Okay, I know it’s the tourist season down there and for the rest of the year those poor motel/hotel/restaurant owners don’t make a lot of money, but why is that my fault?
I wanted to make reservations for me and my SO to spend a weekend in FWB and was told we couldn’t check in until 4 pm Friday afternoon, yet we have to be out at 11 am Sunday.
Can any of you resort-town residents shed some light on this practice for me?
Thanks
Q
[ul]Yeah, that is SOP* for checking in. :smack:
Uh, kniz: Thanks. Very helpful. 
Q
I’ll be checking in to Destin on Saturday. They do this because from 11 am to 4 pm they’re cleaning the rooms. My guess is that if you really want to get in earlier, they might be able to accommodate you, but there’s no guarantee.
Usually if you request an early check-in due to flight arrival etc and you are staying for a few days they have no problem doing it.
Just make sure you tip housekeeping as they are the ones who have to rush.
I have requested early check-in at times and never had a problem.
4 PM sounds awfully late…they must have some experience with people checking out late. If they won’t budge on the check-in time, see if you can weasel an afternoon checkout from them.
If they really need 5 hours to clean the hotel then they need to hire more housekeepers.
That’s what I was thinking, too. It makes it difficult because we were going to leave right after I get off work Friday morning and drive down. We would have gotten there at about 2 pm, and would have had the rest of that afternoon on the beach. Now that shortens that time, unless they allow us to park our car and hit the beach till check-in time.
Last time I was in FLA,(Mexico Beach) they let me check in right after noon. Of course that was in late April, and tourist season hadn’t yet begun.
Thanks
Q
Yes, and the same usually applies for a late check-out, too. Checking out a bit earlier than your flight, dropping your bags somewhere, so you can toddle around town for a few hours isn’t usually as inconvenient as the rootless homelessness of wandering a foreign city with luggage and no real base camp for several hours… but if, like me, you tend to -ahem- “make the most of that last night” when on vacation, you might want to keep the late check-out option in mind
You’ll probably be able to at least park whenever you want to. I was in FWB in the spring and stayed at a 4 P.M. check-in place. You could have parked in the lot there even if you weren’t staying at the hotel. My car was there from about noon until we checked in. Just a big parking lot, no license # checks or anything. I wish I could remember the name of the hotel. Give 'em a call and I’m pretty sure they’ll tell you that it won’t be a problem to show up 2 hours before check-in. They won’t miss the extra parking spot, at any rate.
The hotel I work at does the same. The reasons for the rule is to provide a cushion for both the housekeepers and the front desk staff. We prefare not to have the deal with lines at the desk of both check ins and check outs., dont have to send housekeepers up to clean room 201 right now but to clean rooms more orderly. outs.
Yea, they did that up in Knoxville too. We showed up at 3:30 and like none of the rooms were ready. Which I thought was absurd, but there you go.
Most larger hotels will always allow you to check your baggage in and they will hold it for you in a safe place, and may even offer someplace to change clothes, until your room is ready. I don’t know what this hotel will do. However, you can kind of short circuit this whole thread by giving them a call.
Hey I was born in FWB. (well at the AFB). We moved when I was about two months old and I’ve never been back to FWB. Is it nice?
Quasi, CurtB. I’m going to Destin this weekend, too. We have a 3 PM Saturday check in, and are timing our departure from Memphis accordingly. So your experience is not unusual.
First of all having been in the hotel business for 22 years, it is ABUSRD to say none of the rooms is ready at 3:30pm.
The policy of a 3pm or a 4pm check in is strictly for revenue purposes. That way if you MUST have it early they require you to check in the night before.
Florida hotels as a whole have an 11am check out. I worked at an airport property in Chgo with a (can you believe this) 10am check out policy. This was strictly so we could get the rooms cleaned and double sell them. Quite often stranded people will check in for 8 hours.
All you can do is request the early check in. However I would arm myself with some of my competitor’s rates and if they give you a hassle advise you can go elsewhere. The hotel business as a whole is in no position to bargain.
Also remember some hotels don’t have laundry on premises. I worked at a major Michigan Ave Hotel in Chicago and we had to have the day’s linen delivered. Thus if the delivery was late the room took a while to make up.
Sometimes the staff may let you into the room to change and place your luggage not often though. Also if you arrive early beware of storing fees.
I went for an interview in NYC (I wanted to transfer from my Chgo Hotel) I got there at 2pm the room wasn’t ready. I said I will leave my backpack (since it was for a one night trip to interview, I wore my suite and took only the bare essentials) at the bellstand. They said they charged $5.00 a bag to hold it. I was shocked but it is common in NYC to charge guests to hold luggage.
I told them I wasn’t about to pay $5.00 so the bellman can put my backpack next to him at the bellstand.
You should have no problem parking and hitting the beach, I’ve done it before. Are you staying in FWB or on Okaloosa Island? If nothing else, you can go down to The Boardwalk to park and get some beach time in (I believe they’ve got changing rooms too).
I used to live in FWB. My dad was stationed at Hurlburt Field. I haven’t had a chance to go back there in a few years though. Let us know if it’s still as nice as I remember!
It depends on the hotel, but in my experience, they’ll put you in a room before the check-in time if a room is ready. If not, they will accomodate you if you want to use the facilities until then (you are, after all, a paying guest and it’s in their interest to keep you happy). This means letting you park, giving you a place to stay, and even checking your bags (in my experience, there is no fee for this, but you are expected to tip the bellman).
I’ve shown up without reservations at 9:00 a.m. for a hotel with a 3:00 p.m. checkin and was able to go to a room immediately.
If ever in Atlantic City, you’ll notice quite a few people walking the boardwalk or lounging on benches, suitcases on wheels at their side, between the hours of 11 A.M. and 4 P.M. I can vouch for this as I have done it once. The casinos are pretty liberal with their free room comps. In my situation, I wanted to stay 3 days. I checked out of one hotel and had to wait the 5 hours to check in to the second hotel.
OK, Not sure of the tip here, but I was told this was the double-booking period. If a guest was late, they got to charge them for the next day, even though you are going to take the room over. But of course, there is always the “cleaning time” excuse.
We’re on the island at a place called The Conquistador Inn. Checking in as Mr. and Mrs. Quasi “Smith” on July 11th. (Just kidding!:D) If any of y’all are in the vicinity send me an e-mail and let’s have a drink.
Thanks for all the answers!
Q