komrade

i was checking some train/bus night Portugal travel options and a question popped into my mind: if you arrive at the destination at say 4 or 6AM can you go to your hotel and sit in the lobby and leave your bags with porter?i could breakfast at a local coffee shops (should be open by 7 i guess?)
That way i figured i could save on paying an extra night. Ever done this before? .thx

ahotpoet

Yes, I have, and if there is a room available they let you have it. If not they will hold your bags until the room is ready. There should be no extra charge.

komrade

i have checked in early once or twice, at around 10am,once they had my room ready, the other time they sent the maid to ready it.

but i was wondering how early would be too early,as in if there is a sort of hotel policy for guests arriving in the early morning. Can they snooze in the lobby or will they need to buy an extra night?thx

elaine

I would let the hotel know of your plans, and ask for a recommendation for an early breakfast nearby. I don't think they would take kindly to snoozing in the lobby, but they'd be happy to have you sit or store your bags. Some small hotels don't have their front desks staffed in the wee hours, so make sure there will be someone to let you in at an early hour.

ira

Ladies and gentlemen do not snooze in hotel lobbies. They do that at the train station.

nytraveler

We have arrived very early (6am planes - so at the hotel by 8am or earlier) in europe at least 8/9 times. All except once they let us have a room immediately at no charge (obviously they had some empty the night before).

Once - in London - the hotel was truly full and we had to wait for a room - but they said only an hour or so since some people had alraeady checked out and they were cleaning the rooms. They aplogized and offered us a free breakfast while we were waiting (the room came with free breakfast - but obviously this was an extra one.)

Any decent hotel should do this - but some that specialize in tour groups won;t - since their staffing is predicated on processing everyone together.

That said - if you are coming in as early as 5am and want a room guaranteed - you will have to arrange in advance - and most probably pay.

RufusTFirefly

nytraveler--the hotel apologized because you arrived early and there wasn't a room available before you were supposed to get one? That seems a bit odd. Why would they apologize for that? Did I miss something?

annesherrod

We arrived in Salzburg with 2 children at 6am from the train. I called ahead and they said they would try to accomodate us - which they did - noo extra charge. We all slept in late because we did not sleep well on the bumpy train. It was like a "free" night in the hotel.
There was nothing open at that time -
no coffee shops... nothing. We were lucky = call ahread

nytraveler

Rufus -

They didn;t apologize because they didn;t have a room ready - they apologized because they couldn't accede to our request - that's what polite and professional hotel staff do when they can't do what you want - even if there is no fault involved.

That's assuming you have asked very politely - if you're rude they will probably let you just sit in the lobby awhile.

(I'm so sorry modom - we were completely full last night so we will have to ask you to wait an hour or so. Won;t you please go in and have some breakfast while you're waiting? Just leave your bags here.)

mat003

Back to my days when I was a rez center slave- to guarantee that you will have a room available for an early morning arrival, you would need to reserve it for the night before and pay for that evening. Otherwise, it is up to chance and availability.

RufusTFirefly

Ah, that kind of apology. OK.

budget4me

The earliest I've been able to do that was 5 A.M. once.

On the flip side, I once arrived at a hotel at 12 midnight, having guaranteed late arrival with a credit card, and was told that I had been marked down as a "no show," my card had been charged for not cancelling, and my room sold to somebody else!

I won't mention the chain, but it's an anagram of "armada."

Intrepid1

Why Not??? <b>RAMADA</b>

Robespierre

What does <b>A Drama</b> think &quot;late arrival&quot; means? And how was your situation handled?

FainaAgain

Budget, on the contrary, we arrived at 2 am at Ramada, 2 rooms waiting for us.

When making reservations on their website I typed in the special request area &quot;please hold for late arrival&quot;. Later, calling to confirm, I asked how long they will hold - they said with a credit card guarantee till 6 am.

It was in Vancouver, Canada.

suze

You can usually drop off your bags and then go out to breakfast or whatever. I can't imagine they'd like you sleeping in the lobby though.

Patrick

I think that's horrible, budget4me, but at least you didn't have to pay anything. Your post sort of makes it sound like you did.
Obviously if they didn't credit the charge, all you had to do was call your credit card company and tell them you DID show up but they had no room.

budget4me

Patrick, perhaps I didn't make my situation clear enough.

I arrived at the hotel at 3 A.M. on a Sunday morning, assuming my room was waiting since they took my credit card for a &quot;guaranteed late arrival.&quot; There were not many other vacancies at that hour on a weekend in Los Angeles, CA, and I wasn't quite in the mood to search hotel by hotel. The issue of the money being refunded was never in doubt--I knew that would happen. The issue of where I was going to stay, having just traveled across three time zones and 3,000 miles, was.

The situation was resolved with my getting a &quot;suite&quot;--one of only two rooms they had left at that point, and way more expensive than what I had reserved--and the first night's charge was waived, so I paid for only one night of my two night reservation (at the original rate, not the higher suite one).

My point is that it is, at best, unprofessional of them to have charged a card for late arrival and then sold the exact same room to somebody else, getting their money on both ends, and felonious, at worst. In essence, they &quot;stole&quot; the money for that night's room from me, and had I not insisted, would have seen nothing wrong with charging me to hold a room late, then selling that same room to a second person. I found them unethical and &quot;slimy&quot;--the desk clerk informed me, patronizingly, &quot;Our check in time here is 4 P.M., not 3 A.M.&quot; Needless to stay, I haven't stayed in one since.

Robespierre

I don't know whether double-charging for a room is felonious or not. But I would have written a letter to the manager, with a copy to Ramada corporate, taking issue with the desk clerk's snide remark.

If <i>I</i> operated a hotel, check-in time would be at the convenience of my customers, not the staff.

nibblette

I have been able to check in early on a room available basis. There have been a few times when it hasn't been available early and never any problem holding luggage.

Budget,
I would have been furious if that happened to me. And at 3AM after many hours of traveling, I would have had no patience.
Your credit card guarantee for late check-in holds your room for 1 night up until check-out time in the AM. Your credit card was supposed to GUARANTEE your room no matter what time you arrived. I agree that what the hotel did was unethical. But at least they did find a room (better too, as it should be) for you at the same price.