Bad Manners and Brimstone

I've been in an "extended stay" type hotel for the past week and a half, and I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. I haven't had housekeeping and have tidied the place up myself while I've been here. I want to leave a tip on the last day but I'm unsure how much would be appropriate, and all of the comments I can find online are from people who have housekeeping come and go a few times during their stay (so pretty much like a normal hotel). Does anyone have any thoughts/perspective?

I agree with Isisnin.  This is honestly more like living in an apartment for a short time than being in a hotel.  I'm not sure I'd even tip at all.  Having housekeeping clean the room(s) after you've left is just a part of doing business for them.  If she ever came during your stay, I'd tip a couple of dollars for each time, but like Isisnin, I'd stick to something more in the $5 range, at least no more than $10 if I'm interpreting your description of the arrangement correctly.

Tipping is typically done for a service that is provided to you.  In a hotel, that generally means wiping down the bathroom, vacuuming, clean linens/towels, trash removal, etc.  If there was no service provide to you, you don't have to tip.  I've never tipped for a single night's stay.

I guess I personally still consider it a service to clean up after me, even if I won’t be there to see it, so I’d like to leave something even if it’s more of a token amount-I can understand your perspective though.

If you can afford it, be generous.  The person cleaning your room has has less work in the past several months and could probably really use the money.

I agree with SecretSauce.  If it wouldn't be a hardship for you, tipping $5 or $10 more than you planned might be a small amount to you but a meaningful amount to the person cleaning.

While it's true they didn't clean up during your stay, they may spend more time cleaning after a full week and a half than after one night, so I feel like that extra $5 would be a kindness and also well earned.

I do not tip at hotels at all, housekeeping is included in the price of the room.  Tipping culture has gotten out of control.

I feel the exact same way. The CEO of Hilton hotels took a lot of flak for saying he doesn't tip housekeeping, but it was so refreshing to hear. https://viewfromthewing.com/hiltons-ceo-doesnt-tip-hotel-housekeepers-and-thats-probably-a-good-thing/ I've said before that I tip in a hotel if I have a request above typical service. (E.g. I call housekeeping for extra towels, soap, conditioner.) I will not tip if something is wrong and they're making it right. (E.g. the hairdryer doesn't work, they're shifting my room because the toilet won't stop running.) When my husband and I stay in extended stay hotels, he will sometimes catch a member of housekeeping in the hallway and ask for extra coffee, he tips then. We don't tip when we check out.

Since Victoria asked us about her stay and not our opinions on tipping culture, I'll say, if you want to tip, do $5 and you might bump that up as a nice gesture due to current circumstances. I wouldn't feel obligated to tip.

Thank you everyone. I ultimately ended up leaving $5. I'm a very fastidious person and there wasn't any additional work for them to do. If anything there was less, because I took out all of my own trash, had already swept up the place, and didn't use the kitchen, so the only thing to be done was really just to take away the bed linens and towels.