Revealed: Hotels with worst check-in times – and extra charges they take from guests
They are scenarios many of us are familiar with.
You arrive at your hotel unexpectedly early, but it’s into the afternoon and you hope they can grant you access to your room to dump your bags and freshen up before leaving to make the most of the extra time in the area you’re visiting.
The room is presumably clean and you’ve already paid for the room, so no skin of their nose, right?
But no, the reception staff inform you, check-in is not for another few hours.
“Sorry, I’m afraid that’s policy… although we do offer early check-in for an additional charge,” they tell you, or an approximation thereof.
Or maybe you wake up in your hotel room later than planned – perhaps having enjoyed the local attractions a bit too much the previous evening – and quickly glance at the laminated leaflet detailing guest information on your bedside table.
Check-out is in five minutes and you’ve barely time to get dressed, let alone collect up your belongings (which are now inexplicably yet inevitably scattered all over your room, despite you having spent fewer than 17 waking minutes there since arriving).
You call reception – and feel as surge of relief to discover they can happily extend your stay for another hour… only to be overcome by an all-encompassing sense of melancholy when they add “for just a £10 fee!”
It is these all-too common experiences that have prompted a new investigation by Which?.
The consumer champions have sought to expose the chains that offer their guests the shortest period of time at the hotel as standard.
Looking at check-in times across 10 major hotel chains including easyHotel, Hilton and Mercure, Which? found the worst example was the luxury chain Macdonald Hotels and Resorts – which tells guests to arrive at 5pm and check out no later than 10am the next morning.
That allows customers only 17 hours to enjoy their room and the hotel’s facilities.
Macdonald Hotels told Which? their 5pm check-in was reserved for self-catering apartments, where larger spaces and longer stays required more thorough cleaning.
“However, nowhere on its website is this made sufficiently clear,” Which? added.
“What is clear, is that if guests want to check in at 3pm or sleep until midday, Macdonald, known for its four and five-star resorts, charges an extra £29.”
Guests of Britannia Hotels and easyHotel, meanwhile, get just 19 hours in their room – being asked to arrive at 3pm and leave by 10am.
Travellers keen to have a lie-in might find a Holiday Inn or Travelodge stay more agreeable.
Both chains are more flexible, with a 3pm check-in and 12pm check-out time, allowing for 21 hours in the room.
Which? said many hotels could be likened to budget airlines, with research showing many were also now stripping away the basics and charging customers for privileges that used to be free.
It found the Sofitel Heathrow Airport hotel, for example, allowed guests to add early check-in at the booking stage if they planned to arrive before 3pm – but it cost an extra £90.
The cost of staying beyond 12pm the next day was an even more “eye-watering” £120, Which? said.
Which?’s investigation found some hotels were potentially cashing in by selling rooms twice within 24 hours.
It said one in London St Pancras offered day-only bookings between 10.30am and 3.30pm costing £70 – timings “convenient given the 10am check-out and 4pm check-in, and that it takes around 30 minutes to clean the average hotel room”.
There remained ways to access a hotel room early without paying extra though, Which? said.
In many places, guests can simply ask on arrival, rather than paying in advance for early check-in.
“For now, many receptionists are still willing to let guests head to the room early without paying if it’s available,” Which? said.
“And if not, only then is it worth considering paying the extra fee.”
Hotel loyalty schemes can also be a good way to avoid the fees, it added.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Hotel guests by no means expect a full 24 hours in their room but it’s no wonder an increasing number of us feel short-changed when some hotel chains are not just shortening our stay, but then trying to upsell early check-in or later check-out back to us.
“If you are paying for a special night away, there are some ways you can access your room early, like accessing loyalty schemes. Some hotels might also let you use facilities like the pool or spa before you check in, so make sure to try and utilise this as much as you can.”
