Tipping May Be the Norm, but Not for Hotel Housekeepers
In 2014, two longtime housekeepers at the JW Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot recalled, guests were regularly leaving cash tips when they checked out of their rooms, a result of the
hotel chain taking part in “The Envelope Please,” an initiative started by the nonprofit group A Woman’s Nation to make it easier for customers to show appreciation to housekeepers.
“I couldn’t let people see my hands.”
Yet housekeepers say that, without the gentle nudge of initiatives like “The Envelope Please,”
only about 30 percent of guests leave a tip — a figure Professor Blum found as well.
Though their wages are above the median hourly wage of $11.37 for hotel housekeepers reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016, the profession’s
earnings are less than the pay for housekeepers in other industries, like hospitals ($12.74 per the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
“If it’s a one-night stay, 90 percent of the time they won’t leave a tip.”
But said she would never push guests, even those who have booked an extended stay, to leave tips for Casa Madrona’s housekeepers.