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 happens in other parts of the world

My DS had a duty manager job at premier inn. It' wasn't unusual for him to be the only member of staff there

I use hotels a lot. Changed to 11am check out and 4pm check in during covid but most have gone back to 12 noon check out and 3pm check in.

I tend to use holiday inn and they’ve always given me the room if ready and I’m early. But I mark them up for this.

The only place I visited for a while after covid that kept the 4pm check in was centre parcs.

I believe you. I’m not blaming the staff. The last premier inn I went to you have to check in yourself. Another one the receptionist was mopping the floor !

I worked in hospitality in the 80s and 90s. Check out was always 10 wherever I worked, check in from 4.

You usually started at 8am sorting out your stuff, then hopefully had some early leavers, and were generally finished rooms by 4pm. If there weren't enough people checking out early, then a couple of rooms could still be on the go later than 4, but you usually had enough time.

Depending on what rooms were ready, some guests could check in early.

Par for the course

Would you rather a smaller window for necessary cleaning to be done before you booked in after previous guests leave? Would you complain if they could not clean properly within that time or would you prefer to pay for extra cleaning staff to be put on? Just wondering...

Airbnb's are the worse for check in checkout times. Just wish there was a filter option to exclude properties with late check-in / early checkout times.

We stayed in an Airbnb where the checkout was 10am.

The cleaners were literally banging on the door on the dot of 10, which I wouldn’t have minded but the owners had also left a big list of stuff we had to do on vacating the property - strip beds, empty dishwasher, put bins out etc etc.

It wasn’t a very relaxing end to the stay at all.

We've just booked somewhere and check in is from 4pm and check out is at 9!! That seems crazy to me

It very much depends on the hotel.
We have got our room before 2 before if it was free, another time it was 4.
Checkout seems to be 10am in b&bs whereas other hotels are 12. Think it depends on cleaning staff. Smaller places may only have 1or 2 in the morning whereas larger places will have a bigger team and more guests mean more staggered leaving times

Reliable cleaning / housekeeping staff are incredibly hard to come by. Many air & self catering cottages are cleaned by large cleaning companies that race from apartment to apartment trying to get everything done to an excellent standard in an already small window. A 3 bedroom 3 bathroom cottage with kitchen/lounge/dining areas plus outside space could take 6/7 hours to clean. Sure you’d be the first to complain if the property was not clean. Standards are high and customers quick to complain so give them time to do their jobs.

Why? Reviews are there to help quickly and truthfully inform other customers of the pros and cons of a product or service.

I don't think it's appropriate to leave a bad review for check-in/checkout times which do not suit your requirements if they are clear before a booking is made. If you have made a booking and prefer different times, you made it with full knowledge of their terms, so really have no reason to mark them down. What does not suit you may be acceptable to others.

I agree - as I said further up, if you leave a bad review they might eventually change their policy especially if other people do, or make complaints.

Same. Always 3pm.

I worked in hotels in the 90s. Check in was 3pm, check out was 10 or 11 depending on where I worked. Hotels tend to have later/earlier check outs/check ins now because they are have the ability to be flexible. Housekeeping isn’t done every day on every room, and it’s highly unlikely every room will check out at noon and every room will check in at 2.

Air BnB are usually whole apartments. When I worked in a lodge resort in the 90s, check out was 10am, check in was 4pm. It took several hours to clean the lodges properly. I still go to that resort every year, check in times haven’t changed 35 years later.

If you want somewhere to be properly cleaned, you have to give them time to do it. They won’t switch to a 9am check out as fewer people will choose to go there.

You can request it when you check in.

Our holiday let was 4pm check in and 10am check out. Used to be 3pm and 10am.

I did changeover day myself and depending on how tidy the last guests were I could get it all done inside by 3pm then do the lawns, sweep the patio, load up my stuff to go by 4pm.

Over the years I found I was slowing down being able to do the changeover so instead of pushing myself I put check in to 4pm.

However, if I was running early or had no previous guests so I knew it was a quick freshen up rather than a deep clean I'd message the guests to say an early check in was available.

Most people got there very late though after their long drive although did have one guest turn up at 12 and was narked I was there, just told them to unload and go exploring until correct check in time.

I took great pride in making the place feel spotless, as if the guests were the first to ever use it. High standards take time, especially if the previous guests were filthy pigs messy.

12 midday check out and 2-3pm check in is still fairly common but tends to be city hotels with lots of business travellers who they know will check out earlier and check in later, they can then manage their cleaning schedules etc. in uk resort hotels 11am seems to be normal though I’ve experienced midday too, and check in 3pm, overseas however I’ve still mostly had 2pm check in

Don’t have any issue with 3pm check in for hotels and I’ve never had a really early check out in a hotel.

Self catering is another matter, we have one soon where check in is 4pm and check out by 10am! Suits us okay as we are both adults who get up early but when we had our dc with us, that would have been a struggle!

Cruises, you typically have to be out of your cabin by 8am which is a bit of a shock to the system. Off the ship by 10:30 usually for Southampton! To be fair we normally leave stupidly early and we can be home before 9am!