In 2 weeks, I will be arriving in Berlin at 10:00 AM local time, after having travelled over 8 hours from Eastern Canada (via Frankfurt).

From past experience, I will be hopelessly jet lagged and desperate for sleep. I will need sleep. I cannot wait until later in the day. Trust me.

I have contacted the Marriott Berlin and they cannot guarantee me early check in.

I can buy an extra night from the Marriott and check in at 10 AM.

I can use Priceline to bid for a cheaper hotel, but I am not sure that will work.

Does anyone have suggestions for dealig with what I expect is a common problem.

Thanks.

if you are so desperate then pay up the extra night before.

If you are flying Business/First you could use the lounge on arrival (I assume you are not, otherwise you would sleep on the plane).

If you have lounge access (paid) such as CO, NW or DL you could use the lounge when you arrive.

The other option is talk to your doctor and have her/him give you some sleeping pill, have dinner before you board and then sleep for most of the flight.

And by the way, the worse you can do for jetlag is go to sleep at 11 am. Stay up, get some sunlight, maybe have a short nap or just go to sleep at 8 pm and wake up early the next day.

I travel from the west coast of the US to FRA many times a year, not always direct, although I try to fly at least in business. Usually I get to my parents around noon after having gotten up at 5 am in SFO the day prior. I try to stay up till at least the early evening.

When I stay in the city before going to my parents, I have had no probs checking into my hotel room early. Yes, they won't "guarantee" the room unless you pay but you may not have a problem checking in early.

Actually, I am flying in J on the new AC 777 with flat beds.

But the flight leaves Canada at around 5 PM EST and lands in FRA at around mignight EST (6 AM FRA time). I then catch a conection in Y to TXL.

Unless my mommy is there to tuck me in, I will not be able to sleep during those hours.

That's wonderful, flying in J. But why can't you sleep on the plane with the flat beds? Take an ambien. Then you should be ok till early evening the next day. I do this frequently (without the sleeping pill/I just drink!).

And again, some hotels may let you get the room earlier. Just no guarantee!

Gute Reise!!!

Looking over in the Luxury Travel forum, there are mentions that the Regent (formerly the Four Seasons) will guarantee 11am check-in when booked through a Virtuoso travel agent (FT member DavidO is such an agent). While the Regent is not inexpensive by any means, the fact that you would not need to book an extra night might make the cost affordable.

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=804682#10

You arrive at 10am. The best you can probably get to the hotel is 11am. Check-in is 3pm. First thing to try is to very politely inquire at the front desk for an early check-in. You might get lucky.

If not, there are several options:

Go stretch out on one of their reception lounges. Sometimes they will break down and find a room, rather than have a all-night-flyer stinky body snoring away in plain view/hearing/nose of other customers.

Find one of their empty conference rooms and take a nap there. Carpeted floor isn't bad if you are tired enough.

Take a walk, buy some coffee, walk some more, have a little lunch, read a newspaper. Before you know it, it will be 1 or 2 pm and you can try them again. You may be pleasantly surprised, or you may get to repeat the first sentence of this paragraph.

I do agree with the prior posters that the worst thing you can do is sleep away the day. You will be wide awake a LOT during the night then. If at all possible, try to keep yourself up until at least 7pm or 8 (or even 9). Maybe the short nap (an hour?) but that is it. You really want to yank your body onto the new time zone as fast as you can, and sunshine is part of the process.

Romelle

^^^

Having stayed at the Berlin Marriott just last month and over a weekend at that, be prepared to be Totally Lied to about them not having an available room w/o paying for the night.

They have there own set of T&Cs when it comes to dealing with things even thou Im a Plat. Was denied all Upgrades even thou I went up to the Lounge (nice indeed) and had to argue to get access for that too, and printed out that they had all sorts of better rooms for Sale and keep being told we were completely sold out. I checked in at 4pm was at the Hyatt the previous night. Getting a late check out was a bit easier as I keep remiding them how they hosed me on not upgrading me, but when asked at first w/o mentioning the hassles with Upgrading and the Lounge, they werent so forthcoming

Its a very nice Hotel and great Location but then that can be said for most Hotels in that area.

As for PLing another Hotel or using pts for a free night. Be prepared to be told Checkout is at 11am or noon. The fact that you didnt check-in till 10am really wont be worth much. So if it was Me Id do 1 of the following as others have suggested ante up the extra $$$ and book The Marriott for the night you are flying in or play the Game and hope you can check-in at 10am. I would play the game, heck the Brandenburg Gate is only a 5 min walk as a few mins more is the Reichstag, as well as the new Holocaust Memorial. Or walk over to the Topography or terror exhibit and almost a complete block of the old Berlin Wall that still remains. Or if its a beautiful and warm day walk into Berlins Central Park 2 min walk and catch some rays. The Hotel will hold on to your bags till you get back and check-in.

We just did an almost identical trip -- 6 pm departure from ORD, through FRA, to Berlin. Of course, the ORD departure was delayed, so we got to veg out for a few hours in the LH SEN Lounge in FRA before getting to Berlin mid afternoon. Once we got to Berlin, however, we were able to walk around Mitte and to stay up til 10 pm Berlin time.

In addition to suggestions above, don't give up on the possibility of getting some sleep before FRA -- cut out caffeine at least 72 hours before your flight, DON'T drink alcohol on the plane, do consider a half-dose of Sonata or Ambien, put on earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones and the silly eyeshade, and plan an easy first day in Berlin ... drop your bags at the Marriott, even if you can't check in and then take a City Tour bus for a couple of hours, sit at the Starbucks at Pariser Platz by the Brandenburg Gate (or another coffeeshop along Unter den Linden), wander down Unter den Linden (or hop on a 100 bus) and sit in the Lustgarden if you are too tired to do a museum on MuseumInsel, sit in the Berliner Dom and read, etc. etc. The 100 bus from Pariser Platz down to Zoogarten is another lovely (cheap) ride, and then you're near Kadewe where you can have a snack (or at the outdoor market across the street). Don't feel you have to find a bed in order to slow your pace and rest!