NoTravelIsFree

As others have said, 7am is pretty early to expect check in without a fee. Can't imagine being able to afford the stay (and as a Diamond presumably plenty of other stays) and not ponying up $60. I've been thrilled in the past when I've been able to check in early gratis and never offended if told there was an early check in/out fee. After all check in/out times are generally clearly stated.

PayItForward

When I need early check-in, I typically check with the property ahead of time. Most of the time, they ask me book the night before. Never tried my luck to just show up. The prospect of waiting in the lobby for a few hours is too scary to contemplate.

Miesque

7AM is a bit early. I have arrived at airport hotels 9:30 -11 and been able to get my room after having made a note of early arrival (nothing special, just a regular room for which I was thankful). That may not seem like much of a difference but at least housekeeping has had two hours worth of rooms they have gone through. 7 AM housekeeping hasn't done anything yet.

Globalist

Early checkin is always a gift..
is 7am early, yes but if there is a room available and the hotel is willing to give it.. then why not?

If the hotel is indeed 100% occupied that night then it is possible you have to wait till 3pm. That said, it is a rare occurrence a hotel is 100% occupied.

ozztraveller

I have been met with a charge to checkin early only to have them reply when they find out I am Diamond there is no charge. Maybe it's just me but I would not expect to be charged for checking in early as this was normal for most hotels I stayed at before being attracted to the benefits of one chain.
It may be relevant to mention that until Hilton I would usually book the room I wanted which was usually club or deluxe rooms so price may have been a factor.

furballs

It's a free world as far as the chain, or specific property, wanting to charge you or not. If for whatever reason they are operating on thin margins, or just want to increase their margins, that's their choice to do so. Of course, it could backfire. I've had great success with free early checkin in Europe after redeyes from NA, but I've also been asked to pay.

Exterous

I think the key part isnt that they were going to charge but that they said it was a 'Hilton policy'. I've never been charged for an early check in at Hilton as a diamond or gold despite generally great luck with early room availability so either it's not a Hilton policy or a whole lot of properties are violating it. The closest I've ever gotten was "We did have you in a suite that is not available yet but we do have a standard room available now if you would prefer".

tkelvin69

No, it's not a Hilton policy or if it is then many properties disregard it.

I remember a while back some chain was allowing to book a room for 24 hours and you select the time. I think this is a good idea.

Often1

There are many businesses which book the night before for early AM arrivals, including the early AM LON arrivals. There is no reason for properties to forgo that revenue and it is far from petty for properties to stick to their guns on check-in time.

Certainly many properties in Asia would not consider sending you up to an unpaid room any earlier than check-in time even if the property is 90% empty.

If you do care about this, it pays to call the property directly and ask.

aama

While not a Hilton Policy, it most definitely is an industry policy.

Let's do the math, on average check-in is at 15.00 and check-out 12.00 so you'll be enjoying the room for a good 21hours. Letting a guest check-in at 07.00 would give them 8 hours of free stay, which in my math is 38% extra, a pretty hefty complimentary offering in my opinion.

Hands up everyone who's willing to give at no cost an extra 38% of anything to their customers, no matter how loyal, just randomly when they show up and ask?

Just my 2 cents (or should I say 1.24 cents)

Garina

Maybe, this Hilton has a Day Use Rate, so they can sell this room in this day and this room is ready for this rate. In this case, they can't give this room for free...

timfountain

Sounds reasonable to me. Also sounds like their day rate. I have not seen a policy on this before but if you didn't want to pay it, you could have waited another 6-10 hours to check in at the normal time. At least the room was ready....

StuckinITH

What I have noticed is that the higher class hotels are pretty nice about giving you a room if you arrive early. The earliest my wife has arrived in a hotel was at the Regent Hotel in Sydney at 7:00 AM. She was fully expecting to just give her bags and go for a walk until later, but they had the room available for her. Same thing happened at the Westin Times Square at 8:00 AM. Every time we arrive at the Hilton Athens at 9:00 AM, they let us stay in the Executive Lounge until our room is ready half an hour later as they put an order for immediate cleaning of our room when they see us. They even let us have breakfast in the Executive Lounge. Same thing happened at the Hilton Carlton in Edinburgh. And I had not even reserved an Executive floor room. I never paid and would not pay to get the room early. They cannot accommodate us, it's no problem. We just make sure we have our passports and our wallets, we give the rest of our luggage for them to keep until the room is ready. We go for walks, sit in a park if the weather is nice or go to a cafe if the weather is not so nice.

hi55us

The answer is plain and simple. You're a diamond member, one of the benefits of Diamond is early check in and late check out. If a room was available, they should have provided it. No extra charge.

Charging $60 would be fine if you didn't have an elite status which some with... wait for it... early check in...

AlwaysAisle

May I ask where you saw this benefit mentioned? I knew of late check-out benefit but never was aware of early ckeck-in benefit.