Hotel check ins used to be 2pm and check out 11/12

[anotherside]

It was only maybe ten years ago that the majority of places let you check in at 2pm with 3pm considered late. And check out was often midday, with an 11am considered on the early.

If a hotel or Airbnb has check out at 10am and/or check in later than 3pm customers should mark them down on it. Otherwise give it another few years and they’ll be kicking customers out at 9am.

It's just a gap to manage cleaning. Most hotels or flats allow bags to be left, or dropped early even while cleaning is underway.

I worked in hotels over 20 years ago and 3pm has always been check in time. I also have not found a hotel that has check out earlier than 11am. AirBnBs and villas are a different thing altogether, they take longer to clean.

No never was the case

I wouldn’t mark anyone down on check in/out times I had agreed to. I also wouldn’t book a room where the times didn’t suit me. I think it’s good to take on some personal responsibility here and book what you need rather than booking something less then ideal then complaining.

I don't think hotels have changed at all. Pretty sure 3 or even 4pm has been standard for my entire working life. And definitely checkout was well before midday with noon being the late option. If you think about it, if everyone checked out at noon and next occupant checkes in at 2, housekeeping would only have 2 hours to do all the rooms, which is unrealistic.

Self catering options may have adjusted their times because they were having to do a lot more in depth cleaning post COVID and may have never changed back.

If you think about it, it's just not feasible. If you had a 2 or 3 hour gap between check out and check in, you would need to have an army of cleaners who are available for those 2 hours to clean, strip beds, empty bins in all of the rooms/properties - and who then disappear magically until the next day!

It's hard enough to find reliable cleaning staff in holiday locations where rent/house prices have gone up exponentially . . .

Yes OP lots of major chain hotels used to offer 1pm/2pm "early check in" and some offered 12pm check out, with the majority being 3pm check in and 11am check out, you're not imagining it. Lots of stuck-in-the-past chains had 10am/3pm as their times though (some were even 9am/4pm), and just when it seemed like the industry was going to change en-masse, Covid happened which they've used as an excuse (we're "deep cleaning" because we wiped the mirror this week) ever since to have earlier check out and later check in times, when really it's because they've all cut back on housekeeping staff and therefore it takes longer for fewer people to turn the rooms around.

No that was not the timing in my memory.

Do you think it’s fair to cleaners if there’s only 2-3 hours work on offer each day? And for holiday lets in the summer, that might only be on Saturdays or whatever turnover day is.

Less cleaners

Well no, because, having worked in housekeeping myself, the vast majority of people don't plan their day to check out as late as possible and check in as early as possible just because they can. That's why it works, the number of rooms where people would do both is miniscule and very manageable with the correct number of staff to keep the place operational. People check out when they need to and just get on with their life, meanwhile plenty of people don't arrive until after 5pm because they have jobs to go to. As for the working hours, it's fairly standard for anyone working in a hotel/B+B to start at 9am doing the rooms where people were staying for business and finish around 4/5pm doing the last rooms that have advised they want a later check-in, or ones that aren't occupied that night.

I used to be a chambermaid when i was younger (30 years ago) check out was always 11. Check in from 3.

Airbnbs don’t.

Premier in check out is not until 12noon and for an extra £15 you can check in at 11. We always book them if we have to stay somewhere for functional reasons e.g., a wedding for this exact reason…and breakfast is til 11!!

I have to say I don’t really understand why if a budget chain can manage civilised times but proper hotels want you to be done with breakfast by 9am on holiday and check out at 10

That doesn’t make sense when times across the board have changed. So the minority that have stuck with better checks/out times for the customer should be rewarded relative to those that don’t.

I think it’s a leftover covid thing. I remember places I had booked prior to covid emailing me to say check in is 4 and 10am checkout. We even had one that was 9am checkout! They said it was for extra cleaning which during covid felt fair enough but I feel like it’s very much stuck around.

To me it’s now the norm for 4pm check-in. But I agree check-in used to be a lot earlier.

Premier Inn still do 12 noon check out. A lot of people don't use it and leave more like 10- you can see from people heading out with cases and the volume of dropped off key cards - but it is nice to have the option. I remember they used to have 2pm check out but then about 10/15 years ago it moved to 3pm. They're now more strict about not allowing check in before 3pm - they used to allow it if the room was ready but now you have to pay extra, though they will hold your bags. Lots of reviews show people getting annoyed about it which just shows the effect of taking something away they perceive they have a 'right' to. Their check in and out times are pretty good. (I don't work for them, honest..)

Our last AirBNB had early bag drop at 11.45 (with nice chat with owner doing his own cleaning) and kept our bags until 4pm at the end. Our last hotel we arrived late but left bags at reception until 2pm. It usually works for us because we pack out early so they can clean but we just leave bags. Did you try asking nicely?

Hotels are ok on this I find… usually 3/4 hours between check in and check out which is fair enough and they often offer bag storage and sometimes a shower room etc if you are early or late.

Air BnBs frustrate me as there is often such a huge gap, check out at 10 and check in at 5!! It doesn’t take that long to clean. I understand the owners may not be doing the cleaning themselves and so are allowing a big window for the cleaner, but can’t they find out when she/he generally does their stint ?? Maybe the cleaners are hard to come by and are dictating these huge windows to give themselves flexibility but it is off putting.

Like a PP we have sometimes been able to drop our bags early at an air bnb or leave them after check out, if we ask. Not always though.

I stay in hotels at least twice a month with work and I can't remember the last time I had a checkout in the UK/Europe that wasn't 12...maybe in the US? 🤔

Check-in is usually 2-3 I find...although if you ask nicely and your room has been done, you can quite often get lucky and get in sooner.

I don't ever remember a time when check-in was two o'clock. And I've been staying in hotels for over 30 years.

We’ve got a holiday let. Our checkout time is 10am and check in is 4pm purely because that’s what our cleaning company require to be able to manage their team. They have multiple properties to manage and people coming and going every day and leaving the properties in various states of cleanliness so they need to incorporate contingency time for that too. You’d be horrified the way some people leave the places.

We can narrow the cleaning window with enough notice but it is costly and the cost gets pushed on to the holidaymaker.

Standard checkout used to be midday. It was around 15 years ago that hotels stated reducing it to 11am.

It’s not fair to leave bad feedback if the check in/out times are made clear at the time of booking.