Hotel Tip Calculator
Add up the tips for your whole stay, from housekeeping and the bellhop to valet and the shuttle.
Housekeeping
Nights
Bellhop
Bags carried
Valet
Car retrievals
Shuttle
Rides
Tips for the Stay
$0.00
Hotel Tipping, Explained
Hotel tipping is almost entirely flat amounts rather than percentages, because there's no bill to take a percentage of. It's also spread across more people than most guests realize. A single overnight stay can involve a doorman, a bellhop, a housekeeper and a shuttle driver, each with a different convention.
The calculator above adds up the four roles most guests tip over a stay, so you know how much small cash to set aside. The rest are easy to handle as they come up. A doorman hailing a cab or a concierge doing you a favor is a one-off, and room service is a percentage of a bill that often already carries a gratuity.
Who to tip, and how much
| Role | Common tip |
|---|---|
| Housekeeping | $2-$5 per day |
| Bellhop / porter | $1-$2 per bag |
| Doorman hailing you a cab | $1-$2 |
| Airport or area shuttle driver | $2-$5 |
| Concierge, for something out of the ordinary | $5-$20 |
| Room service, if no auto-gratuity | 15-20% |
| Valet retrieving your car | $2-$5 per retrieval |
Nothing on that list is obligatory, and few guests tip every role on a single stay. It's a menu of conventions, not a checklist.
Housekeeping: daily, not at checkout
This is the one worth getting right, because the common instinct of leaving one larger tip on the last morning usually misses the person it was meant for. Hotels rotate housekeeping staff, so the person cleaning your room on Thursday may not be the one who worked Monday and Tuesday. A lump sum at checkout goes entirely to whoever happens to be assigned that day.
Leaving $2-$5 each morning spreads it correctly. Two small practical notes: leave it somewhere obvious, like the desk or nightstand rather than the bed, and if there's any chance of ambiguity, put it in the provided envelope or leave a short note. Housekeepers are trained not to touch cash that might be a guest's belongings, and unmarked money on a dresser often gets left exactly where it is.
Tipping is per room rather than per person. A couple sharing a room tips once, not twice.
A resort fee is not a tip
Resort fees, destination fees and facility charges are venue revenue. They cover amenities, wifi, pool access and similar, and they don't reach staff as gratuity. The same is true of a mandatory valet charge on your folio. If you want a specific person to get something, it has to be handed to them or added deliberately.
Room service is the genuine exception in the other direction: many hotels already add an 18-20% gratuity plus a separate delivery charge to the bill. Check the receipt before adding another 20% by reflex. Double-tipping room service is one of the most common ways guests overpay.
All-inclusive resorts
All-inclusives are the real exception to everything above. Many build gratuities into the package price, and some explicitly ask guests not to tip. Others quietly expect it anyway despite the marketing. The only reliable move is to ask at check-in. It's a normal question and the front desk will answer it directly.
Where tipping is permitted at an all-inclusive, small amounts to bartenders and servers you see repeatedly tend to go further than a large one-off at the end.
If you're out of cash
Hotels are better than most places for this. The front desk can often add a gratuity to your room bill and route it to housekeeping or a specific staff member, and many chains now support tipping through their own app or a QR code left in the room. Ask before assuming it isn't possible. The front desk handles this request constantly.
FAQ
How much should I tip housekeeping?
$2-5 per day is standard, left daily rather than as one lump sum at checkout, since different staff may clean your room each day.
Do I need to tip the bellhop?
Yes, if they help with your bags. $1-2 per bag is the norm, more for heavy luggage or multiple trips.
Should I tip on arrival or at checkout?
Both work, but tipping housekeeping daily and the bellhop right after they help is more likely to reach the right person.
Do I need to tip the concierge?
Only for something beyond routine service: a hard-to-get reservation, event tickets, special arrangements. Basic directions or recommendations don't require one.
Is room service tip already included?
Often, yes. Many hotels add an automatic gratuity of 18-20% to room service bills, so check the receipt before tipping again on top of it.
Should I tip at an all-inclusive resort?
Usually not required. Many resorts build gratuities into the package price or discourage cash tipping. Check your resort's specific policy at check-in.
What if I don't have cash?
Ask the front desk. Many hotels can add a tip to your room bill for housekeeping or bellhop service if you're out of cash.
Is the housekeeping tip per person or per room?
Per room. A couple sharing a room leaves one tip of $2-5 per day rather than one each, since the work is the same regardless of how many people are staying.
Does the resort fee cover tips?
No. Resort, destination and facility fees are hotel revenue covering amenities like wifi and pool access. None of it reaches staff as gratuity, so tip on top of it as you normally would.
Do I tip the hotel shuttle driver?
$2-5 is customary for an airport or area shuttle, a little more if the driver loads and unloads your luggage.
Do I still tip if I decline daily housekeeping?
If your room is never serviced, there's no housekeeping tip to leave. Your room still gets a full clean after checkout, so leaving something at the end of a longer stay is a common courtesy rather than an expectation.
How much cash should I bring for hotel tips?
Add up the roles you expect to use. Three nights of housekeeping, two bags carried each way and two shuttle rides comes to $14-33 at the usual rates. The calculator above does the sum for your own trip.
