# Do hotels care if I don't use the room every night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782 "2019-02-18T18:33:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/23 "2019-02-19T17:24:28Z")
I recall after the Las Vegas shooter incident there was talk that the LV hotels were going to change procedures to check up on rooms where the person seemed to not want any people coming in the room. Don’t know what they actually did in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/24 "2019-02-19T17:34:11Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I didn’t realize that they’d give you the whole week’s worth of perks for booking one night. Seems like it would be worth it to not only book the room, but check in and make it look like you used it, so I doubt their cracking down really changed anything. Agree. Seems like going over there to check-in and placing some “stunt luggage” in the room would be in order. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/25 "2019-02-19T18:35:25Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I didn’t realize that they’d give you the whole week’s worth of perks for booking one night. Seems like it would be worth it to not only book the room, but check in and make it look like you used it, so I doubt their cracking down really changed anything. Yes, and for a while on that other board that’s exactly what posters were suggesting. It’s a bit of a hassle of course - someone’s got to leave the park drive to the hotel, check in, go rustle up the beds and throw a few wet towels on the floor, etc. Much easier just to eat the no-show charge. FWIW, I didn’t check in and didn’t have any problems. For all I know, they’ve fixed the system since then so you can’t get a full week (or maybe 10 days?) worth of early reservations with only a single night’s stay. My kids have aged out of Disney vacations, so I don’t keep up with it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/26 "2019-02-19T20:23:16Z")
I travel a fair bit for work and did ~50 nights last year. The company is paying for my travel so if I meet up with a friend I usually grab my gear and stay with them the hotel has never had a problem when I come back the next day with my stuff. Occasionally, I’ll do this the night before I check out and just never come back to the hotel. It’s still never been a problem. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/27 "2019-02-19T20:40:02Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I can’t make sense of your actions. They didn’t have any room available for Thursday or Friday nights, what did you think was going to happen? They were just going to say “Oh, I guess he’s still here, so we won’t be able to honor someone else’s reservation?” Or magic? Please share your thinking process. It was a dick move, I’ll grant you that. The way I rationalized it was… It would be easier for the people who hadn’t yet unpacked their car to go to another hotel than for me to move. And I figured I had spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 at that hotel in the previous four months, so any inconvenience to them was taken care of. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/28 "2019-02-19T22:11:12Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > It was a dick move, I’ll grant you that. The way I rationalized it was… It would be easier for the people who hadn’t yet unpacked their car to go to another hotel than for me to move. And I figured I had spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 at that hotel in the previous four months, so any inconvenience to them was taken care of. There’s the old joke: “Are you telling me that if the Queen of England showed up you would not have a room for her?” “We certainly would!” “Well, she’s not coming so I’ll take her room…” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/29 "2019-02-19T22:22:43Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > It was a dick move, I’ll grant you that. The way I rationalized it was… It would be easier for the people who hadn’t yet unpacked their car to go to another hotel than for me to move. And I figured I had spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 at that hotel in the previous four months, so any inconvenience to them was taken care of. FWIW, one non-dick-move way to handle it would have been to talk to the hotel’s manager at the beginning of the week: “Hey, I’m here staying with you all week, every week, and I wasn’t able to get a room here for Thursday and Friday – you’re booked solid already. What can you do to help me?” ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/30 "2019-02-20T02:10:00Z")
The only time we’ve done this is when we had a ten-day reservation at a small property in London. We decided at the last minute to take the Eurotrain Chunnel to Paris for two nights, and wanted to take only a few changes of clothes instead of all of our belongings. We informed the front desk and they were cool with it. I do think that in Europe they keep track of their guest’s comings and goings more closely, and that may have thought that we had abandoned our (paid-for) room. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/31 "2019-02-20T05:01:59Z")
The hotel doesn’t care, the room is booked and making money. Housekeeping does care, they are more than happy to touch up rather than have a full room turn. But be assured, someone is assigned to your room and keeping the hotel aware of it’s status. And don’t worry, those DND signs do not deter room attendants/management/security from checking on rooms. Usually just a peek in to make sure something does not need to be addressed. Dougrb, you should complained when told about the Thu/Fri bookings blackout. They probably would gladly let you pay whatever the rate was for that group, you could have pushed for somewhere in between whatever rate you had been getting and the group rate or maybe somebody realized you and/or your company (more than one room?) were good customers and held your rate. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/32 "2019-02-20T05:29:16Z")
> [@Pithily\_Effusive](#): > > I’m not going to ask what brought this on . . . actually using the room . . . The idea an American, other than a close friend, boss or spouse, would care what you’re doing enough to keep track is a quaint notion. I didn’t think it would be a problem. But it seemed like an unusual thing to do, and I know better than to think that just because I don’t think something is a problem, it isn’t. > [@](#): > > You might consider the expense of renting a room you’re not using, however. It seems like a gargantuan waste of capital. (Correct me if I’m wrong, or even if I’m not!) If I’m on a 2-week business trip and decide to go somewhere else for the weekend, I’m not going to the trouble of packing all my stuff, checking out Saturday morning and carrying all my stuff with me just to save my employer some money. Anyway thanks everyone for the responses. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/33 "2019-02-20T05:42:53Z")
> [@motu](#): > > Dougrb, you should complained when told about the Thu/Fri bookings blackout. I hate to admit it… but my method didn’t require nearly as much work. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/34 "2019-02-21T06:50:32Z")
I had a two-month stay in Anaheim once at a Residence Inn, and had a week-long break but just kept my room. > [@dougrb](#): > > I hate to admit it… but my method didn’t require nearly as much work. I’m surprised that your company couldn’t have gotten you that room with as long as you were staying there. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/35 "2019-02-21T13:43:01Z")
Back when I did new product launches as our plants, I was pretty much a permanent resident at any hotel I stayed at. There’s no way I would check out for a weekend home or a week’s vacation. The hotel didn’t care, although to be honest, I’m usually on a first name basis with everyone after the first few weeks. Pulling a week or two of nights was always kind of awkward, though, because housekeeping doesn’t really work odd shifts. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/36 "2019-02-22T21:11:39Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > Since the question has been answered, I’m going to hijack this thread with the opposite question. In a past life, I had been staying in a hotel Monday-Friday for the better part of four months for work. One week, I could not get Thurs & Fri because some event was happening in a nearby town. I just didn’t check out Thurs morning. When I returned that evening, my key card didn’t work and I had to go to the front desk. Besides the dirty looks, I was given a lecture and told “If you do that again, we’re going to throw all your stuff in the parking lot.” I always wondered if they could actually do that? Huh. My one experience with that kind of situation was exactly the opposite. I was living in NYC. Relatives came to visit. The family of four didn’t want to stay in my studio apartment (understandably), so I made a reservation for them in a hotel down the street — one room w/two double beds. They arrive, they come to my apartment, I walk with them to the hotel. The desk clerk tells them there is no room; they were going to be given the room of someone who was checking out that day, but that person changed his/her mind and decided to stay. No other rooms were available, either, so they were out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/37 "2019-02-23T03:35:49Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > It was a dick move, I’ll grant you that. The way I rationalized it was… It would be easier for the people who hadn’t yet unpacked their car to go to another hotel than for me to move. And I figured I had spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 at that hotel in the previous four months, so any inconvenience to them was taken care of. Yeah, I would have talked to the hotel. There’s always a couple rooms held back. Assuming this was in the USA, put yourself in the position of a jet lagged person who doesn’t speak the language. Perhaps they had taken an expensive Uber to get to the hotel. Now, take all the time they’ve spent researching the hotel and the immediate areas. Yeah, it was a dick move. ---
**Author:** ![Texas2Step](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@Texas2Step](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Texas2Step)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/38 "2019-02-23T04:43:15Z")
I worked for five years in the hotel business, and agree with most of the answers you have been given - as long as the room is paid for and your items are in there, then the hotel generally does not care that you don’t stay in the room every night. However, it would be courteous of you, and in your best interest, to notify the front desk that you expect to be out of the hotel x number of nights, but you want to retain the room. The housekeeping staff will know that they don’t have to clean the room beyond the first day of your absence, and the staff will know that you intend to return. Believe it or not, there are cases of people abandoning a room AND all their luggage. Those are usually people who are on the run from the law and have to boogie when they are away from the hotel, or they are arrested and the staff has no way of knowing. In Dallas, we once had a couple abandon all their luggage and a big, sweet dog. The dog went to a local shelter, and we stored the luggage for a year; the guests never returned. ---
**Author:** ![Texas2Step](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@Texas2Step](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Texas2Step)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/39 "2019-02-23T04:46:54Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > For typical hotels in the US, if I check in for a multi-day stay but go away for few days in the middle of the stay, do they care? Should I call and let them know, or would they think “uh, why are you telling us this?” This is assuming I leave my stuff in the room, and return to the hotel before the end of the reservation period to check out. > > Don’t need answer fast, just wondered last time I considered doing it. I worked for five years in the hotel business, and agree with most of the answers you have been given - as long as the room is paid for and your items are in there, then the hotel generally does not care that you don’t stay in the room every night. However, it would be courteous of you, and in your best interest, to notify the front desk that you expect to be out of the hotel x number of nights, but you want to retain the room. The housekeeping staff will know that they don’t have to clean the room beyond the first day of your absence, and the staff will know that you intend to return. Believe it or not, there are cases of people abandoning a room AND all their luggage. Those are usually people who are on the run from the law and have to boogie when they are away from the hotel, or they are arrested and the staff has no way of knowing. In Dallas, we once had a couple abandon all their luggage and a big, sweet dog. The dog went to a local shelter, and we stored the luggage for a year; the guests never returned. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/40 "2019-02-23T07:04:25Z")
Back when I did international cponsuktancy work and spend something like 300 nights away, I **always** told them when I would be gone overnight. They had zero problems, and were thankful for the courtesey. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782/41 "2019-02-23T15:12:31Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There’s the old joke: > “Are you telling me that if the Queen of England showed up you would not have a room for her?” > “We certainly would!” > “Well, she’s not coming so I’ll take her room…” There was a Dilbert strip where he was trying to get a room at the desk of a fully-occupied motel. In the last frame, he asked the clerk, “Hey, if the Pope were coming here…” And in the lower right corner of the frame appeared the distinctive shape of a mitre hat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hotels-care-if-i-dont-use-the-room-every-night/829782.md?page=1)