Note I'm quoting an old post
Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
My point could have perhaps been a bit clearer, but if the room is ready for early check in, it was already cleaned at some point and is available for check-in.
I see where you're coming from. I mostly agree but one has to be careful with this.
Only a housekeeper or two might do the early shift, so rooms available for early check-in may still be scarce.
A conceptual misunderstanding of this is actually common on FT. The argument "The hotel had 5 suites available for sale, so as a Titanium/Globalist/Diamond, I should have gotten it." But the hotel might either have two dozen elites eligible for those 5 suites. Or it might have overbooked standard rooms (which is quite common due to no-shows as well as many businesspeople being required to book standard) and has other restrictions to adhere to (like bed types).
Economically, there are scenarios where monetizing early check-ins may be welfare a maximizing or at least a Pareto improvement over not monetizing it
I get that hotels especially in the US love to play games and charge much for little. But it's still true that a clean, unoccupied room should not generally be handed out free of charge to the first customer demanding it.