There’s a rule of thumb when going to the pub: tip heavily on the first round, and you’ll get better service throughout the evening. Surely this extends to other tippable occupations, such as hotel cleaners. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever been able to tip the cleaner when I leave.
This is, as far as I can tell, because there’s no standard for tipping. There’s no easy way to specify that money I leave in location x is earmarked for the cleaner. Obviously, if I’ve vacated the room, any money I leave is for whoever cleans the room. However, in doing so, I fail to reap any first-round tipping benefits (whatever those may be).
Just as towels in the bathtub mean replace them, we need a standard hotel room location for tipping the maid. Maybe in the sink? On top of the television?
DarrenBarefoot.com 
My parents always leave it on a pillow. They’ve never had any problems with it.
but you aren’t supposed to tip in Paris anyway so it’s okay.
If you want to make it clear, write “chambermaid” on an envelope (often found on the desk) and leave it in a conspicuous place. You could also give this envelope to the front desk — but perhaps write “Chambermaid for Room 123”.
My sister worked as a chambermaid in Newquay, England for a summer. She has many horror stories about the conditions rooms were sometimes left in. And those hotel guests were the ones who never left tips.
Imo: A service charge is included with meals, but it’s customary to leave a small additional tip as well. The service charge doesn’t apply for non-restaurant professionals such as maids, so one should tip them.
Generally speaking, unless it’s an outright offence in a country, I always tip the way I do back home. I mean, nobody’s going to refuse more money, and they’re almost always going to need the money more than I do.
I’ve never travelled, so I can’t speak of my international tipping experience. In Canada, I have mixed feelings about tipping.
First of all, I’m generally a really good customer – for instance, if I ordered one dish, and the waitress wrote down the wrong thing and brought it to me, I’d very likely eat it (assuming it wasn’t something I really hated). I’m always polite, and I don’t get annoyed if my coffee/water isn’t always full.
Secondly, I’ve worked in horrible service jobs that soceity doesn’t deem tip-worth. I worked at 7-Eleven, graveyard shift, 50 hours a week. I dealt with drunk customers, vomit clean-up, boiling hot cheese sauce all over my arms, and more. Not once did anyone tip me, yet I was always polite (barring a few drunks I threw out).
I’m fine tipping someone who goes the extra mile, or someone in a greasy-spoon who’s obviously needing the extra money. The more upscale the place I go to, the more hesitant I am to tip. That’s just me though 🙂
Same with Donna, I always leave my tip each day on the pillow and so far that has worked in the US, Turkey, Paris, Vienna, and London. I guess $$-on-the-pillow is a universal sign.
When I travel I leave a couple bucks or euro on the bed before going out each day. It seemed to work just fine.
I never know how much to tip at a hotel. I guess the overall tip depends on how long you stay, but I never know how much to leave per night.
When I worked at a resort in my early twenties, it was absolutely verboten to take any money (or anything else, naturally) from the room while the guest was still checked in, whether it was left on a pillow or not. However, we did get the occasional tip, usually left on the table or on top of the tv, after checkout.
If the guest had left it with the front desk, or in a very clearly marked envelope that we could show the supervisors, that might have worked, but never happened to us.
From my husband, the ex-housekeeping supervisor at a Fairmont Hotel — if you want to tip the hotel staff, you can leave it at the front desk at the end of your stay and specify that it’s for the housekeeping staff. That way, it gets split among the staff who actually worked on your room during your stay instead of going to the lucky person who is on shift when you check out.
In my own experience, I’ve always thought it nice to use a piece of hotel stationery and write a succinct “thank you very much” and leave this with a couple of loonies (or equivalent international coinage) each day, on the desk by the phone or on the bedside table. It takes just a short moment to jot out the note and it makes it perfectly clear that the money is there for the staff and not just what you’ve dumped out of your pockets the night before.
Also if you want anything special in your room, like extra towels or toiletries, a good tip at the start of your stay with your request can make sure the staff give your room an extra polish throughout your stay. A little grease on the wheels, no?