Checking into a hotel *early*
 

So, I just booked a N/S redeye from PUQ to SCL. Flight departs at 1:05am and lands at 4:25am in Santiago. My plan for the morning was to go to a hotel and just crash.

Assuming I was going to arrive around 6am, would a hotel (probably SPG brand) check me in that early, or would I have to book the night before? I'm assuming to guarantee the best chance of a room, I'd have to arrange with the hotel beforehand, regardless.

Anyone done this? Thanks.

I checked into a hotel in Singapore about 7 am about 2 years ago. I also checked in at 2 am but that counted as the evening before.

This is one time where having status in hotel loyalty programs help. Some will let you check in early at no extra charge. I've used this at IC and Hilton places pretty regularly. I don't know if I've checked in before 7am, though.

Some may have a reduced rate for a half day, or I always just say I have a reservation, and I understand I can't check in now, but please do what you can. Often they just let me check in then.

My experience: if you ask beforehand, they will probably charge you for whatever they offer (but maybe not a full extra night).
I prefer to just show up and ask. I generally ask if I can leave my luggage. If they are not full I usually get access to a room. But I always enter the hotel knowing there is a chance the answer will be “no” (for the room, not for the luggage).

And yes, Gold or Platinum plastic might help in this case. But it is not strictly needed to get in early.

I have had reasonable luck with early Santiago arrivals, but never that early (at that hour, you should have your luggage within 10 minutes of getting off the plane, and your ride into the city center will be 15 minutes). "Cruiseship hell" season has arrived and this can affect hotel occupancy dramatically (especially when 2 busloads or more are checking out at 9 AM to get to Valparaiso).

I've only tried an early check-in twice. The first time, after some scrambling, they were able to find an open room. The second time (at a hotel where I have status) they did offer to keep my luggage, but quite literally told me to take a hike for a few hours until the published check-in time.

I've had remarkable luck even where I don't have status- the Sheraton Seattle checked us in at 1 PM just last month, and hotels in Europe have been nice about letting me check in after an AM arrival on the redeye- but I never count on it. For early-morning arrivals in India I've reserved a room the night before and made it clear that I was coming in early that morning. That's worked very well with the exception of the Crowne Plaza in Gurgaon; I got in at 11 PM from the ORD-DEL nonstop and was offered free dinner (already stuffed from the plane) or the lounge. It took an hour till I had a room and I had to be in the office the next AM. I supect they charged someone taking a late-night flight extra to stay in "my" room while also charging me for that night, then didn't get it ready for me in time. :mad:

Disney hotels are absolutely inflexible. Doesn't matter if half their rooms are empty and cleaned, check-in time is the official posted time. One of the reasons I don't consider Disney World "The Happiest Place on Earth".

I've been fairly lucky turning up at hotels in the morning. Half the time I have had to wait up to an hour for a room to be made up, but that's better than paying for an extra day or half day. All the other times have just been given a room straight off. Guess it depends on how busy the hotel is and how helpful they want to be. I never expect though, just hope. There have been many times when I have been checking out of hotels in the morning and arriving guests have been told they can't check in until after midday.

Some don't have sufficient housekeeping in the wee hours for this.

My own experience is that it is very much hit or miss and wholly dependant upon the availability of guest ready rooms. The only way to guarantee a room is to book it from the previous night and advise the hotel you will be a lite arrival. Most hotel groups have T & C's posted somewhere on their websites which specifically address the "normal" times of arrival and departure. Why not simply e mail them and ask of they will accommodate you on this occasion? Good luck.

I've had relatively good success checking into a hotel to leave my things after a Monday morning flight, but it's usually just to drop off my stuff, not to stay and sleep.

If the hotel had empty rooms from the night before, and you didn't expect a cleaning during the day, it don;t see how it hurts to check-in early. But sleeping for a few hours then expecting housecleaning while you're out would be a bit much, IMHO.

In my experience, a hotel will check you in if they have a room available and ready. If not, as sometimes happens, they have always stored my luggage for me until check-in time.

It seems to help, when you arrive at the check-in desk, to say something along the lines of "I know I'm early" — for one thing, this means that the check-in person doesn't feel constrained to go into a long-winded explanation of either (a) why there is no room available or (b) that he/she is doing you a favour by checking you in early, but it also seems to make them more disposed to be helpful (I don't know why).

I've had good luck calling the hotel a couple days in advance and giving them an FYI that I had an early arrival. In only one case they did not have a room available and I had to wait about an hour. The big brands, I've rarely been charged for checking in early. Some of the smaller non-US brands have charged me for half-day/couple hours, etc.

I usually have better luck on this in places like Southeast Asia and independently run places, where many will do it after 7 a.m. or so if they have the room. With chains and the U.S. I think you have a greater chance of running into someone who thinks they have to do it by the book or get fired (though they might just claim they don't have any clean rooms available yet).

Just to clarify, when I say US brands; I'm talking Marriott, Hilton, SPG, etc. It's many of the other brands that have charged me. That said, I've been able to successfully do it many places (Europe, Asia, S. America) but never really tried in NA.