It’s particularly galling to see a tip solicitation in this guest room at the Rapid City, South Dakota Hyatt Place – they’re suggesting a minimum tip of $5, but angling towards $10 or $15, when the property… isn’t doing daily housekeeping!
The tip goes to ‘the staff’ but that really just means it becomes part of their pay, and as honest hoteliers admit, guest tips mean they don’t have to pay as much to attract employees.
How do you solicit housekeeping tips (though this doesn’t actually promise that it goes to anyone in housekeeping…) without providing housekeeping?
Before getting blowback for the candid admission, Hilton’s CEO acknowledged he doesn’t tip housekeeping. Another chain CEO admitted encouraging tipping was a way to avoid raising wages. Tipping for thee but not for me!
Then they started wanting you to tip at the self-service breakfast buffet and even tip the foreign hotel ownership group. But now they want you to tip the front desk clerk who checks you in, too.
I’ve written about a Marriott that wants you to tip the front desk staff at check-in, and not even for an upgrade. They use a QR code, so the employee probably doesn’t even know right away that you’ve paid. The Hyatt Centric Boston was doing this too. So does Marriott’s Fairfield Inn New York Midtown Manhattan.
Staff are expensive, and shifting their cost onto the guest to pay is one way owners manage costs. Another is automating the front desk entirely using kiosks and mobile check-in. Massive tip inflation, and spreading to new scenarios, is a good scam for businesses. But it is time to make it stop.
I would be happy to receive a reminder to give a tip because I always try to leave one, but sometimes I forget or don’t have enough cash to leave one. The idea of being able to leave a tip by credit card is a great idea, and I don’t feel obligated to give the amount stated on the card just because it’s there (although the amount I usually give per day of actual housekeeping is on this card). That’s what the “Custom” option is for. It’s OK to use that option.
Hi Gary,
Would love for you to know that the Marriott Luxury collection in Paros, The Cosme at check out when paying the bill they also ask you to include a suggested tip of 20% for front of house. It was done in such way that you feel bad if you don’t leave anything which is totally wrong. Also at a luxury property where a night retails for over $1,300 they want a 20% tip on that amount and every dollar you may have spent at the hotel? This should be made illegal to do. It is optional but how it’s presented and done (with the person helping mentioning about it) is guilt tripping you into leaving something. Terrible practice.
Hyatt sucks
No less than 50 dollars a day gratuity for housekeepers so owners don’t have to pay them anything
The high end premium breakfast alone is worth that 😉
What a crappy brand though granted better than motel 6 or econolodge
Gary, in the interest of accuracy, please change the clickbait word “demand’ in your headline to one of the words actually used in the story: “suggesting” or even “angling.” However galling that sign may be at a hotel not offering daily housekeeping, the phrase “please feel free to leave a tip” is definitely not a demand.
When will View from the Wing have a link for tips? Does VFTW accept credit cards?
Tip culture in this country is completely out of whack.
I didn’t think demand means what you think it means.
I had the same BS at a Hyatt Regency last week. Sign at the front desk stated the hotel does not provide housekeeping (period, for your entire stay, not just daily), yet there was one of these QR tip placards on the nightstand. Just who are we tipping and what for??
The word “Demand” in the headline here is a bit much, for sure. While I totally agree that tipping culture is out of hand, I have also been stumped on numerous occasions when, wanting to leave a tip, I didn’t have any cash. I have more than once taken week long trips from California to the east coast and back without ever spending cash. In our increasingly cashless society, some of the folks who get hurt are the bell hops or the housekeepers (and others) who are traditionally tipped with cash straight out of one’s pocket. I would actually appreciate a hotel giving me some good non-cash options for leaving a tip, if done respectfully. I think this example is done pretty well, honestly. I also assume Crystal, and property management, know that any tip will be directly proportional to the quality and the quantity of service received. No actual room cleaning, no tip.
I’m staying at that SD Hyatt Place this month. I won’t be tipping housekeeping.
And don’t get me started on the nebulous “resort fee”…….
Video ad on your website, with audio. STFU about hotel tipping, control your ads for the benefit of your readers.
I have always spoken with the housekeeping staff in my hallway to find out who is working my floor. I tip them cash directly ahead of time ensuring outstanding ding service. On occasion I will tip them in person at the end. I DO NOT tip QR codes, front desk, or add to my bill. It ends up cushioning a bottom.line someplace
From the management that can’t even spell “experience”.
No need to get so worked up Gary. Easy to just say no!
I did one of these QR tips at a Hyatt House. It was for a thied party provider so no World of Hyatt points were earned.
@Serge T, I remember staying in a beautiful hotel in the Lake District of the UK (Lodore Falls Hotel) and being at the front desk when a doctor checked out. He had been there with his family. I recall him instructing them to add a substantial percentage to the bill as a service charge, without being asked. Maybe that was the custom in the old days in the UK and Europe.
The concept of tipping someone to do their job is irrational. Having said that, the housekeeper does more work than a bartender receiving a tip for serving ag lass of house wine.
Reminds me of a tipping QR code in Louisville at the bell hop and the minimum was $5.
Somewhat related, highly recommend the DoubleTree (formerly Holiday Inn) out there in Rapid City. (Newly renovated!)
I’ve stopped tipping where zero housekeeping is provided during my stay. Most lower Marriotts now say they’ll do a “refresh” after 5 days. I did recently stay at the Marriott Inner Harbor in Victoria BC and it was a delight to have daily housekeeping again, including actual cleaning. I tipped generously ($25) at the end of our 3 night stay. As for all the owners of Residence Inns, Springhills, etc. – y’all better start staffing up and paying people more, cuz I have no plans to start tipping for services NOT received.
Yet another ‘thank you’ to Gary for naming and shaming specific locations and operators who do bad things.
Yes, tipping ‘culture’ is out of hand in the USA, but, for real, it’s actually the owners who are to blame, because they refuse to pay their workers a living wage, and are subsidizing their profits off guilt-tripping guests into tipping these modern-day indentured servants. It’s sad, and wrong.
Once this 2nd Gilded Age is over, and when the adults are finally back in-charge, we need serious Progressive reforms to stop this nonsense at scale. Minimum wage that is actually at-pace with inflation is a good start, but clearly not enough. Medicare for all (who want it.) Expand the social safety net, not retract it. Sheesh.
To those who continue to propagate the lies of the faux ‘culture war’, please, stop ‘carrying water’ for the ultra-rich and the corrupt, and start standing up and speaking out for better conditions for the working class, because, as George would say… ‘you ain’t in the club.’
Tips are for workers who deserve them. Waiters, door dashers, shoe shiners, bellhops and the like. I have tipped hotel maids before when service above and beyond pre covid standards were given but NEVER when asked to.
Thank you for the reminder to not travel to or in any country that has a tipping culture
The tipping culture in the USA is out of control. It has now gone beyond a recognition for good service and has become nothing more than a part of the check.
I bet this money doesn’t go directly to housekeepers, but directly to the ownership. The staff will probably receive a flat rate each month on top of their crappy wages.
Tipping hotel staff is basically the only time I use cash now, and far too often I don’t have any cash on me. I have to imagine I am not alone, and the overall amount that staff gets in tips is declining over time as everyone moves to virtual payments. I wish Hyatt would just add tipping into their app, like Starbucks.
1) “No housekeeping”? How is that accurate?
2) Is there some requirement that a housekeeper is only tipped if they housekeep daily?
3) What is the relevance of the bottom image with a wad of cash?
I am ok with tipping housekeeping if the room is as clean as I expect it to be when I arrive. Staying in various Hyatts in the States the past few months, i did not see or hear anything about tipping staff.
I’d rather not have someone come into my room every day. If anything, the only thing I may need is to have my trash taken out. When staying more than a few days, I would like my room cleaned.
I usually tip housekeeping in cash knowing they are usually the lowest paid workers there and, if part-time, may not receive benefits.
Absolutely disgusting! In Australia, it’s completely up to you whether you tip or not. How is it my obligation to pay an employee their salary when the hotel rates are 200AUD plus per night. I do feel sorry for the service staff in the U.S, but I refuse to enable this sort of behaviour. I visit places where I get superior service and get better value for my money. I’m not against tipping, but it should never be compulsory. It should be paid for good service.
Interesting first time I here if this. Should be noted if this a general practice at ALL Hyatt hotels or individual franchises by choice. Being in the business, I would also take note, since you seem to be well traveled, the demands that brands make on hotel owners that cost and keep profits from them. Let’s be fair here. I can almost guarantee that what you experienced is a way to recoup some of their franchise fees.
Hotel must use the same spell checker that Gary uses…
I Never tip.
See how easy it is.
I love US tipping culture.
Live this!
I never tip (other than a fixed formulaic amount for full-service restaurants, down to the penny) but the price of what I buy is subsidized by the idiots who do
The author is 100% right, tips simply lower the amount of pay the employer has to pay the staff, as evidenced by US serving staff wages starting at $2-5,000/year for a full-time job at a tipped restaurant vs. multiple of that at McDonald’s. Tipping just distorts wages, lowering the fixed price charged to consumers – it does not make the position a higher paid one!
A heartfelt thanks to Americans who overtip for subsidizing our purchases! If 90% tip the chambermaid $15, his or her market-clearing fixed.wage will go down by $12.or whatever, which competition eventually force the business to pass on (at least in part) as lower rates, benefitting me, the non tipper (of non-tipped.occupations). THANK YOU, more money for me!!
American tipping culture. Highest expectation for lowest level of service.
No cleaning, no tip. It’s fairly easy.
Saw study where avg tip at us restaurants is at 14% now. Younger folk aren’t tipping. Counter tipping culture. I’ve drop to 15% like it was years ago . May go to 12%. Tired of this crap
Crazier in Canada where restaurant workers get regular minimum wages but expect 15 % + due to Americans. Tipping gone crazy
In California, many food industry workers make more than minimum wage (minimum wage is $16.50/hr.) and all servers make at least minimum wage unless the management is breaking the law and giving them less. Tips are expected above that. I rarely eat in served restaurants these days or any restaurants at all. I do get take out pizza.
When I tip, it is cash directly to the person I want to receive it. If it is housekeeping, I will leave the cash under a used pillow (if they don’t find it, then the next guest will know that the bed sheets weren’t changed).
However, the entire tipping issue has become completely out of hand.
If the government would stop giving away so many freebies the market demand would equalize. The problem is everyone now wants a “Liveable wage”. That’s wonderful however not everyone works for a “liveable wage”. Minimum wage used to be meant for entry level jobs. Someone’s first job, a special needs person who wanted to give meaning to their life. It was not meant to support a family of 2 much less 4 or even more!! Minimal skill equals minimal pay!!! If you want higher pay learn more skills! Work more hours! I have been working since I was 13 years old in a snowball at the baseball park. I made $3 an hour back in the early 90’s. I then started umpiring games at 15. I made anywhere for $10-14 a game for an hour to 1.5 hours. I worked a sporting goods store for $4.25 an hour when I was 16. Bottom line, I worked my ass off and grinded at many different jobs. I went to college on a scholarship, because I also worked hard in school. I didn’t make the best decision on majors, because I graduated with a journalism degree. I graduated after 9/11 and so the economy and world was shit. I started at a hotel front desk making $7 an hour. It has taken me a long time to get where I am today. Many bumps in the road, but one thing remained the same I worked hard. I now am a district manager for a fast food company and make 6 figures with great benefits and quality of life. So I’m soooo sick and tired of the woe as me attitude and the pity parties. Work hard and learn something and you will be rewarded!!! Stop asking for someone else to pay your way!
I actually think non-restaurant tipping in America will decline because many people don’t carry cash anymore.
When I’m traveling, I’m rarely interacting with people I will see again so I’m not looking for reasons to tip people who I don’t know for random things.. In other words, I behave like pretty much every human on the planet who is not an elite American.
Phuck no. I tip for daily housekeeping always. This, no..
Well I would say this on the subject for one I do like the fact that you can tip on a credit card helps keep track of where the money goes, with the said I tip on service if we have daily housekeeping and it is really good then I tip good if it’s not so great then I don’t leave as much. For the fact of tipping a front desk or at the service of buffet again if I feel they are doing some type of exceptional service I would tip but if not I wouldn’t
My grandmother taught me that a tip was properly delivered directly to the hand that provided the exemplary service.
This is getting ridiculous. I don’t mind leaving a tip for a waiter, driver, etc… but lately in the US, I’m expected to tip someone working the counter at a pizza or sub shop when I go buy some food. Wait on me, expect a tip. Ring me up, you’re not getting a tip. This is getting way out of hand.
@ 1990 Three paragraphs of talking points often used by the “limousine liberals.”
As for tipping and housekeeping, I find the Maastricht Crown Plaza practice of awarding 500 IHG points per day when declining housekeeping to be nice gesture that encourages a giving attitude without having a “reminder” in the room. Perhaps this is common at most Crown Plaza hotels, I just don’t stay in enough of the IHG properties to know.
I just print my own venmo QR codes and stick them over the originals, no one can tell. Nice little random passive income.