Check in by 5.30pm?!

[Greatbritish]

I've got a Friday night room booking in a "hotel and bistro" by the sea. I want a weekend to kick back and relax.

Check in is open between 2pm-5.30pm.

I live a 90min drive away. I finish work at 5pm.

The "hotel and bistro" have no facilities whatsoever to leave my keys in a lockbox for collection or with a pub/bar next door to/opposite them.

AIBU to expect a hotel by the sea in a tourist destination to be open for check in's past the end of the working day?

That’s madness. I’d find somewhere else.

Id go somewhere else. It’s a bistro so they could obviously leave the key with the restaurant staff if they wanted to.

If the timings weren't suitable you shouldn't have booked. No they aren't unreasonable, I'm guessing this a small place with limited staff.

Are you able to cancel the booking? It doesn't seem like they want the kind of riffraff who have to go to work to stay with them.

Tell them your expected arrival time and ask for their solution.

That's madness surely they could leave the keys with the bistro?

If it's a hotel surely there must be some out of hours contact in case of fire or some other disaster. What happens if you don't get there by 5:30? Anyone could get delayed and arrive late.

That is madness. There are much better solutions these days. We stayed at an apartment in France a couple of years ago which was essentially rooms above a restaurant, they simply emailed us a code on the day and it was used on a fancy key pad lock on the room door. It was great as it meant we didn't need to work about room cards etc..

Already tried that. "I'm sorry, but we cannot facilitate check in or key collection at 6.30pm"

Check in times weren't on the booking @Laserwho 😉

I'm glad I'm not alone thinking this is crazy. I don't go away often, so wondered if my plumbline was off.

Just looked in detail on the website. The bistro stops serving food at 4pm.

So neither a bistro nor hotel as we know it.

Ok, then it's absolutely not acceptable. Can you get your money back ?

This is absolute madness! In this day & age no matter how small "Mom & Pop" they are, are they not running a hotel busniness??

Then I would be asking for a refund and not taking no for an answer!

I'm sitting here wondering honestly how the fudge do they make any money?

That's crackers.

Yes, totally bonkers. I have never seen a small guesthouse which didn't have a keysafe for these scenarios. What if someone is travelling from abroad and their flight arrives late? All places should have 24/7 arrangements. If it wasn't advertised at the time of booking then they need to give you a refund. I am sure there is a consumer protection law that applies.

I run a BnB and there's just a keypad code! People can arrive at 3am for all I care, that's just bonkers

Crazy, how long have they been in business? no idea how they can expect everyone to be able to check in, in such a limited time period. Everywhere has keypad options now. They clearly cater to a particular client group so definitely money back and rebook somewhere else.

There's a simple solution to this. Take the afternoon off.

Why should she? The hotel is a business and should make the fact they have very limited checking in times very clear given the majority of hotels do not operate in that way. The OP shouldn't be expected to take half a day off just because the hotel doesn't want to operate as a business.

That may well not be a simple solution

I don't want to waste my holiday taking the afternoon off, due to a business who can't run themselves properly.

Fortunately I booked through booking.com. Cancelled now and rebooked an actual hotel. Left a TA review regarding the difficulties in trying to stay with the "hotel"

Glad you've managed to book something else and definitely a good plan to leave a review it's absolutely something they should make abundantly clear and is likely to catch others out.

Hope you have a nice trip.

Pleased you sorted something
other “hotel” needs to sort this out

A 3.5 hour window to pick up a hotel room key - WTAF???? Do they never have visitors from abroad who might be at the mercy of airline schedules 🤨

Glad you're sorted for accommodation for your break away @Greatbritish - enjoy!

She shouldn't have to though. Every reputable holiday let will either have a keypad if they can't be there to let the guests in.
Make sure you mention it on the review OP so other people are aware