Check in time for hotels?

T

thedaras

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Check in time at the hotel I stayed in was 4 o'clock!

Is this a new phenomenon?

The website gave me a choice of check in times ,and I had picked half one,arrived at 1.45 and was told we couldnt check in untill four!

I think that in this climate ,that this is ridiculous.

We ended up hanging around for over two hours.

Now imagine being a visitor to Ireland with a load of kids in tow,and being told you cant check in till 4! A bit off putting.

SO much for Ireland of the welcomes..only if its after 4!
 
Used to be midday but then increasingly 2 or 3 pm.

4 is a new one on me alright.
 
Did you ask if they were short staffed? Or if there was free tea/coffee etc in the foyer? However, it does seem far too late, unless there was a genuine problem.
 
I asked why they had a preferred arrival time on their booking website,and was told they had several booking websites and one of them was having problems!

However, I went onto the hotel website and booked directly with them,through bookassist.

They also said that this is the standard time..it wasn't that they were short staffed.

It just seems that most of the day is gone when you cant check in till four in the afternoon.

So basically it means less business for the area,as by the time people get to check in at four ,and drop bags,maybe change clothes,settle kids etc,the shops are closed! and you have to be out by 12 the next day.
 
thedaras said:
... you cant check in till four in the afternoon. ... and you have to be out by 12 the next day.
Click to expand...
I'd ring and tell them your time requirements for check-in / check-out and if they can't meet your needs, go elsewhere.

Now more than ever hotels need to put customers' needs first and forget about their Scrooge-like penny-pinching schemes and remember that they renamed the industry they operate in the hospitality industry rather than the pre-Tiger "hotel and catering industry".

Their attempt to manipulate customers and limit the choice for 1st night dining / entertainment to their own offerings by insisting on late afternoon arrival is so juvenile and transparent as to be laughable. I wouldn't be surprised if you were to find that the in-house offerings are in need of support.

Remind them of the excess bed-nights situation for 2010 and that you'll be happy to improve someone else's occupancy stats.
 
I used to work in a hotel and the check-in time was 4pm. When I asked I was told it was simply due to them not employing sufficient numbers of housekeeping staff to ensure all the rooms were ready by say 2pm, though if people asked or complained there was rarely a time a room wasn't available, but by keeping the time as 4pm it looked as if they were doing people a favour by allowing them to check in "early". They didn't offer a free tea/coffee/minerals before the 4pm check in time as they were able to argue that they were not yet "late".

I completely agree with everything mathepac says, I used to be speechless at some of the things/ideas brought up at our meetings.
 
I also recently stayed in a hotel (destination Spa) where the check-in time was 4pm. I thought this was really late. However, when I got my confirmation of booking in the post it included a letter saying I could check in at 2pm (i think) for an extra charge. I thought this was an awful cheek. We arrived at the hotel at 2pm but had lunch in the bar rather than pay extra for going to the room. The hotel was half empty. Hardly surprising. I wouldnt mind but it was a gorgeous hotel and Spa and didn't need to do the cheapskate thing as this would stop me from going back again.
 
Lou2; I couldn't agree with you more.
Most of us want to make the most of our one or two day break.And four o'clock is just too late.
They did mention to us that food was being served in the dinning area and that the bar was also open...me thinks this is a ploy to get people to eat/drink in their hotel?
 
Was it a chain hotel starting with Cl? Happened us when we flew to Sligo last year. Hotel had helped us organise transport from the airport but didn't mention to us until we arrived just before noon that we couldn't check in til 4 :(
 
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