The journey of a customer for a business trip or vacation trip usually starts by booking a hotel. Planning and booking the tickets for travel, taxi and hotel room are one of the most important things the customer looks after, before travelling.
Selecting the hotel and booking the rooms is a tedious and time-consuming process for customers. Therefore, it is the duty of the hotel staff to make the check-in and check-out process easy and hassle-free to do.
By designing and developing a customized application or by using a third-party website, hotels can offer an easy and online way of booking to their guests. In this blog, we have tried to cover the necessary information required for the Early check-in process.
Related: Can A Hotel Room Be Booked For A Few Hours?
Meaning of Check-In:
The term early check-in, it is a service that allows the guests to check-in in the hotel or room before the standard time. If there is a peak time or season time, when there is too much rush in the hotel, then it might happen that you get the facility of early check-in.
Whether you are booking a luxury hotel or a pocket-friendly hotel, it is a must to know the check-in and check-out timings of the specific hotel where you’re going to stay. By keeping this small thing in mind, you can avoid unnecessary charges. It gives you a peaceful and relaxing stay to enjoy and relish in the room.
Do hotels charge an early check-in fee?
Depending upon the hotel terms and conditions, the hotels can offer the facilities of early check-in and late check-out. But, it varies from hotel to hotel. Some hotels give the facilities of early check-in. If you’re an elite guest or VIP member, then the hotel staff would definitely allow you to do early check-in.
Related: How To Smoke In Non-Smoking Hotel Rooms?
How early do hotels let you check-in?
Usually, as per the standard rules and regulations policies, the hotels allow check-in and check out at 12 pm. It varies from case to case. In many cases, the hotels allow for early check-in by taking some extra amount.
The extra amount is reasonable as compared to paying for a full night stay. In other cases, the hotel charged per hour for early check-in or late check-outs. If you have landed too early in a city and just want to fall asleep on a king- size bed, then paying for early check-in is worthwhile.
Do hotels have check-in time?
From hotel to hotel the check-in and check-out time differs. Every hotel has their own check-in and check-out time. Usually, for most of the hotels the check-in time is from 12 pm to 3pm.
- Self check- in facility :
Nowadays many hotels offer a free 24-hour check-in. You don’t have to wait in the lobby area after reaching the hotel for the allocation of a room. You can directly move to the room if you have check-in 24 hours before the arrival. There are no issues of
waiting and getting frustrated after the arrival. With the ease of online booking facility, people can plan their trip anywhere and at any time without any hidden cost.
Can you check into a hotel at 6 am?
It depends upon the situation and place. In busy hotels, the rooms are not vacant or cleaned sometimes. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the hotel staff to allow early check-in. But, if you have booked through an online portal and check-in 24 hours before on the application, then you can check-in the hotel at any time.
Apart from it, if you’re not able to check-in through an application, then please call the relevant hotel and ask them for the procedure of early check-in. Normally, the hotels allow for early check-in by charging some additional charges. But many times, the hotel staff completely disagrees for providing the early check-in facility due to the rules setup by the hotel organization.
Best and preferred time for booking the hotel room:
The best time to book the hotel room is 5 am, 8 am and 1:30 pm. At all these times, the check-out by the previous guests is done. So, most of the rooms are available and it gives the customer a number of options to choose and select the room of your preference.
Hotel check-in and check-out rules
Every hotel has its own policies for check-in and check-out procedures. It is a set of guidelines that need to be followed by the guest during their entire tenure of stay.
Check-out rules: There is a specifically designed template used by hotel staff at the time of check-out by the guests. The list consists of the following things that need to be taken care of by the receptionist before the guest is allowed to leave the hotel premises.
- Outstanding payments
- Additional charges (includes the charges of meals, spa, salon or any other additional
facility used by the guest)
- Room status
- Feedback about the stay
Usually, the hotels do take advance payment at the time of booking. Therefore, at the time of check-out only the guest needs to pay for additional facilities used by him.
Check-in rules : While entering the hotel, the hotel staff welcomes you with the prime introduction and key facilities available at the hotel. They give the menu card to have a look at the food items available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After the completion of usual formalities, the hotel staff asks for given below things:
- Identity verification (Pan card, Driving License, Passport, Aadhar Card or any other identity proof works). The guest needs to showcase the original ID proof.
- Booking receipt or confirmation email on the phone or print out also works
- The luggage is taken by the hotel staff to the relevant room
- Nowadays, people prefer to do self check-in through the application developed by the hotel.
- Confirmation emails and calls on the day prior to the arrival are sent by the hotel staff to the upcoming guests. It gives a feeling of welcome to the guests.
After completion of the verification process, hotel staff gives you the key for accessing the room.
If I arrive early and my room is not ready, is there a place to store my luggage?
The big hotels offer the facility of keeping the luggage at a storage place. Also, the small hotels take care of your luggage at the time when you’re not able to get your room. They also provide a storage space where you can keep your luggage. To be on safer side, ask the hotel staff for the luggage storage room facility. This facility is usually free of cost offered by the hotels.
Can I still receive early check-in if I book through a third-party website?
Yes, you can get an early check-in by asking the hotel staff through email, phone call or any other way of communication. If you can talk to the customer care executive of the third party application, then also you can try to find out for an early check-in procedure and charges of the specific hotel:
But, before booking the hotel rooms through a third-party website, here are some of the precautions described to be taken care by the customer:
- Authenticated the website/ mobile application
Booking through a third-party website can be unsafe too. But, as a primary precaution, you should cross-check and verify that the website or application is authenticated from where you’re booking. If you are not able to verify the application authenticity and reliability, then it is best to call the specific hotel customer care number and ask them how to book a room. It is considered to be safe to book your hotels through reputable websites like MakeMyTrip, Oyo Rooms, Clear trip etc.
- After verification of the website or application
You can book the room as per your choice and budget. Today’s generation usually prefers to pay through online mode of payment transfer. You can easily choose from a wide variety of online options such as net banking, UPI, debit or credit card for payment. The time-consuming way of standing up in the lobby and booking through a manual process is least preferred by the customers.
- At the time of booking
At the time of booking, you can add in the comment section for early check-in. You can also directly call the specific hotel, and ask them for early check-in. If they ask you to pay for early check-in, then easily you can pay it through an online mode of payment.
Conclusion
From the above write-up, we can understand that there are standard timings for check-in and check-out at most of the hotels. Through the standard check-in and check-out procedure, it does not offer the customer the ease and flexibility to enjoy the trip. It is recommended to all hotels to offer flexible check-in and check-out. By offering a 24-hour check-in facility, the customers would be more satisfied and happy. They would give good ratings and reviews on Google that would definitely expand the business and increase the revenue.
