Do you leave things in hotel room after departure for the maids to take if they want them?

[helpmepleasewiththis]

I am due to leave for home after a weeks holiday and remember that my DM always used to do this. Things like unused shampoo, sanitary products etc. is this still a thing or would they find it insulting?

Never, and I would have to be quite desperate to want to take used toiletries. What if the owner had done something unpleasant to them? If I leave anything it’s a bit of cash with a note saying it is for the housekeeping staff.

What countries are you referring to?

Yeah - hotel staff are famously generously paid. Leaving a tip is always welcomed by chambermaids.

We leave a tip, both throughout and when we leave. I did leave a beach bag last year, perfectly fine condition I just didn’t have any space in the luggage after we bought souvenirs and gifts. Thought someone would make use of it.

I tend to only bring what I need in relation to toiletries. I do leave things like unopened soft drinks etc and chocolate/biscuits.

Nope, I don’t work in a resort and I live in the uk so was probably thinking more UK hotels but I appreciate the OP did not specify where.

As I said up the thread, I worked as a hotel housekeeper myself. No, I definitely didn’t want your leftover tampons or the last two inches in your shampoo bottle. I wanted you not to trash your room, so that I didn’t have to handle towels smeared with excrement, or clean out a bath you’d used as storage for mud and grass-covered golf shoes.

However, as I also said, obviously this will be different in situations where housekeeping staff are likely to be living in comparative poverty.

I think the OP means toiletries the guests brought with them on holiday, not what the hotel supplies.

I leave money with a note of thanks.

Depends when and where. If in an obviously poor country I’d probably leave things like soap and shampoo, as we did in Cuba years ago after being told that soap was both expensive and hard to come by. I’d also leave any biros - anyone else who’s been surrounded by children clamouring for pens would probably do the same.

I left a tip for the maid who cleaned our room so you could leave it with the money.

Don't know about nowadays op but last few times I went abroad I asked at reception if I had any stuff barely used like sun creams, shampoos, insect repellent etc could anyone make use of it and they said yes and to hand it in when we checked out.

Maybe ask if they seem friendly?

Just money. Although this does remind me of when we stayed in a holiday house a few years ago. I spent the whole morning running round so it was left clean and tidy, I also left a box of chocolates on the kitchen table and the cleaners reported I'd left rubbish on the table!

I worked in a smaller hotel in London one summer (recently). All of us were on minimum wage; some were legitimately poor Europeans, and some were Europeans on a London adventure hustling on a shoestring. The staff loved things left behind if they were nice and newish. Of course not crappy dubious used looking stuff though!

I always leave a tip at the end of holiday. It's a tiny fraction of the holiday cost. Let's be honest it also makes me feel good.
I would also leave things like a bottle of shampoo simply because of the risk of leakage. Leaving it on the side gives staff/hotel the option of using it. If they don't it goes in the same bin I would have put it.
The only time I ever had a conversation about this was years ago in Fuerventura. One of the hotel maids did a side line in braiding hair, so I sat for an hour or so and chatted. She had many of the same issues as me. Childcare over the summer not being available/too much TV etc. She said that they appreciated things like shampoo/ kids suncream/sanitary protection because the high prices tourists paid for these items were the high prices they paid too! There weren't secret cheap shops. It made me think. So yes, I'll risk insulting someone.

We mainly go to Egypt, and its young men who cleans the rooms

If you do leave anything for the staff, do ensure you leave a note stating that you have left it for the staff because if not they could get accused of stealing and get the sack ( This was recommended in one place where we stayed has it’s happened on numerous occasions)

It depends entirely on what it is. I cleaned hotels as a poor student but some of my team were full timers. We used to divide stuff up amongst ourselves. I always took left over stuff or offered it around. It seemed madness to me to buy expensive conditioner when I could get half a bottle for free. Our pay was shockingly low in a very expensive hotel. We were in a wealthy European country but most housekeeping staff were poor immigrants and refugees. Some had very tough back stories. That was nearly 30 years ago, maybe the norms have changed but I can't imagine things are that much better.

Our manager would do a quick 'scan' of the rooms once vacant before assigning for cleaning and in the few months I was there I received not one penny in tips. It took me a while to realise what was happening. It makes me mad even now thinking about it!

These days I always leave a tip and a note beside is saying 'for housekeeping'.

I always leave a tip and a thank you note - I have left unopened drinks and snacks with a note saying please help yourself if you would like these - I probably wouldn't leave used toiletries or opened sanitary products.

Very much depends on which hotel in which country. Travelodge in Leeds, no, small basic hotel in Indonesia, definitely.

In places like Gambia they will ask you to leave products and even clothing.

I always leave toiletries in the villas.
I make sure the tops are wiped. I just assumed it was normal - not because I think the cleaning staff can't afford their own, but because we buy full size items airside and can't take them home and it seems a waste to bin them!
I do the same with suncream too.
I do always leave an unopened bottle of wine and coffee pods etc too.

Especially when I stay in a villa I'm always delighted if a previous guest has left olive oil or spare suncream!

I wouldn't want people's partially used toiletries either personally or food unless unopened but probably not even then

If it’s nice stuff and unused then yes.

Often we are in self catered accom and get stuck with some unopened bottles of cola or water and some tinned/packet food that we can’t use up. Nice stuff, I doubt anyone would bin it!

Of course they don’t want your half used toiletries, just throw it in the bin.

I leave things for them if they want to take eg laundry gel, coffee, shower gel etc. I make a point of writing a note saying please take if useful. I also leave a money tip. We don't get daily service as it is not a hotel room per se. I give excess sun tan lotions to guests I may have got talking to. We were given noodles by leaving guests this year - floaty ones not eating ones 😂 they were very well appreciated ! I've travelled enough and lived abroad enough to know that this is normally welcomed . I wouldn't do this in the UK.