I was on vacation with a few friends at a hotel in Montauk, New York.  A few days later, the hotel manager called one of my friends and asked why he did not leave a tip for the hotel cleaning woman.  We were discussing this over dinner and for the first part of our conversation, we were amazed that the manager would call him on this.  We agreed that it was wrong for the manager to call for the tip. 

What we did not agree on was the tipping policy on trips.  One of my friends said he only tips people he sees which would include the bell hop when he stores his bags but not the cleaning woman unless he actually sees her.  He tips waiters also.

Another person felt that the tip should be covered by the hotel management so he did not tip. 

My take is that you should tip the cleaning woman, the valet parking guy, the bell hop, etc.  I did not find a lot of basis for the argument that I need to see someone in order to tip them.  On the front that the hotel should pick up the tip, I agree with that one but the world does not operate that way.  So in the end, the person who gets the short end of the stick is the person who can least afford to. 

I figured that I would confirm that what I do is the right thing so I checked the Tipping Guidelines published by the Emily Post Institute (http://www.emilypost.com/everyday/tips_on_tipping.htm).   It turns out that my friend was shamed into tipping the hotel cleaning room.  What do you tip?  Emily Post recommends as follows