Napa Valley alternatives, tipping housekeeping

Napa Valley alternatives; tipping housekeeping

Two comments on the Nov. 2 Travel section:

— Napa Valley wine tasting (“Smaller Sips of Your Cash” by Rosemary McClure): Take it from me, there is no more off-season or very many off days. The traffic between American Canyon and Calistoga is terrible, and the prices of hotels, food, etc., have skyrocketed. Try Sonoma or the Santa Ynez Valley for a much more comfortable tasting experience.

— Reader responses to tipping hotel housekeepers [“A Tip for Marriott”]: I’ll wager the people who stiff housekeepers are too cowardly to do the same to a waiter. The waiter might get angry, the manager might follow the diner out the door — all kinds of bad outcomes. But a housekeeper? Out of sight, out of mind.

Bonnie Sloane

Los Angeles

I was saddened to see so many readers write in decrying the idea that one should tip housekeeping staff. One even said that they would tip for meal service but that they felt tipping housekeeping was one step too far. They were perhaps reacting to the suggestion coming from the hotelier itself. However, until the day comes when the way housekeeping (and all serving) staff are paid changes, I will continue to leave a gratuity for the hard-working people who clean my room. If I can afford to stay in a hotel, I can afford to leave at least $5 a day for them. I have done it for years, and my daughters have taken up the example.

Elise Power

Garden Grove

Expat psychology

Regarding “How to Plot an Expat’s Life” by Catharine Hamm, Nov. 2: Traveling abroad extensively has become a phenomenon of the young middle and high class who inherited a good economic standard from their parents. At my job, I see the reverse: Many people who are from the middle to upper class in other countries come to the United States and usually stay three to four years just to experience life here. If they come with their children, they send them to school in the U.S., but they still have their homes and businesses in their respective countries. Usually, that’s being taken care of by other family members.

In short, traveling abroad extensively is a cure for the middle and upper class who are bored with their lives. There is some psychological aspect to this endeavor. It would be a good idea to ask a psychologist why middle-class people are bored with their lives in the U.S. and are trying to find happiness somewhere else.

E. Kapuya

Los Angeles

Another London book shop

I read with interest John Lee’s description of some of London’s best bookstores (sadly, it’s become easier to list those special places) in “Bibliophile’s London Haunts” (Oct. 26). However, he missed a place that is unlike any bookstore I’ve found in the U.S. and thus deserves mention: Persephone Books at 59 Lamb’s Conduit Street is a remarkable place (though hard to find a book for 2 pounds or less). Persephone Books publishes and sells in a beautiful shop books of mostly 20th century writers (and mostly women) who have been neglected. The books are beautifully designed, and many of the writers would be unknown in the U.S., so there are riches to be discovered there. https://www.persephonebooks.co.uk

Ruth Dinerman

Stockbridge, Mass.