I worked in a hotel at the front desk for a while, so I was able to see the “behind-the-scenes” part of checkout. I always drop my keys off at the desk. That way the room gets checked out immediately and housekeeping can go in to clean. A lot of times they have to wait until the room is officially out in the computer before they can go in, and if the keys are left in the room with no notification that the person is out, they have to wait until checkout time. That can cause a backlog during extremely busy times. I left the job before TV checkout became a thing, but it sounds like a great idea to me. That’s most likely integrated with the computers up front so the room will show checked out there when you do it on the TV.
A word of advice: Don’t ever call the housekeepers maids. They consider that a derogatory term and will put you on their Specialized High-Intensity Training list (as we called it at my old workplace) even as they smile at you. Especially if the housekeeper is Black or Latino, because they have a lot of bad connotations to the term “maid”.
Since the guest is entitled to the use of the room until checkout time, shouldn’t the housekeeping staff plan the cleaning schedule around that? How do you get a backlog if you assume no room is free to clean until after checkout time?
Were you in the right building, lol? … I never heard of an unstaffed hotel, what if the plumbing broke, or you lost your card/key, or - or - or something? Ditz around on the phone to report it, I guess?
They could do that in principle, but that would generally mean staffing enough housekeepers to clean the entire hotel between checkout time and checkin time, while a lot of (most?) rooms sit idle from 7AM. Instead they have enough staff for the typical scenario, not the worst-case scenario.
UNless the gust clocks out via the TV or app, The room gets clocked out as free when a desk clerk enters that fact in the computer. Which isn’t going to happen if you just drop the unlabeled key card(s) someplace on the desk or in a bin then run. Those keys just get put back in the “ready to program and give out” bin.
Now if you leave the key with the little paperboard envelope it came in that the check-in clerk wrote your number on, that’s a different matter. Now they know which room to clock out.
I always dispose of the sleeve with the room number written on it separately from the keycards. If someone finds both together, they know which room the keycards open.
Similar here. I do a lot of business travel and our expense dept is very picky about how the bill is shown and itemized, esp for international VAT and exchange rates. I’ve had a couple of “under the door” summary prints that were rejected by our expense dept. I always check out and get a physical itemized receipt as a matter of course.
Yeah, it was a first for us, too. It’s an OLD hotel in a gold rush town. We think the main income generator for the hotel is the restaurant/bar, because it seemed like it was the town’s main (only?) hot spot. It didn’t have a parking lot, but from our balcony we could see the street, and even when our car was the only one parked out front, the restaurant and bar were quite busy, so we assumed nearly all the patrons walked there. The town’s population is somewhere between 600 and 900, depending on the data source. The hotel has been featured twice on TV, I think. Once on a paranormal investigative series, and another time on one of those “fix my failing business” programs.
We realized the second day there that if we had a problem with the room or plumbing or anything after the restaurant/bar closed, we were screwed. I forgot to print the confirmation, so we didn’t have a phone number, nor did we have the key code to the front door. I’m not even sure the place meets hotel occupancy requirements, because we noticed there wasn’t a smoke detector in the room.
We enjoyed our stay - the view of the sunset from the balcony was ethereal - but I doubt we’ll stay there again. Maybe, but maybe not.
As someone who travels a fair bit, mostly reimbursable travel, I do the following.
For any hotels having a free membership program, I always join and download the app. I’m gold or higher on a couple of the hotel chains, which I find provides some nice perks. YMMV.
Yes, I have a lot of apps! I’m using 100 GB of storage out of 512 GB. Big deal. And I have an Android, so I keep the apps in a single folder on the screen where I keep my “travel apps”. I don’t understand the utility of the “minimalist” approach to smartphones, especially for anyone who travels.
When I check out, I use the app to check my invoice and check out. If the app isn’t supporting check-out (which happens), I use the TV to check my invoice and check out. By the time a actually leave the room a few minutes later, I can see the invoice in my email. I leave the keys on the dresser in the room.
If the app and the TV aren’t available for check out. I always drop my keys off at the front desk and let them know which room I’m checking out from. Sometimes I just walk out, but if I have incidental charges, I want to check the invoice, so I’ll stand in line. I always get a print out when I travel internationally, as the emailed invoices don’t always happen.
And if you arrive early, and they have enough rooms ready, they often let you check in early. It helps everyone to let the hotel know when you are leaving.
I’ve I’ve left the room, i don’t really care if someone steals the key. Who wants to get into a hotel room that’s about to lock him out? Anyway, i leave the cards on the front desk, within reach of the receptionist. I really don’t think there’s a security concern.
(I don’t keep the two together during my stay. And i usually just say which room I’m leaving. They can tell by running the card through their machine if they don’t catch what i said. But putting them together on the desk as you leave seems like a non -issue.)
Yeah, same. Or anyone who uses the phone for more than just phone calls. I have so many travel apps that I’ve split them into two folders, “travel apps” and “airline apps”.
I’ve been traveling a lot for work for the past four years and as soon as I started to do so, I joined the loyalty program for every airline, rental car company and hotel chain I might use. None cost money and, even aside from loyalty points, they offer some advantage. (For example, airlines and hotels might have free WiFi for loyalty program members. Hertz lets members of its loyalty program skip the counter at many airports and go directly to the parking area to choose a car.)
I’m a fan of just leaving the keys in the room and heading out, especially if the hotel has already slipped the bill under the door. My wife (who used to work in hotels) always prefers to check out in person. So we compromised, and we always check out in person.
I am very rarely in hotels anymore but going forward I will actually turn on the tv or download an app and do it that way if applicable. If I see a housekeeping cart, I will inform a housekeeper that I am leaving on top of that.
I have so many travel apps that I’ve split them into two folders, “travel apps” and “airline apps”.