Why Housekeeper At Hotel In Ukraine Refused “Too Much” Gratuity. Hotel, Restaurant Workers Showing-Up To Serve When Returning To Their Homes And Families Might Be Disrupted Or Impossible.
Why A Housekeeper At A Hotel In Ukraine Refused A Gratuity.
Gratuities And Mode Of Traveling In Ukraine: What’s Appropriate? Avoiding Disconnection From Those Impacted.
Important To Remember That Hotel, Restaurant Workers Are Showing-Up To Serve When Returning To Their Homes And Families Might Be Disrupted Or Impossible.
In A Country With Currency Instability, Provide Gratuities In U.S. Dollars.
If US$5.00 Per Day For Housekeeper Is Appropriate At Hotel In London, Same Is Appropriate At Hotel In Kyiv And Kharkiv.
20% Gratuity At Restaurant In New York, Then Same For Restaurant In Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv.
Let’s use the following set-piece: Wrote note thanking the housekeeper at the Kharkiv Palace Hotel and placed US$5.00 under the note and placed the note on the bed. Returned to room at the end of the day- both the note and the money remained now on the neatly-made bed. Contacted reception desk manager who then contacted the housekeeper. The housekeeper responded that the amount of money was too much to accept. A successful appeal through the reception desk manager gained acceptance of the money and the note- with no further interruptions for each day thereafter.
NOTE: Important for housekeeping money to be presented each day rather than waiting until day of check-out. By providing money every day, the housekeeper can use it immediately- and US$5.00 can be of value with navigating the purchase of essentials when the value of the local currency remains unstable.
Returning for a moment to the deliberations with the housekeeper. Think again about her response- too much money for work performed. This woman is working at a hotel where the surrounding areas are targeted with bombs, buildings are uninhabitable, an inconsistent availability of food and sundries, public transportation uncertain. The doors and windows of the hotel are covered by plywood. This woman has not spent meaningful time with her family in weeks. Factually, this woman has been living in the hotel with twenty-plus other members of the hotel staff. An aside- twenty-plus staff remaining at the hotel to care for two guests. Yes, two guests. The number increasing to five the day of my departure. This woman thinks that US$5.00 is too much… Upon check-out, there was more money on the bed. I tried to provide gratuities to everyone- sometimes giving a gratuity to the same person more than once- for example, picking-up laundry and then returning laundry.
From the early morning of Thursday, 24 February 2022 in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and second-largest city, Kharkiv, the economic landscape changed swiftly for those in the service sector (hotels, restaurants, cafes, retail stores, self-employed transportation providers (Uber, Lyft, Bolt, Uklon), airlines, trains, and buses). Within hours, their livelihoods would be disrupted, critically imperiled, and for some, 24 February 2022 was an extinction-level event.
Where guests had hours earlier walked through the entrance of a hotel to join a guest in the restaurant for breakfast, where customers had hours earlier walked through the entrance of a coffee shop to obtain their daily preferred preparation… those entrances were now boarded-up, surrounded by sandbags. For those not having visited Ukraine, the country has one of the highest concentrations of coffee shops per capita in world- not unusual to find four or five next to one another.Early in the war, some service providers in Ukraine remained operational, inconsistently, but remained available for their customers- knowing that the movement of those customers from their homes to the location and the return could be a final journey for any one of them. Bakers crafting the loaves of bread (one loaf per person in February 2022 and March 2022) that families depended upon; supermarket workers stocking shelves as best they could- continuing to arrange items carefully, and ringing-out customers who sometimes had many more items than normal; and securing alcoholic beverages which the government had prohibited for purchase- fearing intoxicated civilians with weapons might be more dangerous to themselves and their fellow citizens than against those who have invaded the country.
At hotels, staff who had arrived, completed their shift (usually twelve hours), and returned home- to their families, loved ones, and pets, were now guests themselves. They were in reality hostages.
In some instances, a two hundred-plus room property had two guests, five guests, ten guests. Yet, guests were provided daily meals, housekeeping, laundry, and even room service.
Important to note nearing seven months since the government of the Russian Federation instructed the armed forces of the Russian Federation to invade territory of Ukraine and invade further territory of Ukraine which had been previously occupied, there are towns and cities in Ukraine whose service sectors operate in environments not unlike the first weeks after the invasion. Fear does not dissipate like a light switch- no on and off; fear changes like a rheostat- the resistance dials-down, slowly. Not a straightforward process to forget fear.
For visitors to Ukraine, essential was during those initial weeks after the invasion and essential to continue today to provide not a “normal” gratuity, but provide an extraordinary gratuity. And, not once, but at every opportunity while in Ukraine.
This means US$5.00 or more in a pillow in a hotel room every day, leaving at least US$1.00 under the coffee cup saucer before exiting the café. If the restaurant (specifically at a hotel) has a buffet, that does not mean a gratuity is not necessary… Someone cleaned that table, someone may have brought a beverage, someone will clean that table.
Leave a note for the housekeeper- a note requires but a minute to write. It shows that you used your time to express an emotion- and time cannot be replaced- so that has meaning.
If a restaurant sever is not easily identified, ask someone to help locate the server and present the gratuity. If a 20% gratuity at a restaurant is appropriate in United States, then do not hesitate to export that appropriateness to Ukraine.
At the hotel, do not forget those who stand for hours behind the reception desk. The security personnel who remain awake while everyone is sleeping.
If time, always a welcome surprise for a guest to return to their hotel with sweets for the staff.
Lastly, prior to departure, as for the email address for the manager of the hotel and send along a note about the guest experience- using names of staff makes the effort even more meaningful for the entire team. If the Chicken Kyiv was impressive, say so. If the eggs Benedict were outstanding, say so.
Mentioned to a team member at the Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv that the Wi-Fi Internet connection speed in the hotel room seemed a bit weak. Within thirty minutes a technician arrived and installed a stand-alone router. The speed increased dramatically. Returned to the hotel for another visit days later- the router was in the room! How many hotels in any country would do that for a guest? And, while a war wages?
Equally important to whenever possible travel within Ukraine using the same means that citizens of Ukraine use- car, bus, and train, particularly train. If a goal is to observe the impact of war upon the population of a country, then critical for accuracy to engage at ground-level.
