Vacation home rentals serve as wonderful alternatives to hotels. That’s because there are many perks that come with them. One of the primary reasons why vacation rentals are gaining more and more popularity among travelers is that they are friendlier to the wallet.
This is most especially true for those who are vacationing with their family and friends, as well as those who are looking to have more flexibility when it comes to the length of stay.
Speaking of wallets, there is an important matter that a lot ofbudget-conscious vacation home renters would like to know. It’s none other thantipping — who to tip and how much should they tip.
Continue reading this article if you are about to take a holiday sooner or later, and you are planning on renting a home on Airbnb or Vrbo instead of booking a hotel room.
Below we will talk about things that you need to know regarding tipping your host, housekeeper, and others that you may encounter. After checking out the entirety of this article, feel free to share it on your various social media sites so that your family and friends may get to see this, too!
A Quick Tip on Tipping
You are not going to end up in jail for not leaving a tip after eating at a restaurant, getting pampered at a day spa, or staying at a hotel. There is no law saying that you should tip someone as a sign of gratuity.
As a matter of fact, in some instances, your tip may put someone in jeopardy, such as a government employee.
However, tipping is universally accepted as a gesture of someonewho has nice manners and good social skills. So if you want to be considered asa polite individual, you may be inclined to hand someone a tip.
There are different people that you should tip when staying at a hotel. This is true whether the hotel is high end or low end.
Some of the hotel employees who are most likely to expect to receive a tip from you include housekeeping, room service, concierge, and luggage attendants. Furthermore, each one should be tipped differently.
For instance, the person who cleans your room expects to get anywhere from $3 to $5. On the other hand, the person who carries your bags expects to receive $1 for every luggage.
Again, you are not expected to tip them. But if you want to showyour appreciation for the services that they provide, then handing a tip allowsyou to express that you are grateful for the attention and assistance.
To Tip or Not to Tip
A vacation home rental is not like a hotel. Most of us have stayedat hotels several times already, and thus many of us are aware of which hotelstaff we should tip and how much we should give each one of them.
Unfortunately, not a lot of us have tried renting a home during a vacation. If you have never tried staying at a home that is available on Airbnb or Vrbo, it’s perfectly fine for you to feel a little anxious about tipping.
This is especially true if you don’t want to receive a bad review from the host.
Generally speaking, there is no need for you to tip the host. That’s because a host sees you as a guest and not as a customer. What’s more, a host can easily include all kinds of fees to the overall price.
If getting a tip from the guest is a goal, the host simply has to come up with it, usually in the form of a hidden fee — this is how your host can easily get a tip from you.
But if you really appreciate the host as well as the stay, then feel free to leave a tip or a gift.
Housekeeping is also included in the overall cost. However, a lot of Airbnb and Vrbo renters make it a habit to tip the cleaning staff.
How much tip you should leave will depend on certain factors. They include how many people you are with, how many days you are staying, and how big the place is.
Where Tipping is Impolite
Just because tipping allows you to show your appreciation doesn’tmean that it is something that you should do all the time. As mentionedearlier, tipping a government employee is not allowed.
Are you aware that tipping is considered rude in some countries? That is why when renting a vacation home in one of those countries, tipping may leave the host and the cleaner offended rather than happy.
Needless to say, before you go on your vacation, you should do your assignment first. Log on the web and research if tipping is regarded as a nice gesture or some form of insult in the country you are going to visit.
Here are some tipping facts in some countries that you need to know about:
- Japan. Perhaps you have heard or readabout the idea that tipping in Japan is offensive. However, sometimes the Japaneseare too polite to return your money to you. They hate it when they have toexplain that they don’t like to receive tips and potentially hurt your feelingsin the process.
- China. None of the locals tip in China.The same can be expected for tourists from other parts of the globe. However,some sectors of the Chinese society that have something to do with tourismdon’t mind getting tips due to their low salaries. Some examples of those aregroup tour guides and drivers.
- Australia. Tipping has never been anorm in Australia. After all, every receipt bears a service tax that eliminatesthe need for anyone to tip. While some may leave tips at restaurants, whatusually happens is that customers simply tell the service provider to keep thechange.
- Switzerland. People are paid well inSwitzerland. This includes people who are involved in tourism. What’s more,various services in the country come with taxes, just like in Australia. It’sbecause of these reasons why tipping should be the least of your concerns whenvisiting Switzerland.
- New Zealand. No one in New Zealandexpects you to leave a tip each time you are completely satisfied with theservice that was provided to you. However, some people in the country are notpaid very well. This is why even though they are not requirements, tips arevery much appreciated.
Do you know some other tipping matters in other countries? If so,feel free to share some of them in the comments section below so that othersmay become aware of them, too.
People to Tip
One of the reasons why you prefer to go for a vacation home rentalinstead of a hotel room is that you would like to stay within your budget. Thereare many lodging options available on Airbnb and Vrbo these days that can keepyou from ending up broke while having the vacation of your dreams.
Aside from the steep cost of a hotel room, you also get to dodgetipping a lot of people when renting a home. For the most part, it’s justhousekeeping that you should leave a tip for.
However, it is a completely different story if it’s a luxury villa that you wish to rent.
That’s because there are a bunch of people around that come with the rent, each one of them helping to make your stay more memorable. Some of them are the concierge, chef, housekeeping, maintenance, gardener, and security guard.
If you can afford to rent a luxury villa, then you can surelyafford to give these people generous tips.
The Amount of Tip to Give
Earlier, we mentioned that some of the things that you should consider when tipping the cleaning person at a vacation home rental include the number of guests, the number of days you are staying, and the size of the place.
Some people who rent houses give anywhere from $3 to $5 per day as a tip.
When renting a luxury villa, you are certainly expected to tip. What’s more, you are expected to tip a lot! For instance, a concierge may expect to receive $200 to $550 for making your stay something to rave about.
Generally speaking, the bigger the house and the more hectic the activities that take place during your stay, the higher the concierge’s tip. A chef usually expects to get a tip amounting to 10% to 20% of his or her total fee.
The tip for housekeeping at a luxury villa is a far cry from thetip for housekeeping at a modest vacation rental. At a posh place, tippinganywhere from $150 to $250 a week is the norm.
Before You Go on a Trip
Above are some of the most important matters that you need to know about tipping when it comes to vacation home rental. We hope that this article has provided you with the information that you need to know who to tip and how much to tip.
Have a wonderful vacation!