Whilst this may be the case, how many of those guests will arrive after 20:00 as I did? When you register on the app, you indicate the time of arrival, I�d be interested to see that data for today.

For the record, yesterday, I did attempt a dummy booking to see what was available & yes, in my (upgraded) room type there was only one room available but, seemingly plenty for all other room types; I�d have rather had the late checkout over the upgrade.

May I ask the name of the hotel? I�d like to avoid it in future.

Perhaps this could be a Wiki topic, as I�m sure I�m not the only one that would like to avoid hotels that refuse/decline late checkout until the day of departure. Let�s include early check in as well.

I�m with Thrower on this. Any repeat of this and I�ll wait as long as it takes, to see the duty manager, at the time of my request.

Based on your experience would you say that there�s a geographical bias towards this? From what I�ve read here and elsewhere, I�m detecting it�s more of a European issue.

Perhaps we should have a Wiki on this specific issue because, as you say, last day is unpractical.

Good question...more in Europe, could be, but more than a cultural factor, I think there could be other reasons to take into account. From my experience :
- hotels generally reluctant to provide ALL benefits are certainly more prone to deny late check out. Those are certainly more prominent in Europe than RoW
- small/medium-size hotels cannot afford to have housekeeping staff past a certain time, especially in countries with high labor costs. I remember a Mercure in France fully booked for the next evening refusing me honestly a checkout at 4 pm because their last housekeeping person leaves at 2 pm, and of course, I totally understand that. But another day, they accepted because hotel not full and they just keep the room uncleaned until the next day when housekeeping can take care of it.
- hotels in Asia and US are often bigger and often provides turn down service in the evening, so they have staff available at late time to clean rooms.

At the end, I believe it always goes back to the management, how they value loyalty and how they instill this attitude within their team.

Yes, my experience aswell. IBIS, for example in Europe, might not have housekeeping late, so in that case I buy the argument of not providing late check out in a busy hotel.

Right now im staying in Sofitel Macau, and check out for the weekend tomorrow, will be back on Sunday, but even if the hotel is fully booked during the weekend, no problem at all with late check out tomorrow. They have housekeeping late.

At brands like Mercure and Novotel in Europe, in my experience it is the norm rather than the exception to be told to ask on the day of checkout. But when I do, it�s usually fine.

On the other hand, the Pullman Shanghai Central recently basically forced a 4pm late checkout on me �just in case� even when I indicated that I�d have to leave early anyway

Flyertalk doesn�t work that way, diverse comments and opinions are welcome, even those quoting a post from a p plater from the class of 2024!

I�m totally fine with differences of opinion; I just don�t get along with that person.

that was the mantra pandanus in Darwin so not one that most will head to

You don't know me, so why not just stick to the discussion and arguments instead of fantasize about my person?

So I have different opinions, so just argue against them. In this case, yes I think you should "summon" the managers if they dont provide reasonable benefits according to the program. Nothing wrong with that. Actually, they might also like to get first hand feedback from the guests.

It�s the �publicly admonish� part which some of us find, shall we say, questionable.

Everyone take a deep breath and relax a little. I would like to remind you all of the FT Rules https://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules#gettingpersonal If anyone has a problem with a post please contact me by flagging the post concerned. There is no reason at all to start a public spat.

starfyergold
Accor ALL forum moderator

Currently staying at the Bucharest Unirii Square - Handwritten Collection. This morning I enquired about a late checkout for tomorrow; it was granted immediately with a no problem sir.

So the first thing to note is that of course, the ALL late check out is not a "always" but a "subject to availability" benefit. That's different to, say, the FHR late check out benefit which is "guaranteed".

Some hotels have a bad tendency to say no to (complimentary) late check out as a matter of course even when they could easily do it - Sofitel New York will come to many people's minds. But then in fairness, I think that is common to many NYC hotels in general and I have had exactly the same issue with, say, Hilton properties (also as a Diamond).

Where hotels are not openly antagonistic, though, I would say that in my experience, unless the hotel occupancy is particularly low, it is actually the norm that the late check out (or at least the exact time of the late check out) has to be confirmed in the morning of departure and not before. The reason for it is that this is the time when the hotel has the best understanding of occupancy and room allocation. In that sense, the three crucial questions are: 1) is the hotel quite lightly or quite heavily booked on the day of your departure, 2) has your specific room been allocated to a new guest on that day and 3) if so, does the hotel have an ETA for the new guest.

The point is that of course, a hotel can't give you a 4pm late check out if they have another guest checking in the room at 4pm. That's just not possible and that wouldn't be fair. On the other hand, if your room is not to be reallocated on your day or departure, or if you want a 2pm late check out and they know that the next guest won't arrive before 10pm (and this is a luxurious enough hotel that they have continuous availability of cleaning staff - note that many cheaper properties only have cleaning staff at very specific times to save money which further complicates things), then they should make an effort.

Personally, I certainly wouldn't do the "manager" thing. Everyone to their own but this is simply not my style unless there is a significant problem, and being told something subject to availability is not available doesn't qualify by my book. However, I would feel free to ask specific questions such as:

1) At what time will you know for sure whether I can keep the room?
2) If you can't confirm 3pm now, could you at least confirm - e.g. 1pm and I'll just check if more is possible in the morning>?
3) (If booking several rooms) I understand you may be heavily booked, but would it be possible to assure that we keep at least one of the rooms please?
4) Do you know if there is a new guest allocated this room today?

I personally find those approaches (polite and to the point) typically more productive. The only case where I'd be getting really annoyed is if I'm told I can't get a complimentary late check out but I can get one if I pay.