Earliest hotel check-in

[Duffa]

I think I have a record here; certainly for our family
My daughter just Instagram'd me a picture of her, in a Westbury Hotel (Dublin) bathrobe, taken at 5.30 am
She had just arrived on the Aer Lingus red-eye from JFK and was 45mins early on landing.
Priority customs (J travel courtesy of JS) helped her get to said hotel at 05.15
The lovely lad at check-in promptly gave her an upgrade to King suite and said the "room is ready now".
I am speechless. All credit to Westbury Dublin!!

For me, I've been accepted at my regular hotels as early as 09.30 after flying in to MEL but never this early.
I am always careful to not ask for a room but merely for a place to leave my bags for a few hours. I think that is only common courtesy.

Does anyone have a similar story? Where and when?

p.s She has no status

 

[kpc]

Hilton Garden Inn, Frankfurt airport. Got to hotel at 755am, and asked at desk to leave my luggage....she tapped away at her computer, and then said my room was ready....great to have a hot shower after the long flights from Sydney before we headed to town

 

[Duffa]

..great to have a hot shower after the long flights from Sydney before we headed to town

There was a similar thread about how much value you would put on a hot shower and the crisp white sheets....
i.e. would you pay for another day just to check in at 04.00 or similar?
I often choose a 12 hr layover on way to Europe, even in J/F, just to get a few hours sleep in a transit hotel somewhere. I think we arrive more fresh!

 

[robd]

Coming back from CDG-xZRH, we stopped over at Millennium Hilton Bangkok and got access to our room at 8:00am.

 

[RooFlyer]

Mira Hotel in Kowloon. Fantastic 'boutique' type hotel.

I was scheduled to arrive at the hotel at 7am, and had booked the previous night (Club room) to make sure I could just walk in and crash at that hour.

Yes, room ready then and I did crash ... but they didn't charge me for that booked 'night' NOR anything when I checked out at 3pm 2 days later (in spite of the fact I agreed to pay a late check-out fee).

My undying loyalty ever since!

 

[get me outta here]

I arrived at GUM at 0430 if I remember correctly and had arranged the Bayview Hotel shuttle bus pick up. After many phone calls it finally turned up and by 0600 I was ensconced in the disabled access room having a sleep till 0830.

After showering and repacking, left the bag in the room and went out for the day during which time they moved it to my real room.

 

[get me outta here]

Was she suitably impressed by the lovely lad - perhaps he was hoping so.

I think I have a record here; certainly for our family
My daughter just Instagram'd me a picture of her, in a Westbury Hotel (Dublin) bathrobe, taken at 5.30 am
She had just arrived on the Aer Lingus red-eye from JFK and was 45mins early on landing.
Priority customs (J travel courtesy of JS) helped her get to said hotel at 05.15
The lovely lad at check-in promptly gave her an upgrade to King suite and said the "room is ready now".
I am speechless. All credit to Westbury Dublin!!

For me, I've been accepted at my regular hotels as early as 09.30 after flying in to MEL but never this early.
I am always careful to not ask for a room but merely for a place to leave my bags for a few hours. I think that is only common courtesy.

Does anyone have a similar story? Where and when?

p.s She has no status

 

[Duffa]

Was she suitably impressed by the lovely lad - perhaps he was hoping so.

She was travelling with her own lad! But still suitably impressed......!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Hilton london bridge 0700am boxing day room ready.

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

Arrived at 730a at Sheraton Towers Singapore in October.
Room was ready, which really meant they didn't sell out it the night before, it was a Sunday morning arrival.

SPG Platinum as well, that probably influenced them in my favor.

Cheers
BF

 

[JohnPhelan]

In my experience, most hotels will (and should) be happy to give you a room if it's vacant. The problem arises if you arrive early and there are no rooms (of your booked category) that are vacant and cleaned.

 

[OzEire]

In my experience, most hotels will (and should) be happy to give you a room if it's vacant. The problem arises if you arrive early and there are no rooms (of your booked category) that are vacant and cleaned.

...which is directly impacted by hotel management decisions about pricing (to fill rooms/book out) and their willingness to pay for cleaning staff numbers / hours to quickly turn rooms over.

Some places have a surge of casual/part-time cleaners start around checkout time to save a few dollars vs. under-utilized full-time staff.

I have found the more 'budget' and some smaller boutique hotels sail fairly close to the wind and bring up rooms just in time, whereas luxury hotels allow more 'fat', particularly in high-end rooms.

 

[get me outta here]

Yes, agree.. But have been in Japan hotels were they have made early arrivals wait till 2pm including one woman with 2 very tired crying children.

I got the GUM room free early because they stuffed up the pick up. As many/most flights arrive into GUM in the middle of the night, the Bayside Hotel at least has worked out that it's a good way to get another paid night out of everyone, even though they also check out at 0400 to fly out again.

In my experience, most hotels will (and should) be happy to give you a room if it's vacant. The problem arises if you arrive early and there are no rooms (of your booked category) that are vacant and cleaned.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I think lower end hotels are more likely to refuse you and ask for a fee where as the 5 star brands are fairly accommodating if they are not busy

 

[Cynicor]

Yes, agree.. But have been in Japan hotels were they have made early arrivals wait till 2pm including one woman with 2 very tired crying children.

I got the GUM room free early because they stuffed up the pick up. As many/most flights arrive into GUM in the middle of the night, the Bayside Hotel at least has worked out that it's a good way to get another paid night out of everyone, even though they also check out at 0400 to fly out again.

Such a Japanese thing, they love their rules, more than even the Germans.
You may get a bit extra if you find someone who can think outside the box, but if checkin time is 2pm, then 1:59pm is too early...

 

[blackcat20]

Both hotels I've stayed at in LA on arrival have checked me in straight away, usually around 9am. One was a Best Western so certainly not a high-end hotel. The one in Downtown seated us in a lounge area while they had a room cleaned for us, it was ready within 20 minutes. Not so lucky in London where they insisted I trudge around the city in the rain until 2pm despite arriving at 9am, after a sleepless flight. By the time I checked in I was so tired my left eye had stopped functioning properly.

 

[Duffa]

Agree with others re the higher end hotels and especially with status
I nearly always get in early and if not, they often apologise. I have no expectations and if I really need the sleep, will cop the cost of the extra night

 

[JohnK]

Hilton Singapore ~11 years ago. Arrived in SIN ~4:30am off old QF5 and headed off to hotel in taxi. Quite happy to check in us early but room would not be available until ~7:00am-8:00am. Hung around outside on Orchard Road buying some beers from 7Eleven. Miss those days. Funny enough it was a work trip.

Plenty of other times where I have checked in ~9:00am-10:00am and without status. They can only say no and if they say no then leave bags there and do what needs to be done.

 

[phily]

My daughter just Instagram'd me a picture of her, in a Westbury Hotel (Dublin) bathrobe, taken at 5.30 am
Priority customs (J travel courtesy of JS) helped her get to said hotel at 05.15
The lovely lad at check-in promptly gave her an upgrade to King suite and said the "room is ready now".
I am speechless. All credit to Westbury Dublin!!

The Westbury hotel in Dublin is a great hotel - I've stayed there several times and enjoy it each time. Their housekeeping staff must be the best I've ever experienced, all staff are keen to say Hi as you pass them in a corridor, and they're all very relaxed and helpful. The location is also excellent for tourists.

I wonder if the length of one's booking makes a difference when arriving for check-in very early. I'd expect a 1-night booking to be treated very differently to a 7-night booking.

 

[moa999]

Got checked-in at 6.30am at Hilton KL just after Xmas but they couldn't allocate me a room (full to capacity that night they claimed).
Got told to come back at 10am.

So left luggage went down to Sentral Station and ended up on the first train out to Batu Caves which was very peaceful early in the morning.