Great post!

My partner and I ALWAYS go to the counter together (how else do you manage a good cop/ bad cop routine when they're not giving you what you want?). We have NEVER had problems with awkwardness or mixups. We don't ask either; we simply expect whatever we reserved is what we're going to get and we're more concerned with location and size (don't even! )

This isn't a flame, so please don't take it that way, but I couldn't imagine one of us standing back while we work out the room. I grew up with really cheap parents (one of four children) and they left us in the car while they got the room, then we had to schlep our bags to the rooms in twos so as not to alarm anyone about the number of people in the rooms. That was good for a couple months of therapy since we travelled so much. For me, it fits my view on "being out" which is you're as out as you behave... (again, I'm not knocking anyone else, just explaining my approach) I really don't think about it as an issue, unless someone else raises it. If they do, it is their issue, and treated as such. There's no place for such issues in the hospitality industry in my opinion, so I can't see it going anywhere.

Ok, maybe more than two cents worth, but there it is.