Hotel housekeeping staff are paid minimum wage and receive almost no tips as most travelers either do not tip or are “not aware” that tipping housekeeping staff is a commonly accepted practice. Further, housekeeping staff are typically operating on a strict time schedule and must complete their assigned tasks on schedule which further adds stress to their job.
A quote from the travel magazine Budget Travel in which a housekeeper relates:
I cut corners everywhere I could. Instead of vacuuming, I found that just picking up the larger crumbs from the carpet would do. Rather than scrub the tub with hot water, sometimes it was just a spray-and-wipe kind of day… After several weeks on the job, I discovered that the staff leader who inspected the rooms couldn’t tell the difference between a clean sink and one that was simply dry, so I would often just run a rag over the wet spots… I apologize to you now if you ever stayed in one of my rooms. You deserved better. But if housekeepers were paid more than minimum wage – and the tips were a bit better – I might have cleaned your toilet rather than just flushed it.
What would you suggest hotel managers and/or owners do to minimize or eliminate this behavior by housekeeping staff? If this is a Principal / Agent problem what solution can be made to stop this and why?