As we discussed in the QoD for 09/10/2005, a range of different policies is in place around town with regard to whether staff may gamble on property or not. Some locations, including Bellagio and the Venetian, have an outright ban on this practice across all departments. In these cases, giving a TITO slip or a gaming chip in lieu of cash could put the member of staff in a ticklish pickle: At the least, it would cause them the hassle of having to get a friend or relative who didn't work on property to cash it for them; in a worst-case scenario, it might actually get them into trouble if the item was found in their possession and they were suspected of having broken a house rule by gambling or, worse still, of having stolen the ticket or chip.
We called the housekeeping department in several casinos to see if they had any specific policies in place and all expressed a preference for cash tips, particularly at Bellagio, where the no-gambling policy was reiterated. The Aladdin said they'd never been asked this question before and had no experience of anyone ever having left a winning ticket or chip instead of cash, but felt that the latter would always be preferable. The Four Queens expressed concern that the member of staff would come under suspicion of having stolen the ticket/chip, while the Hard Rock thought that it would be fine to leave a cash equivalent as long as the value was $20 or less, but that anything higher might arouse suspicion. The Tuscany was the only property we spoke with where a supervisor confirmed that it was perfectly acceptable to leave a winning ticket or a casino chip for your maid.
As far as the going rate for tipping is concerned, each property we contacted said that between $1 and $5 per day was the norm, with the tips tending to be higher if you're aware that you've had the same maid each day and that she's done a good job. The housekeeping representative at the Aladdin stated that she'd just returned from a vacation with her husband and had left $5 per day for their maid, plus a $10 tip when they checked-out, but that obviously tipping is entirely discretionary and up to the individual guest.
