Early check-in is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Don't get me wrong, if I have a room free and you come in early, you can have it. We don't make people wait till 3. But when people make a reservation, my hotel chain gives them to option to check early check-in as a request. This is a request. It's not guaranteed. Additionally, so many people check off this request and then don't come early that it's essentially useless. I usually ignore it unless the person has called in to request early check-in. And then there are the ones who do neither.
I checked in a woman last week. Comes up to the front at 11:30am.
Woman: Checking in.
Me: Your name? (she gives me her name, and I pull up her reservation. The room isn't ready, and since she's part of a wedding group I'm not moving her to a higher floor so the non-wedding guests can be disturbed at 2 in the morning. I look for other rooms on that floor, nothing). I don't have any rooms available just yet. I can check with housekeeping, hopefully I can have something ready in about an hour?
Woman: Well, why isn't the room ready now?
Me: Umm, check-in's at 3. I have housekeeping working on early check-in rooms (which I did, for people who had requested them), but we don't have you here as requesting an early check-in.
Woman: I didn't know I needed to request an early check-in!
Well, then how are we supposed to know you're coming early? I'm sorry, my psychic abilities aren't working today, try again tomorrow. Yesterday a woman (who had actually checked off that early check-in request) came in at 8:30am, and my manager fell all over herself apologizing that we didn't have any rooms available because we had sold out the night before. Don't be sorry, it's 8:30 in the morning! Check-out isn't even till noon!
I love it when people come in so early (before 12, I would say), and I go: Let me see what I have available. They think I'm talking about reservations, and say: No, I have a reservation. Me: Yes, I see that, but check-in's not till 3. Them: But I requested an early check-in.
Early check-in is never, ever, GUARANTEED! Especially if you have a request for connecting or side-by-side rooms. If you call to confirm your connecting request and I say we have one set of rooms in the hotel that can accommodate that, do not traipse in with five suitcases at 11am unless you've called to confirm. Because I can practically promise it won't be ready.
And don't even get me started on the people who won't give me the time they want (probably because it's ridiculously early and they know I won't do it), but instead turn it around on me. I originally wrote the below conversation as Joe Smith, but then changed it because it is invariably a woman who does this.
Jane: Hi, this is Jane Smith. I'm coming in this Friday, and wanted to request an early check-in.
Me: Okay, let me put in that request for you. What time did you want to arrive?
Jane: Well, what's the earliest time I can check-in?
For those who really want to know, I would consider an early check-in 12pm. Not before.
Early check in people are the worst. What I hate especially is when a group block is in for a particular weekend and two or three people only make it for saturday night. They get here at 8 am on saturday and want to check in so they can eat breakfast and basically spend as long in the hotel as their friends without paying. I usually wait until at least noon before I let them check in because this is a business, not a charity. But when they all want a late check out, that's when I start pulling my hair out.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it is the way its presented...for example: A guest walks in and says I know I am early but wanted to see if there are any rooms available. The fact that they are at least acknlowledging that this could be a inconvenience for us is refreshing for those guests I do whatever I can. On the other the hand the people that walk in and say I would like to check in and its 10:30 in the morning with a total self entiltled look are the ones that drive me crazy. Then you tell them I can see if I have a room available and they proceed to tell you all the dumb reasons they "need" to get into their room. I only wish they could here what was going on in my head....
ReplyDeleteI have a long laundry list....Probably one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone ask me if their room is nice or if they have a view. I seriosly have to bite my tongue. I dont care if you work at a total roach motel of course we are going to tell you your room is nice thats what we get paid for and if we didnt we would be out of a job.
Seriously!People are pretty ridiculous!
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