Mousekeeping

[lnuss1988]

Hey All,

I am working on our budget for our Disney trip, and I was wondering if anyone knew the general rule of thumb for mousekeeping? Any tips is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Linds

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, you're going to get some varied answers here. Housekeeping at WDW is not considered, by Disney, to be a tipped position. So, you aren't 'expected' to tip. But, you can if you choose to. Most people will leave $1 a day, pp in the room. If I'm alone and want housekeeping (sometimes I don't, so hang out the 'privacy please' hanger), I'll leave $3 a day, but when I travel with my dh it's usually about the same because we are extremely neat! Some wait until the end of the stay and leave one lump sum. But, then only the housekeeper that cleans your room on checkout day gets the tip...those in there every day get nothing. Housekeepers change during the week, so you may very possibly not have the same housekeeper over the weekend that you had during the week.
Most here will suggest leaving something each day.

 

[RockNRollKittie]

Rule of thumb is usually $1 per day per person. For a family of 4, $5 per day. It all really depends on what you would like to do. I travel solo and will leave $2-$3 per day. I usually will do $3 if I have a specific request or for my last day since they will have much more cleaning to do. I definitely recommend leaving your tip each day as you will have different housekeepers. If you have kids a fun activity before you depart is making cute disney themed envelopes to leave out each day.

 

[disnut8]

To add - tip each day if you choose to because your mousekeeper can change during your stay. We leave a tip on the pillow so it can't be missed and we've had stays where it's been moved to the nightstand and still there when we get back and we've had stays where it's been taken. Your mileage may vary.

 

[IrishNYC]

We're a family of 3, and I leave $5/day, each day, at Disney. Except for the day DD got sick in the bathroom, that day I left $20, even though I did a decent job cleaning it up myself. I leave it in an envelope by the TV marked for Mousekeeping.

 

[Harambe]

Agree with all these responses. I usually bring an envelope from home with enough $5 bills to cover each day of vacation. That way I am not digging around for money when we are running out the door in the morning. I will use the pad of paper and pen on the night stand to write a note, so the housekeeper can be sure the money is for her/him.

 

[lnuss1988]

Daily tips are a good idea! Fair to say the least! I never thought of doing it that way!

 

[mn51]

We leave $5 each day. Just my husband and me. We are neat but we truly appreciate all of their efforts. It can't be an easy job.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We don't tip anything since housekeeping isn't a tipped position and we don't ask anything other than normal service from Housekeeping. The only tipped positions are valet parking, food and beverage servers and Bell Services.

 

[Nancyg56]

We tip $5 per day when there are two of us in the room. A little more if we have more people. We tip in every hotel and motel we stay in, not just WDW. If you choose to tip, I suggest that you put the money in envelopes ahead of time, and leave one envelope per day to be sure the mousekeeper who cleans the room gets the tip.

 

[rosiebean]

I tip approximately $5 per day, unless it's been a particularly messy day, then I leave a few dollars more. I tip everyday when I'm at WDW. Sometimes, when the Housekeeper does something particularly nice (i.e., noticed we went through all of our coffee packs everyday, so left us extra), I'll find them and give them even more in addition to what we left. I try to bring small bills and fivers to pay for tips for luggage delivery, Mousekeeping, etc. throughout our stay.

While Mousekeeping isn't an officially tipped position, I appreciate anyone who cleans up after me when I'm on vacation, especially someone who cleans the bathroom. Also, I waited tables in college at a comedy club, so it was mostly serving drinks, and it was very hard, very *dirty* work at times (the job included busing and cleaning the room in between shows). I had a ton of customers who didn't tip or didn't tip very well because "she's just serving drinks, it's not like this is a restaurant." So I tend to look at these things from the viewpoint of someone who has been in those shoes. If someone does me a personal service that's hard and often messy, I show them my appreciation through tips.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We tip $5 each time they come. We don't have them clean every single day.

 

[Princess Minnie321]

We are a family of 4 and I tipped $5 per day. I left the money on the tray that held the soap and shampoo on the sink.

 

[oceanmarina]

We are a family of 4 and I usually tip $10 a day (except for check-in and checkout day), I print these neat Mousekeeping envelopes to put the $$ in that this lady designs on passporters that have all the characters on them;

http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264052

 

[oceanmarina]

I tip approximately $5 per day, unless it's been a particularly messy day, then I leave a few dollars more. I tip everyday when I'm at WDW. Sometimes, when the Housekeeper does something particularly nice (i.e., noticed we went through all of our coffee packs everyday, so left us extra), I'll find them and give them even more in addition to what we left. I try to bring small bills and fivers to pay for tips for luggage delivery, Mousekeeping, etc. throughout our stay.

While Mousekeeping isn't an officially tipped position, I appreciate anyone who cleans up after me when I'm on vacation, especially someone who cleans the bathroom. Also, I waited tables in college at a comedy club, so it was mostly serving drinks, and it was very hard, very *dirty* work at times (the job included busing and cleaning the room in between shows). I had a ton of customers who didn't tip or didn't tip very well because "she's just serving drinks, it's not like this is a restaurant." So I tend to look at these things from the viewpoint of someone who has been in those shoes. If someone does me a personal service that's hard and often messy, I show them my appreciation through tips.

Oops forgot to add the quote to my reply, yep I definitely agree with this, it's hard work, and they are cleaning up after us and cleaning the bathroom.

 

[Babsy]

I tip $2.00 per day for DH and me or just me (when solo). We are neat and I make sure that everything is put away so they have a very straightforward job in our room. I do tip more than $2 if asking for anything unusual such as extra towels.

I always leave a Thank You note for housekeeping with the money. I address the note to Housekeeping because I understand that is what they are really called.
(I believe that 'Mousekeeping' is a Disboards term, and have read that some people leaving envelopes addressed that way did not have their tips taken. It is a cute term but could lead to confusion, IMO.)

I do not think that it is necessary to tip as it is not a tipped position. It is personal choice.

In my case: My Mom always tipped housekeeping, so I guess that I am in the habit of it. Plus, I do appreciate that this is not a pleasant job so I like to show a little appreciation.

If I am unhappy with the job done, I do not tip (rare).

 

[adisneyaunt]

Wow... now I'm feeling cheap.
I typically leave $3/day for 2 or 3 of us...
Perhaps I'm behind the times since it seems most are at $5...

Nothing to do with way I leave the room.. which is generally beds made and everything neat n clean..
my habit, it's just the way we live at home... drives the dh crazy that I make the bed on vacation lol

 

[rosiebean]

Wow... now I'm feeling cheap.
I typically leave $3/day for 2 or 3 of us...
Perhaps I'm behind the times since it seems most are at $5...

Nothing to do with way I leave the room.. which is generally beds made and everything neat n clean..
my habit, it's just the way we live at home... drives the dh crazy that I make the bed on vacation lol

I would not feel cheap at all if I were you. The industry standard for leaving tips for housekeeping is $1 per person per day. I think you've just hopped onto a thread where the initial posters tip above that...but if you had a larger sample size, you'll likely find many, many people who tip $1 per person at WDW and elsewhere. Nothing to feel bad about. At all .

 

[mousegear]

I also tip $5/day and we are a family of two. I also put in into envelopes makes with "Housekeeping" before we leave and just take one out each morning so I don't have to look for smaller bills when I am trying to get out each morning. I know that it's not tipped position but it's a hard job cleaning after others. We are really neat and we do make the bed before we leave the room like we do at home but nevertheless, we appreciate their effort.

 

[kitkat4622]

I usually tip $5 per day and it's just me and my grandson. we are neat but these people really have what I call a "thankless" job....