Originally Posted by TMOliver
Often, "over-booking" is not the only cause. Many US states and cities have innkeeping ordinances from yesteryear under which a current guest can not be "evicted" for staying over his/her planned occupancy period, leaving hotels with more guests arriving than rooms are available IIRC, Washington is onbe of these.
Florida is one of these as well. The hotel can make it very inconvenient for the person who overstayed to enjoy their stay. Since this night falls out of the terms and conditions of the reservation, the hotel is free to charge what they see fit for the night (ie- you will paying the going rate for the night, plus fees adding up to the cost of walking someone. plus the lost revenue for the person that was walked. Notice how quickly the paper with the maximum rate on the door changes to a higher rate), furthermore, with the advent of electronic door locks, it is very easy to lock the person out of the suite so the hotel can state the terms of the extension, or can tell them they will not be given any extra keys.
Yes, the person can stay... but they better not leave the room the whole day if they plan on sleeping in it.