Marriott is starting a policy of placing envelopes in the Marriott rooms as a reminder to tip the housekeeping staff. The American Hotel & Lodging Association suggests that we tip housekeepers anywhere between $1-5/day for their housekeeping services. However, almost 1/3 of those who stay in a hotel don't leave a tip.

Should we tip hotel housekeepers more - or pay them more?

There is a piece of me that would rather have the businesses pay their employees a living wage, rather than have us supplement poor wages.

Why do we tip the hard-working housekeepers and not, for example, the hard-working highway construction workers as we pass them on the highway? The answer, of course, is that highway construction workers make an average of $22.09/hour, whereas the housekeepers make an average of $9.41/hour which, lets face it, is not a living wage. So - let's just raise the housekeepers' wages in line with how hard they work.

The housekeepers must make at least minimum wage, since housekeeping is not considered a tipped job. If, though, the percentage of people who tip housekeepers is raised due to these envelopes, can the hotels then pay their housekeepers less than minimum wage? If so, it doesn't seem to me that the housekeepers will ultimately win.

And, for us travelers, a tip becomes a "hidden" charge. And, I would rather know exactly how much something costs - and that people are getting paid for their hard work - rather than having to tip everyone.