Checking in and out times

watl1

Hi

What times are generally ok to check-in and check-out of hotels and guesthouses?

We are doing a few overnight journeys and are wondering what we're going to do while waiting for our night departure and when we get to our destination early. e.e whe we arrive in Delhi, our flight lands at 23:30 on Saturday night.

Also, is it ok to leave luggage in hotel rooms? We are taking backpacks but didn't really want to haul them around with us everywhere!

Thanks

Louise

capt_mahajan

Upmarket hotels will have checkin times noon or 10am, but will extend by an hour or two if rooms are free, perhaps even longer.

Gueshouses and budget accomodation may have 24 hour check in, or will be far more flexible; negotiate.

Luggage in hotel rooms is safe enough; but suggest take your passport and valuables with you.

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watl1

Thanks

freenote

If you can , try to arrange with your hotel for a pick up at the airport ,it can make life a lot easier .It's quite comforting to see somebody standing there with your name on a board ready to whisk you of to your hotel .Enjoy

kidsan

delhi is no prblem, most, if not all of the hotels and guest houses are open 24hrs as nearly all int. flights arrive in the early hours.

As the captain has mentioned, some places also have 24hr check-in which means something specific in india i.e. that your payment for a room is for 24hrs, no matter when you check in. so, if you check in at 4 in the morning, the room is yours until 4 the folloeing morning.

This is sometimes very useful as you may arrive in the night but not be leaving till the following evening, in which case, the room is yours until then for only 'one' payment.

Not all the budget places do this and i often stay at the Ajay for this reason (i dont much love it for any other reason!)

Besides this, it is never a problem either to negotiate for a few more hours in the room or to just leave your bags somewhere in reception till you leave.

K

dhans

Basically anything (or a lot) is possible if you negotiate before you take the room. E.g ask (offer) a lower price, then tell them you expect that you can have a late checkout for the price offered and a breakfast included etc. then say you'll accept the normal price including the late checkout and the breakfast but that expect that they throw in a free transfer to the airport. Accept the pric, but ask for a more luxurious room instead (which they will have more difficulty to sell) etc.etc.etc.

As long as you keep it good humoured, a lot is possible concerning check-out .

Hans

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ba9rn

A lot is possible with checkin, too. I think, as has been stated above, you just need to ask.

For example, we arrived by train into Mumbai (a couple of nights before our flight home) at 0630. I had called the hotel to ask for a pick-up. They said that we could not check in at that time (their checkin time was stated as 12 noon), but a car would be waiting for us OK. I said fine, as long as they could look after our bags, it did not matter.

However, when we arrived at the hotel (0715), they said that our room was ready after all. No extra charge or anything! All in all, we were very impressed with the service quality in all the hotels we used.

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machadinha

Unless I'm completely talking out of my behind, hotel check-in times the world over don't tend to mean you can't check in at another time, it just indicates the tariff system they go by.

And as already stated both getting in and out of there is open to negotiation; it will be appreciated if you do so in a timely fashion, and will increase your negotiation space. Look at it from their end: They can sell that room again for the full stated period.

In any case in my experience a "check-in" time never means you're not welcome to check in at any time you please. They need you as a customer after all (provided they're not booked up), it just may mean you get charged for a half day more or whatever. I don't think I've ever been refused anywhere no matter what godforsaken hour and waking up the poor bellboy.

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Nick-H

If you want to check in at, say 5.00am, because you just got off the plane and you know you want to sleep for a few hours, then you should book for that night and be charged for it. The bigger hotels are likely to be strict about this, smaller places may be easy going, or work the 24-hour system.

But you must inform the hotel of your late arrival. Many hotels will not keep a room if it seems the guest has not turned up. If you use their car for an airport pickup, they don't have much excuse for not knowing.

Checkout is more critical for the hotel. Obviously they have to have the room clean and ready for its next occupant. But even then, if they have no booking that day they may be relaxed about it. Even if you have to leave the room, you can leave the bags there for a later departure while you do local stuff.

machadinha

Good point. This works the other way around as well btw, certainly at the lower-end places: If someone shows up then and there to pay for that room they're keeping for some mysterious stranger who may or may not show up (and I suppose many don't, not helping any of this), they'll know what to do, and what would you do in their place.

Not just in India btw. It's frustrating however thinking you'd booked a room to find it gone, or all that jive about "Oh wasn't it for one night?" when obviously a financially more attractive family has just moved in.

Oh well, what can you do right. Swallow your pride and move on. Can be arguably hard having just arrived at 5 AM, but there's little point trying to beat the system here.

Nick-H

Bed down in the lobby!

PeakXV

I've wangled a few 7pm late checkouts over the years .... but it takes some timely negotiating with front desk manager ..... often made easier over a few shouts of "black label".

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

hfot2

The earlier you arrive for check-in and/or the closer you arrive to check-out time, the greater the choice you will have in available rooms. And, do ask to see several rooms - you may be surprised with the differences you see in the rooms.

We've often picked a room that was just vacated and said we would wait while they cleaned it out from the previous lodger rather than choose another room we liked less.

distaff half of hfot2

dhans

Arrive in a city, put your backpack in "left Luggage" Find the most expensive 5 star hotel in the city and get cosy on their sofa's in the lobby. Use the bathrooms as much as you like and enjoy the warm towels (do give the attendant a tip).

It works!!

Hans

machadinha

Another fantastic tip Hans