DLH concerns

[bbeagle]

I tipped the housekeeping staff between $15-20 a day during my 8 day/7 night stay this month.

Tipping hotel housekeeping has got to be one of the wildest tip differences there is.

My brother who will tip 20% minimum to a restaurant server, will tip $0 to hotel housekeeping.

I will tip housekeeping only once at the end of our stay, not every day. And that won't be more than $20 total. You're extremely generous.

 

[joseph821]

Tipping hotel housekeeping has got to be one of the wildest tip differences there is.

My brother who will tip 20% minimum to a restaurant server, will tip $0 to hotel housekeeping.

I will tip housekeeping only once at the end of our stay, not every day. And that won't be more than $20 total. You're extremely generous.

I just give what I think is fair. Housekeeping staff work hard.

 

[DLgal]

Enjoyed your post. Each person needs to stay at a resort that fits their needs. All I want to say is that you stated you value a clean, quiet and spacious room, well when we were at GCH 3 weeks ago our room was spotless, it was very quiet and had a beautiful glass shower. The mousekeeping was the best we have ever had and they worked very hard to make our stay magical. I realize that DLH has larger rooms but for the 4 of us we had more than enough room where we were.

I'm very happy to hear how much you love DLH because we visited there and thought it was beautiful also. Each resort has it's own magic.

Disneyland Hotel rooms are not always larger. That's actually something I very much dislike about it. There are NUMEROUS room sizes and configurations at DLH. Some rooms are tiny, with weird bathroom layouts. Some have HUGE foyers/entry ways that is just a lot of wasted space and the cramped space where the beds are. Some have a desk, some don't. Some have a really comfy armchair, some don't. Some have the bathroom sinks outside the shower/toilet area, some have everything inside one room. There is no consistency and you get what you get.

The room sizes are GCH are more uniform. The only major differences are that some rooms have a daybed and some don't. All of them have the same general layout and bathroom style.

 

[DLgal]

Tipping hotel housekeeping has got to be one of the wildest tip differences there is.

My brother who will tip 20% minimum to a restaurant server, will tip $0 to hotel housekeeping.

I will tip housekeeping only once at the end of our stay, not every day. And that won't be more than $20 total. You're extremely generous.

You get different housekeepers during an extended stay. At Beach Club, we were there 9 nights. Had 3 different housekeepers during that time. Tipping at the end just gives that one lucky housekeeper WAY too much money for work they may not have even done.

 

[RoseColored97]

Enjoyed your post. Each person needs to stay at a resort that fits their needs. All I want to say is that you stated you value a clean, quiet and spacious room, well when we were at GCH 3 weeks ago our room was spotless, it was very quiet and had a beautiful glass shower. The mousekeeping was the best we have ever had and they worked very hard to make our stay magical. I realize that DLH has larger rooms but for the 4 of us we had more than enough room where we were.

I'm very happy to hear how much you love DLH because we visited there and thought it was beautiful also. Each resort has its own magic.

For sure, the Mousekeeping staff across the board is fantastic! They did a great job at the GCH and DLH. Someone mentioned up thread about no turndown service, which we did not receive either but that was in October 2022 so maybe it was still not being offered after coming back from COVID. Hopefully that will become more standard as staffing needs become less of an issue at the resort.

These are just the things we look for when looking for any hotel, whether that is in another destination, a Disney owned property, or a motel/hotel on Harbor. It wasn't to say that GCH was dirty by an means, we had a very clean room but had a tub...wish we would have had the glass shower! Needing space is why I will mostly only book suites off-property to have that extra room, it just helps me to feel better and not feel so confined even though we hardly spend any time in the room and usually only travel as a party of 3 lol The difference in space between GCH and DLH might not even be that significant, it might just be the full wall windows and increased lighting which gives the illusion of not feeling so confined to one room. I'm just glad we had that experience at GCH to know it is not the right place for our family or what we are looking for on vacation. We wouldn't have known had we not tried it out.

I'm glad that the GCH works very well for you and yours! I'm always happy to hear when people have a 10/10 experience no matter where they stay. Hope you have an amazing trip!

 

[crystal1313]

Oh wow, it was just in 2019??? Ours was definitely in need of something if it wasn't TLC . I could have sworn it was longer than just before COVID when they took away the bunkbeds and redid the rooms. That is a little surprising.

Our room last year was also very beat up. It was the furniture that looked worse for wear. I could not believe how bad it looked and how recent the renovation was. It made me wonder what people do in the rooms to ruin the furniture like that.

 

[Disney Ron]

You get different housekeepers during an extended stay. At Beach Club, we were there 9 nights. Had 3 different housekeepers during that time. Tipping at the end just gives that one lucky housekeeper WAY too much money for work they may not have even done.

I was just going to post the same thought. We give a generous tip daily with a thank you message and on our first 2 days at GCH we had 2 different mousekeepers, because they left us a thank you note and signed their first name. So by tipping daily they each received our appreciation. These people work very hard to make our stay that much magical.

 

[Living42Day]

Our room last year was also very beat up. It was the furniture that looked worse for wear. I could not believe how bad it looked and how recent the renovation was. It made me wonder what people do in the rooms to ruin the furniture like that.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to experience a less than perfect room! I was starting to doubt by own experience

That was the same for us, the furniture and armoire were pretty worn. I agree, how do 4-year old renovations become that way. I wonder if the color of the furniture makes that wear and tear stand out more.

 

[alleighboo]

Something to think about regarding the DLH - I haven’t stayed there yet (first trip will be this November!) but the new DVC rooms there open up at the end of September so if you want a newer room, you could always book a cash stay studio. They were the same price as a regular guest room when I was looking for this November.

Oh please update on the villas! We are taking my fiancé's youngest for her graduation in June (her first DL trip) and wanted to go kinda big. I'm thinking the villas are more our speed than the GCH. My fiancé and I have stayed at Paradise Pier and I've stayed off-property. Really leaning towards studio villas!

 

[crystal1313]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to experience a less than perfect room! I was starting to doubt by own experience

That was the same for us, the furniture and armoire were pretty worn. I agree, how do 4-year old renovations become that way. I wonder if the color of the furniture makes that wear and tear stand out more.

Yes. The dresser was super beat up in our room!

 

[StarlitNight05]

Oh please update on the villas! We are taking my fiancé's youngest for her graduation in June (her first DL trip) and wanted to go kinda big. I'm thinking the villas are more our speed than the GCH. My fiancé and I have stayed at Paradise Pier and I've stayed off-property. Really leaning towards studio villas!

I'm also staying at the Disneyland Hotel Villas in November and will report back. We have a garden studio villa and I'm beyond excited. This is a belated 10 year wedding anniversary trip! I was so conflicted about the garden villas since it'll only be a ground level or 2nd story, but I'm getting more excited thinking about not having to take an elevator! We also love having a balcony or outdoor space, so that was the deciding factor. The rooms look amazing from the preview videos. I love the classic Disney touches. It seems to fit well with the DLH.

 

[Disneyland1084]

I've stayed at both, and though I like the Grand Californian the best, in my opinion DL hotel has a nicer pool. I haven't read any responses to your thread, but I'm guessing you would prefer the Grand. I haven't stayed there since 2010. The price for a standard room nowadays is what I would be willing to pay for a double suite. I miss the days when it was affordable for me, lol.

 

[Jwaire]

I will tip housekeeping only once at the end of our stay, not every day. And that won't be more than $20 total. You're extremely generous.

I used to do that until I realized that I wasn't getting anything for my tip. I have found that if you want a little bit of extra magic or service—you have a better chance if you tip everyday. Plus, it's usually never the same person that comes everyday.

My last stay at the DLH, they rearranged our plushes into cute scenes everyday, made us towel animals, brought us more H2O daily, changed towels daily, etc. because we tipped daily (usually around $15 per day, pooled between 4 adults).

Some people may think that's dumb, but we enjoyed the extra effort and I have feeling most people don't bother. These people work hard!

Now, don't get me started about Walt Disney World. Last experience was pretty bare minimum whether you tip or not, but don't worry they'll beat on your door during naptime and want to do a room check or at 8 a.m. on your checkout day.

 

[bbeagle]

I used to do that until I realized that I wasn't getting anything for my tip. I have found that if you want a little bit of extra magic or service—you have a better chance if you tip everyday. Plus, it's usually never the same person that comes everyday.

You have good points. We will try to remember, but it’s hard. We usually are rushing in the mornings to get up with the kids, get them dressed, eat a quick snack for breakfast, teeth brushed, hair combed, magic bands on, etc. to hurry to get to early entry….. it's hard to remember a tip. We will have to start doing it enough that it’s just a habit, something we don’t have to remember to do.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I used to do that until I realized that I wasn't getting anything for my tip. I have found that if you want a little bit of extra magic or service—you have a better chance if you tip everyday. Plus, it's usually never the same person that comes everyday.

My last stay at the DLH, they rearranged our plushes into cute scenes everyday, made us towel animals, brought us more H2O daily, changed towels daily, etc. because we tipped daily (usually around $15 per day, pooled between 4 adults).

Some people may think that's dumb, but we enjoyed the extra effort and I have feeling most people don't bother. These people work hard!

We tip everyday and leave a thank you note. Also tip bell service, maintenance (if called) housekeeping for extra sheets/towels/blankets/etc. These people do work hard and they go the extra mile as well with the little extras (like you mentioned) when we tipped daily. Our kids stuffies are always arranged in cute scenes which they loved. We also leave at least $20 on the last day as the room usually looks like a bomb went off after all our packing/etc. it amazes me people will spend $5 or more a day on lattes/coffee but can’t be bothered to tip the people cleaning your room/mess.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

You have good points. We will try to remember, but it’s hard. We usually are rushing in the mornings to get up with the kids, get them dressed, eat a quick snack for breakfast, teeth brushed, hair combed, magic bands on, etc. to hurry to get to early entry….. it's hard to remember a tip. We will have to start doing it enough that it’s just a habit, something we don’t have to remember to do.

So we don’t forget we leave it out the night before so we don’t forget in the mad morning rush as it is exactly as you described!

 

[joseph821]

So we don’t forget we leave it out the night before so we don’t forget in the mad morning rush.

I agree. On my last trip - just this month, I stayed 8 day/7 night at GCH, I did the tip and note at night too. I was just 1 person in the room. $15-20 tip a day and on the last day I left $20 tip plus all my chage which was probably over $10. I hate traveling with change in my backpack. I left a clean room every day and upon checkout. Housekeeping works very hard and they deserve the tips. Tipped the bell service cast members too. Every one of them that I was in contact with.

 

[LKing]

Where do you leave your tip? At some hotels, housekeeping won't take money left on an end table. We usually leave it on the bed. However, on a recent (non Disney) vacation, we overheard two housekeepers complain that the person stripping the beds was taking their tips. I didn't realize that some hotels have one crew stripping beds and another tending to the rooms.

 

[joseph821]

Where do you leave your tip? At some hotels, housekeeping won't take money left on an end table. We usually leave it on the bed. However, on a recent (non Disney) vacation, we overheard two housekeepers complain that the person stripping the beds was taking their tips. I didn't realize that some hotels have one crew stripping beds and another tending to the rooms.

I leave the note and tip on the desk.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I leave the note and tip on the desk.

Yup, leave a note that says “thank you” on a desk, counter or some other flat service in plain site along with the $$