe stick to that instead of trying to turn every topic into the same political diatribe. You are the problem with having constructive dialog in this country, you always take it right to the gutter no matter how innocuous the topic and it gets old real quick.
@Gary: ‘but both hotel owners and workers win.’
It depends on the price elasticity of demand for the requisite labor and same metric for rooms.
@D Fray — Don’t play dumb. Gary is commenting on the balance between capital, management, labor, and consumers. Regardless of my meta-commentary, politics is inherent in this and many conversations. You can engage or ignore, but you will not silence me (only Gary can on here). *wink*
@1990
Playing dumb? Please spare me, it has become very obvious as a relatively new subscriber, you are here to troll. Nothing more, noting less. Now I understand the vitriol you receive from many others here. Troll away troll
@D – sure, just decline to tip in that instance. I don’t think you need to always click 20% just because a prompt is offered to you.
Should someone, in the vast majority of circumstances, tip waiters 20% or more? Yes. It’s how they make money versus being on full salary. For me, that’s the only mostly mandatory ‘yes’. You can object in principle to the ‘culture’ while still understanding that tipping is literally how servers earn their pay.
Do you need to tip your coffee person? I think you should for espresso drinks or if it is a place you go to more than once a month, maybe not if someone is just pouring you some drip from a vat of coffee from a place that you do not frequent.
Do you need to tip housekeepers? Maybe not, but it’s invisible labor, and it’s hard work, so it’s a nice thing to do.
Do you tip a valet a few bucks when it’s your car? Probably! When it’s a rental car and because you live in NY you only get secondary insurance via your credit card? Probably? (Lots of QR codes seem to be at valet stands these days…)
Do you need to tip Hudson News or whatever? No.
Is it nice to tip at a small mom and pop kind of store when the physical tip jar has been replaced by a virtual one because lots of folks don’t pay cash anymore? Sure, but it’s not necessary if you’re just buying a drink or whatever, it’s just an option. I’d be more inclined to do so if it’s one of those “round it up to the nearest dollar for the tip jar” versus 20%, although for small transactions it’s often the same difference (if I bought a drink and with tax it was $2.47 and someone gave me $0.53 cents as change, I might throw that in a physical tip jar, and 20% would be ~$0.49.
Is it nice to tip if you have the means to do so? Yep.
@1990 – is it hot today? Yes!
@Peter
Yes, I regularly do tip in most of the scenarios you mention above. My real point is now it has become a “expected” vs freely given. And I agree, if I pay with cash and there is a tip jar at a register I will drop the spare change in, Mom n Pop, agree, but not at a 7/11 or other chain gas station etc.
Cheers!
@Peter — Bah! Too hot to handle! (And, I’m with you on your tipping nuances.)
@D Fray — “Oh no, no, no, no, no. You done got me talkin’ politics. I didn’t wanna. Like I said, y’all, I’m just happy to be alive.” — Chris Mannix, as played by Walton Goggins, in The Hateful Eight (2015). Pardon my (lack of) manners. Welcome aboard, newbie!