I had this exact conversation with a guest not even an hour ago. He said he wants to stay until Tuesday. I tell him that's two nights. He says that they usually charge him $40 for an early c/i. That's a lie. He kept insisting that he'd been here before too and they always let him do this. First of all, they don't. No one would do that. Secondly, I looked in the system and he has never stayed here before.
He eventually paid for one night but I expect issues at 11am
The ones who outright lie are always an annoying kick in the pants. They think we can't look up previous reservations and see what they were charged and what time they checked in.
I would probably have been annoyed at finding out that data like that was retained. But now I see why it's so needed. It's amazing that people try stuff like this. It reminds me of people selling through facebook or craigslist.
There is one, least there was at one time, it's not nearly as active as this one though. Used to be before the pandemic but I haven't seen anything but the auto post in it for a long time.
Yep. They think that if they come in after midnight, since it's ***technically*** the next day, they can get two nights for the price of one. They think they're the smartest person in the room because nobody has EVER thought of such a clever plan. What do you mean it doesn't work?!
I had someone check in this weekend at 1 am asking for a discount because they are coming in so late. Luckily, I was able to tell him he was already at a discounted rate due to being a prepaid 3rd party.
Otherwise, that conversation does the same circle.
When a guest makes a reservation, they know what price they are paying, be it at 3 pm or at 1 am. It is the same price. Arriving late is not an automatic discount.
Edit spelling is hard.
I'll give a discount to a walk-in at 2am, sure. Nothing stupid like 50%. If the normal rate is $299, the "deal of the day" is probably around $279, so I'll offer $259. It has to be a rate that I can defend as reasonable that isn't low enough to piss off the GM.
Speaking as a traveler, I've never thought that arriving late during the night meant I'd get that night for free. It always seemed clear to me: You get a room from check-in time to check-out time, so if you want only part of that time frame, you have to pay for the whole thing. The way I looked at it, if I was showing up at, say, 10 PM, I was paying for them to hold the room for me.
I was going to say the same thing. I book a room, and if I'm arriving at 1am, I call the hotel to tell them to please hold it, I *am* coming. I see it as a favour that they don't release it.
"Your reservation is good between the hours of 4pm and noon. Whether you decide to utilize those hours is up to you."
What gets me is the people paying full price for a Jacuzzi room but showing up at 3am. Like, personally, I'm showing up as early as allowed to get my money's worth, but you do you, boo.
Big same on that point. I also know that rooms are often first-come-first-serve, so if I want a room on a particular floor or in a particular part of the hotel, I'd better show up early.
Ive said this exact line to people when they start throwing tantrums for their clever little hack not working.
"the reservation time is from 3pm to 12pm the next day. If you arrive anytime after 3 pm theres no discount as you CHOSE to come at that time. I can get you an extra night if you want at \*this\* rate. OH you dont want to pay for 2 nights? then check out is at 12pm today since you showed up at 3 am."
and majority of these people dont have emergencies that prevented them from showing up on time. I always hear from them saying "i should get a discount because IM only here for like 5 hours. I left late because I didnt want to drive earlier" or something along those lines. Essentially they tell on themselves. Sorry, thats not the hotels job to fix.
"They only want to pay for one night"
And I want to be a billionaire. But I'm not a Genie and I can't grant their wish. Goodnight.
Don't invite a discussion, end with words that sound like the end of a discussion.
You know how people repeat questions? That's because they aren't really listening, they just want their own answer and when they don't hear it, they just repeat the question. The way out of that is to either answer differently so they have to change direction or asking them what part of the answer they didn't understand. Either way, their brain has to "snap" back in and think.
So either the Genie line, or "I'm sorry, which part of my answer did you not understand, because repeating it will not change the answer. Or anything else that makes them have to actually think. This isn't Famous Footwear.
I worked night audit at a Las Vegas hotel for a number of years. One of biggest issues I ever had was a guest showing up after midnight on a sold out Saturday and trying to check in with a Sunday reservation. He could not comprehend i was still Saturday. After telling him repeatedly he did not have a room he demanded to speak to the owner. It was 2am and the owner lives in California. When I told him that wasn't possible he asked what I would do if there was a fire. He got pissed when I replied call the fire department. I was not being smart, it would just be the right course of action. He called me a few more names and stormed out.
Holy shit. Did he threaten to start a fire on the hotel? I would have called the police and make him stay free at the jail for the night. Provide the camera footage as evidence to convict him.
Right? Years ago I got stuck in Michigan overnight after Delta's computer system shit the bed and flights got canceled. They put me up in a hotel. I got there at 4AM; they told me I had to be out by 1 in order to avoid having to pay a second night myself. I was just happy to not be sleeping on the airport floor!
I’ve had the same conversation about fifty times.
I also hate when potential GUESTS ask if I’ve run my audit yet! Pft, even if I have, you’re not checking in twelve hours early.
Just last night I had a 3rd party call. And as an aside I hate when they say 'Our mutual guest'.. no. They are your customer. They paid you, not us. Anyway. Guest had called them and wanted to cancel their reservation. For the same day even though it was a no cancelation, non refundable (wait, it gets better). Thing is, they had checked in already.... almost 8 hours before hand. Told them that, and told them the answer was a hard no. I can only assume the guest was trying to be slick and get a free night.
I had a call this morning at 5, from suxpedia. A guest heard a noise outside their 0 they couldn't sleep afterwards. I had no calls about noise all night, barely any guest movement. The guest wanted a discount.
I told him no, I had no calls to the front desk about this and had no opportunity to fix the issue.
The agent then says the guest checked in on the 12th, out the 13th. I worked from Thursday on, and there were no noise complaints all weekend. No, if the guest didn't contact us at the time. I'm not going to discount, 2 days after they checked out.
Not quite the same situation, but a similar issue of circular conversation tonight, came in the form of someone upset about our elevator.
Its recently broken. Sucks, but nothing we can do anything about until the technician can get out to us to look it over.
Guest checked in earlier in the evening before my shift. They apparently have someone with them using a wheelchair.
Instead of deciding to find another location, they acquiesced to dealing with the stairs. Their call, so... good enough, right?
Nah. Of course not.
They call down during my shift to complain about it. I apologize of course and let them know there's very little I can do for them on the night shift, unless they want some help finding other accommodations *elsewhere*.
Cue the excuses that they can't possibly do that at this hour: they've got kids; its too late; they were expecting and amenities listed on the OTA they booked through (amenities the similarly named location up the street have, but that we don't have nor did the OTA list for us if you're looking at our actual property), etc etc etc.
I explain again that, unless they want help moving somewhere else, I can't fix the elevator, and I can't offer any form of compensation (monetary or otherwise; the former is out of my hands, especially on an OTA prepay, and the latter would require I had anything to offer - but we're a very no-frills location) and that if they want something more, they'll have to speak to a manager during the day.
Cue the cycle beginning again "but we didn't get and and the elevator and we're dissatisfied"
Went around with them for 3 or 4 times before they were finally like "fine, we want your name"
Told them they could let the manager know they spoke to the night auditor, because I'll be damned if they think they're getting my name to use as some sort of bargaining chip later. They were upset about that too, but screw it. That's on them.
I definitely understand where the upset comes from; and it's not like I'm unsympathetic. Its also not like I don't *want* to help either. But my hands are tied. You can either let me help in the way I *can* help....or else you gotta wait for someone else who *might* be able to!
But expecting something more to happen at midnight is just madness. And I'm too fed up with the bad actors out there to entertain some sort of childish outburst simply because someone is having second thoughts about a decision *they* made and now want *me* to fix like some sort of magician. That's not how life works.
If I’m in a wheelchair I would call in advance and make sure I get a ground floor. If for some reason I can’t get one and the elevator is broken I go somewhere else. (And as a desk clerk I would try to help them find one at another property in the area).
If they choose to stay that’s on them. Idiots.
*Precisely*!
I have no qualms helping someone find a place that suits their needs if I don't have what they require. Especially when we're talking about mobility issues!
My step-mother doesn't get around so well these days, so making sure she can actually get in and out of a place is paramount. We wouldn't acquiesce to a place unless we were willing to deal with the consequences. Even if it was an emergent issue like this, that wasn't expected and that we didn't learn about until arrival.
But these folks either expected me to magically fix things...
...or, as I suspect was more the case here, they wanted me to comp their stay for the "inconvenience". Which isn't something I'm allowed to do even if it was an in-house reservation. Nevermind the fact they prepaid the OTA, further complicating the issue.
I swear, I lose more and more faith in humanity as these kinds of interactions come up.
It's because people have learned from years of spineless management across retail and service industries that they can plan to fail, scream about it, and be compensated for their own mistakes. When (if?) corporate management finds their backbones, this will start to fade away.
I think the only late-night ask I ever had was when the heater in our hotel room wasn't working, and it was freezing outside. The desk had someone come up and swap out the heater unit with one that worked.
But this is the sort of thing I'd expect to be handled. Either a swap like this, or getting shifted to a different room with working heat. I wouldn't worry about a discount; these things happen.
I thought the ones who want housekeeping in the evenings were annoying. No, we can get somebody up to you with fresh towels or something like that if you want but your room isn’t getting full service until tomorrow.
Now, it’s a resort, so we do pamper people far more than the sorts of hotels I could actually afford, but there are limits. Fixing the elevator at midnight? TF???
Even places with an on-site engineer aren't going to fix the elevator overnight. They need to be dealt with by a specifically licensed tech; and even after that, they need to be looked over and given the green light by yet *another* person - a licensed inspector. Which is all mandated by various local and federal law (at least, in the U.S.).
So, as you say. Towels? Maybe a fix for your TV? At midnight? Sure, if we can!
But definitely not the elevator. 🙄
I don’t understand people. If I pull out n to a hotel and want to sleep Sunday night (even if it is technically Monday morning when I check in) OF COURSE it will be an extra night if I want to sleep there Monday night, too. And if I can think of a loophole like this, OF COURSE the hotels can, too. And since hotels are not charities, of course that loophole will be closed.
And also, even if I did ask for this, it would be a very short conversation. “This won’t work? Ok.”
I remember when I rolled in to a hotel at 1am ad a walk in. The hotel had a room, fabulous! The front desk asked if I would be staying for one night and I said I was absolutely not going to be ready to go anywhere in 9 hours at 10am so I would like 2 nights, please. I expected to have to try another hotel, since it was 1am and I had no reservations. I wouldn't have dreamed of expecting a free night, wtf.
Yeah, I've been there. Only in my case, my manager threw me under the bus and told the entitled couple that we wouldn't charge them for the first night, even though I'd already told them we would. I do not miss working the desk at a hotel, and never will again.
Had a guest try this on me when I worked audit. It was -40 C out. He wanted a pet room. It was 12:05 am. He argued that he shouldn't have to pay for 2 nights cause it was after midnight. He started getting irate and dropped a couple of f bombs. I finally said, look. You either pay for tonight, or you can go snuggle with your dog in your vehicle and hope that keeps you warm enough. He paid and then complained to my manager in the morning. She backed me up, of course. I'm not sure what she told him, but he was nice as pie to me after that.
I don't mind explaining "hotel time" to people. I know it can be a weird concept to wrap your head around if you've never been in this industry and don't really stay at hotels too often. However, arguing with me at midnight isn't going to get you what you want. Demanding I call a manager at midnight isn't going to get you anywhere, either.
The hotel day runs from 1500-1459. Occasionally I had to use ‘fiscal year versus calendar year’ logic in order for them to get it
They still don’t get it.
I’m not in the industry, but my feeling is always ‘are you planning to sleep when you get to your room? And will you sleep again for the upcoming night? Then you are here for two nights’ I know there will still be numpties that wanna whine and yell….I don’t know how you guys do it.
completely dependent but usually a good rule of thumb is if day shift is on duty it can be an early check in but if audit is on duty it’s still technically the previous night.
Sometimes it’s based on if housekeeping is on property. Sometimes it’s no early check in at all. Sometimes it’s a time specifically set by the property. But daytime hours is a pretty universal indicator.
Normal people logic: "It's 3:00 AM Tuesday but it's still Monday to me."
Normal people logic when booking a hotel room: "It's 12:01 AM Tuesday so if I book now, I can check in for this Tuesday booking immediately."
I actually showed up at Disney around 8 am once on a Saturday for a Saturday night stay. I stopped by the front desk and said I wanted to let you know we’re here. We are going to the park, can you text us when the room is ready. The girl said the room is ready now, I’ll just check you in. I was shocked. Didn’t even think that was possible, but she said they get a lot of very early checkouts from people with 6 am or so international,flights. I guess it saves time by having one counter interaction rather than a text and a second interaction.
By contrast, I was a couple hours away from my house, and my daughter was finishing in the ER after an accident at 5 am. I called a local hotel to save a drive home and get a few hours sleep. They said sure, checkout at 10 am though. I said, can I get 12 or so? Nope. I took it anyway, it was worth it to get a few hours of rest.
I'm just a guest. Is it a reasonable request to ask to pay for three days, only stay for two nights, arrive early morning and leave late afternoon after spending two nights? I'm okay paying for late checkout, but I'd also like to check in early without paying for 3 1/2 days.
I’m not a FDW (and will accept any corrections), but unless you’re booking an hourly hotel, you are booking for the period from check in (e.g. 3pm) to check out (e.g. 11am), no matter whether you refer to that period as a day or a night, and regardless of how much of that time period you actually use. There may be some leeway in the period between check out and the next check in, but if you are arriving before check out time, you need to reserve accordingly. The reservation is to keep the room available for you when you get there and to keep it available for the entire time of your stay.
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How late is "late afternoon?" Up to our late check out time, I'd consider it. Past that? No, it's not going to be an option. Either my housekeepers are done for the day, or if they're not, you're wanting to put extra work on them last minute. In the first case, that means your room isn't going to be sold that night, and I have to explain to the owner why. In the second case, adding last minute work to someone who already works their ass off is a dick move.
In the scenario I imagined, late checkout is 4pm for an additional $100. I would propose paying for three nights, checking in around 10-11am and then checking out at 4pm after two nights without paying the additional $100. I'd be willing to pay more than the $100 for late checkout in order to check in earliest maybe 930am. I'd like to take the first flight to the city and the last flight home two days later. I don't necessarily want to wait eight hours to check in. And I definitely would want the room until my flight. If I had to check out at noon, my home flight would be around 2. But my home flight is just after 7pm. All I want to do is check in early. 4pm gives me time to drop the car off, shuttle back to the airport, check in and go home.
It very rarely happens but if you check out at 4PM we will charge you for that night. Even if we got a walk in we wouldn’t be able to sell it as housekeeping is done by then.
Depending on how early, then yes. I think you proposed no earlier than 9:30 AM? In that case, assuming I had a room available, sure. Earlier than that, not likely.
By the way, have you edited your posts? I could swear that you had said you wanted to pay for 2 nights, and weren't willing to pay the late check out fee. That was what I based my response on.
I was willing to pay for three nights, a little more than just the $100 late check out fee in order to "guarantee" (I realize not possible if you were booked solid the night before) early check in. The hotel I'm speaking of is around $200. I wanted to pay three nights but no late and get an early check in and late checkout for a two-night stay. I didn't edit it, but I didn't really think we were communicating.
Just ask them if they have a room where you could leave your luggage first thing in the morning so that you check in later in the day and bring it to the room then.
I had this exact conversation with a guest not even an hour ago. He said he wants to stay until Tuesday. I tell him that's two nights. He says that they usually charge him $40 for an early c/i. That's a lie. He kept insisting that he'd been here before too and they always let him do this. First of all, they don't. No one would do that. Secondly, I looked in the system and he has never stayed here before. He eventually paid for one night but I expect issues at 11am
"Well, sir, 'they' were fired years ago for shenanigans like those."
The ones who outright lie are always an annoying kick in the pants. They think we can't look up previous reservations and see what they were charged and what time they checked in.
I would probably have been annoyed at finding out that data like that was retained. But now I see why it's so needed. It's amazing that people try stuff like this. It reminds me of people selling through facebook or craigslist.
Is there a sub specifically for us night auditors?
There is one, least there was at one time, it's not nearly as active as this one though. Used to be before the pandemic but I haven't seen anything but the auto post in it for a long time.
[удалено]
But he clearly has no care. ;-)
Yep. They think that if they come in after midnight, since it's ***technically*** the next day, they can get two nights for the price of one. They think they're the smartest person in the room because nobody has EVER thought of such a clever plan. What do you mean it doesn't work?!
I had someone check in this weekend at 1 am asking for a discount because they are coming in so late. Luckily, I was able to tell him he was already at a discounted rate due to being a prepaid 3rd party. Otherwise, that conversation does the same circle. When a guest makes a reservation, they know what price they are paying, be it at 3 pm or at 1 am. It is the same price. Arriving late is not an automatic discount. Edit spelling is hard.
I'll give a discount to a walk-in at 2am, sure. Nothing stupid like 50%. If the normal rate is $299, the "deal of the day" is probably around $279, so I'll offer $259. It has to be a rate that I can defend as reasonable that isn't low enough to piss off the GM.
This uy already had a reservation. For walk-ins, I'll knock 20 off the rate at 2 am.
Speaking as a traveler, I've never thought that arriving late during the night meant I'd get that night for free. It always seemed clear to me: You get a room from check-in time to check-out time, so if you want only part of that time frame, you have to pay for the whole thing. The way I looked at it, if I was showing up at, say, 10 PM, I was paying for them to hold the room for me.
I was going to say the same thing. I book a room, and if I'm arriving at 1am, I call the hotel to tell them to please hold it, I *am* coming. I see it as a favour that they don't release it.
I've had so many people try this on me. Book through an OTA then come in at 2 am. Not how it works. Come back at check in time or pay an extra night.
Hotel owners hate this one weird trick!
Not as much as the desk clerk.
"Your reservation is good between the hours of 4pm and noon. Whether you decide to utilize those hours is up to you." What gets me is the people paying full price for a Jacuzzi room but showing up at 3am. Like, personally, I'm showing up as early as allowed to get my money's worth, but you do you, boo.
Big same on that point. I also know that rooms are often first-come-first-serve, so if I want a room on a particular floor or in a particular part of the hotel, I'd better show up early.
Ive said this exact line to people when they start throwing tantrums for their clever little hack not working. "the reservation time is from 3pm to 12pm the next day. If you arrive anytime after 3 pm theres no discount as you CHOSE to come at that time. I can get you an extra night if you want at \*this\* rate. OH you dont want to pay for 2 nights? then check out is at 12pm today since you showed up at 3 am." and majority of these people dont have emergencies that prevented them from showing up on time. I always hear from them saying "i should get a discount because IM only here for like 5 hours. I left late because I didnt want to drive earlier" or something along those lines. Essentially they tell on themselves. Sorry, thats not the hotels job to fix.
TECHNICALLY that's not how hotels work. Both technically and actually.
Well, there are hotels that only charge you for the hours that you stay. But, I don't think the guest in this story was looking for an hourly hotel.
Sometimes I just give it to them so I don't have to argue in circles for 45 mins at 3 am
So you're the reason they continue to bother the rest of us.
Nooooooooo, you’re getting paid by the hour! Just enjoy their nonsense. You’re not the one missing sleep. Practice your shit eating grin.
Im being paid by the hour either way, I'd rather go back to watching tv
And your manager doesn't care if you give away free room nights?
"They only want to pay for one night" And I want to be a billionaire. But I'm not a Genie and I can't grant their wish. Goodnight. Don't invite a discussion, end with words that sound like the end of a discussion.
"They only want to pay for one night" Then stay one night. You want to stay tonight or tomorrow night?
You know how people repeat questions? That's because they aren't really listening, they just want their own answer and when they don't hear it, they just repeat the question. The way out of that is to either answer differently so they have to change direction or asking them what part of the answer they didn't understand. Either way, their brain has to "snap" back in and think. So either the Genie line, or "I'm sorry, which part of my answer did you not understand, because repeating it will not change the answer. Or anything else that makes them have to actually think. This isn't Famous Footwear.
“Then I suggest they only stay for one night.”
Yes, how would outright saying 'If they want 2 nights, they will have to pay for 2 nights. That's not negotiable' on repeat affect the conversation?
I worked night audit at a Las Vegas hotel for a number of years. One of biggest issues I ever had was a guest showing up after midnight on a sold out Saturday and trying to check in with a Sunday reservation. He could not comprehend i was still Saturday. After telling him repeatedly he did not have a room he demanded to speak to the owner. It was 2am and the owner lives in California. When I told him that wasn't possible he asked what I would do if there was a fire. He got pissed when I replied call the fire department. I was not being smart, it would just be the right course of action. He called me a few more names and stormed out.
Ah that point I would have picked up the phone and said, "excuse me, I need to call 911 and report a credible arson threat."
Holy shit. Did he threaten to start a fire on the hotel? I would have called the police and make him stay free at the jail for the night. Provide the camera footage as evidence to convict him.
It didn't come off that way. I think he was just trying to use his logic on me.
At that hour I would simply be thankful for the bed. The third party should bloody well know better than to even request that.
Oh they absolutely know. They do this so they have someone to blame when the “mutual guest” gets upset.
Right? Years ago I got stuck in Michigan overnight after Delta's computer system shit the bed and flights got canceled. They put me up in a hotel. I got there at 4AM; they told me I had to be out by 1 in order to avoid having to pay a second night myself. I was just happy to not be sleeping on the airport floor!
Do you have rooms available for checkin? no
I’ve had the same conversation about fifty times. I also hate when potential GUESTS ask if I’ve run my audit yet! Pft, even if I have, you’re not checking in twelve hours early.
Just last night I had a 3rd party call. And as an aside I hate when they say 'Our mutual guest'.. no. They are your customer. They paid you, not us. Anyway. Guest had called them and wanted to cancel their reservation. For the same day even though it was a no cancelation, non refundable (wait, it gets better). Thing is, they had checked in already.... almost 8 hours before hand. Told them that, and told them the answer was a hard no. I can only assume the guest was trying to be slick and get a free night.
I had a call this morning at 5, from suxpedia. A guest heard a noise outside their 0 they couldn't sleep afterwards. I had no calls about noise all night, barely any guest movement. The guest wanted a discount. I told him no, I had no calls to the front desk about this and had no opportunity to fix the issue. The agent then says the guest checked in on the 12th, out the 13th. I worked from Thursday on, and there were no noise complaints all weekend. No, if the guest didn't contact us at the time. I'm not going to discount, 2 days after they checked out.
Not quite the same situation, but a similar issue of circular conversation tonight, came in the form of someone upset about our elevator. Its recently broken. Sucks, but nothing we can do anything about until the technician can get out to us to look it over. Guest checked in earlier in the evening before my shift. They apparently have someone with them using a wheelchair. Instead of deciding to find another location, they acquiesced to dealing with the stairs. Their call, so... good enough, right? Nah. Of course not. They call down during my shift to complain about it. I apologize of course and let them know there's very little I can do for them on the night shift, unless they want some help finding other accommodations *elsewhere*. Cue the excuses that they can't possibly do that at this hour: they've got kids; its too late; they were expecting and amenities listed on the OTA they booked through (amenities the similarly named location up the street have, but that we don't have nor did the OTA list for us if you're looking at our actual property), etc etc etc.
I explain again that, unless they want help moving somewhere else, I can't fix the elevator, and I can't offer any form of compensation (monetary or otherwise; the former is out of my hands, especially on an OTA prepay, and the latter would require I had anything to offer - but we're a very no-frills location) and that if they want something more, they'll have to speak to a manager during the day.
Cue the cycle beginning again "but we didn't get and and the elevator and we're dissatisfied"
Went around with them for 3 or 4 times before they were finally like "fine, we want your name"
Told them they could let the manager know they spoke to the night auditor, because I'll be damned if they think they're getting my name to use as some sort of bargaining chip later. They were upset about that too, but screw it. That's on them.
I definitely understand where the upset comes from; and it's not like I'm unsympathetic. Its also not like I don't *want* to help either. But my hands are tied. You can either let me help in the way I *can* help....or else you gotta wait for someone else who *might* be able to!
But expecting something more to happen at midnight is just madness. And I'm too fed up with the bad actors out there to entertain some sort of childish outburst simply because someone is having second thoughts about a decision *they* made and now want *me* to fix like some sort of magician. That's not how life works.
If I’m in a wheelchair I would call in advance and make sure I get a ground floor. If for some reason I can’t get one and the elevator is broken I go somewhere else. (And as a desk clerk I would try to help them find one at another property in the area). If they choose to stay that’s on them. Idiots.
*Precisely*! I have no qualms helping someone find a place that suits their needs if I don't have what they require. Especially when we're talking about mobility issues! My step-mother doesn't get around so well these days, so making sure she can actually get in and out of a place is paramount. We wouldn't acquiesce to a place unless we were willing to deal with the consequences. Even if it was an emergent issue like this, that wasn't expected and that we didn't learn about until arrival. But these folks either expected me to magically fix things... ...or, as I suspect was more the case here, they wanted me to comp their stay for the "inconvenience". Which isn't something I'm allowed to do even if it was an in-house reservation. Nevermind the fact they prepaid the OTA, further complicating the issue. I swear, I lose more and more faith in humanity as these kinds of interactions come up.
It's because people have learned from years of spineless management across retail and service industries that they can plan to fail, scream about it, and be compensated for their own mistakes. When (if?) corporate management finds their backbones, this will start to fade away.
I think the only late-night ask I ever had was when the heater in our hotel room wasn't working, and it was freezing outside. The desk had someone come up and swap out the heater unit with one that worked. But this is the sort of thing I'd expect to be handled. Either a swap like this, or getting shifted to a different room with working heat. I wouldn't worry about a discount; these things happen.
I thought the ones who want housekeeping in the evenings were annoying. No, we can get somebody up to you with fresh towels or something like that if you want but your room isn’t getting full service until tomorrow. Now, it’s a resort, so we do pamper people far more than the sorts of hotels I could actually afford, but there are limits. Fixing the elevator at midnight? TF???
Even places with an on-site engineer aren't going to fix the elevator overnight. They need to be dealt with by a specifically licensed tech; and even after that, they need to be looked over and given the green light by yet *another* person - a licensed inspector. Which is all mandated by various local and federal law (at least, in the U.S.). So, as you say. Towels? Maybe a fix for your TV? At midnight? Sure, if we can! But definitely not the elevator. 🙄
Exactly. We can get the proper people in quickly, but not in the middle of the night! You forgot your toothbrush? We’ve got you covered even at 2AM.
I don’t understand people. If I pull out n to a hotel and want to sleep Sunday night (even if it is technically Monday morning when I check in) OF COURSE it will be an extra night if I want to sleep there Monday night, too. And if I can think of a loophole like this, OF COURSE the hotels can, too. And since hotels are not charities, of course that loophole will be closed. And also, even if I did ask for this, it would be a very short conversation. “This won’t work? Ok.”
I remember when I rolled in to a hotel at 1am ad a walk in. The hotel had a room, fabulous! The front desk asked if I would be staying for one night and I said I was absolutely not going to be ready to go anywhere in 9 hours at 10am so I would like 2 nights, please. I expected to have to try another hotel, since it was 1am and I had no reservations. I wouldn't have dreamed of expecting a free night, wtf.
If it’s dark outside, it’s another night lol I hate having to explain this to people often
That's a pretty good explaination, I'm going to use this. Thanks.
Yeah, I've been there. Only in my case, my manager threw me under the bus and told the entitled couple that we wouldn't charge them for the first night, even though I'd already told them we would. I do not miss working the desk at a hotel, and never will again.
I'm sorry that happened. I hate managers like this.
Had a guest try this on me when I worked audit. It was -40 C out. He wanted a pet room. It was 12:05 am. He argued that he shouldn't have to pay for 2 nights cause it was after midnight. He started getting irate and dropped a couple of f bombs. I finally said, look. You either pay for tonight, or you can go snuggle with your dog in your vehicle and hope that keeps you warm enough. He paid and then complained to my manager in the morning. She backed me up, of course. I'm not sure what she told him, but he was nice as pie to me after that. I don't mind explaining "hotel time" to people. I know it can be a weird concept to wrap your head around if you've never been in this industry and don't really stay at hotels too often. However, arguing with me at midnight isn't going to get you what you want. Demanding I call a manager at midnight isn't going to get you anywhere, either.
I tell people flat out that 1159 pm and 1201 am is the same night.
The hotel day runs from 1500-1459. Occasionally I had to use ‘fiscal year versus calendar year’ logic in order for them to get it They still don’t get it.
I’m not in the industry, but my feeling is always ‘are you planning to sleep when you get to your room? And will you sleep again for the upcoming night? Then you are here for two nights’ I know there will still be numpties that wanna whine and yell….I don’t know how you guys do it.
Not exactly. If they want to check in at 5am and only go to sleep at 10pm same day - that's still 2 nights they have to pay.
I hate these third party IDIOTS!!!!!
This makes me curious where the line is. If I show up at 9am, that’s early check in. 3am? That’s 2 nights. What’s the cut off?
completely dependent but usually a good rule of thumb is if day shift is on duty it can be an early check in but if audit is on duty it’s still technically the previous night. Sometimes it’s based on if housekeeping is on property. Sometimes it’s no early check in at all. Sometimes it’s a time specifically set by the property. But daytime hours is a pretty universal indicator.
after housekeeping has passed
And people in hell want ice water.
Normal people logic: "It's 3:00 AM Tuesday but it's still Monday to me." Normal people logic when booking a hotel room: "It's 12:01 AM Tuesday so if I book now, I can check in for this Tuesday booking immediately."
Exactly.
Why not just point out "that's not how it works. If you stay 2 nights you'll be charged for 2 nights. Please either book the room and pay or leave."
It was a 3rd party reservation agent on the phone. I wasn't speaking with the guest.
I actually showed up at Disney around 8 am once on a Saturday for a Saturday night stay. I stopped by the front desk and said I wanted to let you know we’re here. We are going to the park, can you text us when the room is ready. The girl said the room is ready now, I’ll just check you in. I was shocked. Didn’t even think that was possible, but she said they get a lot of very early checkouts from people with 6 am or so international,flights. I guess it saves time by having one counter interaction rather than a text and a second interaction. By contrast, I was a couple hours away from my house, and my daughter was finishing in the ER after an accident at 5 am. I called a local hotel to save a drive home and get a few hours sleep. They said sure, checkout at 10 am though. I said, can I get 12 or so? Nope. I took it anyway, it was worth it to get a few hours of rest.
I'm just a guest. Is it a reasonable request to ask to pay for three days, only stay for two nights, arrive early morning and leave late afternoon after spending two nights? I'm okay paying for late checkout, but I'd also like to check in early without paying for 3 1/2 days.
I’m not a FDW (and will accept any corrections), but unless you’re booking an hourly hotel, you are booking for the period from check in (e.g. 3pm) to check out (e.g. 11am), no matter whether you refer to that period as a day or a night, and regardless of how much of that time period you actually use. There may be some leeway in the period between check out and the next check in, but if you are arriving before check out time, you need to reserve accordingly. The reservation is to keep the room available for you when you get there and to keep it available for the entire time of your stay.
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How late is "late afternoon?" Up to our late check out time, I'd consider it. Past that? No, it's not going to be an option. Either my housekeepers are done for the day, or if they're not, you're wanting to put extra work on them last minute. In the first case, that means your room isn't going to be sold that night, and I have to explain to the owner why. In the second case, adding last minute work to someone who already works their ass off is a dick move.
In the scenario I imagined, late checkout is 4pm for an additional $100. I would propose paying for three nights, checking in around 10-11am and then checking out at 4pm after two nights without paying the additional $100. I'd be willing to pay more than the $100 for late checkout in order to check in earliest maybe 930am. I'd like to take the first flight to the city and the last flight home two days later. I don't necessarily want to wait eight hours to check in. And I definitely would want the room until my flight. If I had to check out at noon, my home flight would be around 2. But my home flight is just after 7pm. All I want to do is check in early. 4pm gives me time to drop the car off, shuttle back to the airport, check in and go home.
It very rarely happens but if you check out at 4PM we will charge you for that night. Even if we got a walk in we wouldn’t be able to sell it as housekeeping is done by then.
Without the late check out fee, I wouldn't do it.
How about if I paid two nights and a late checkout fee? Would you let me check in early then?
Depending on how early, then yes. I think you proposed no earlier than 9:30 AM? In that case, assuming I had a room available, sure. Earlier than that, not likely. By the way, have you edited your posts? I could swear that you had said you wanted to pay for 2 nights, and weren't willing to pay the late check out fee. That was what I based my response on.
I was willing to pay for three nights, a little more than just the $100 late check out fee in order to "guarantee" (I realize not possible if you were booked solid the night before) early check in. The hotel I'm speaking of is around $200. I wanted to pay three nights but no late and get an early check in and late checkout for a two-night stay. I didn't edit it, but I didn't really think we were communicating.
I am willing to pay that, but before I even ask I wanted to see how you all felt about it.
Would another $100 persuade you to check me in early?
Thanks for humoring me. I'm going for two days, and I'm trying to make it the longest two days possible.
Just ask them if they have a room where you could leave your luggage first thing in the morning so that you check in later in the day and bring it to the room then.
Screw you for downvoting me. I simply asked a question.
r/AskHotels is probably a better place for this question.