Hyatt Promises 4PM Late Checkout — Some Hotels Now Say Pack At Noon And Switch Rooms

A Hyatt elite guest reports that recently been asked to change rooms to have their late check-out requests honored.

• At the Park Hyatt Saigon they had received a complimentary suite upgrade on arrival, but were told they could only have 4 p.m. late checkout if they left the suite at noon and used a “courtesy room” until 4 p.m.

• At the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok they confirmed a suite at booking on a points redemption and were similarly told they had to downgrade to a standard room for the last four hours of their stay in order to have late checkout.

I’ve never experienced anything quite like this, and I’ve stayed at both of these properties.

A couple of years ago the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam extended me a complimentary day use room for early check-in. My room wasn’t available yet when we arrived at the hotel before noon, and they weren’t obligated to do anything, but they agreed to provide a room to use until our suite was ready. That was fantastic!

On my first visit to the Intercontinental Manila, back when I was a Royal Ambassador member (with early check-in a guaranteed benefit) my suite wasn’t yet available either. The hotel had relatively few room types, and their policy was a two category upgrade. So booking a suite with a great rate there confirmed me into their Presidential suite. There was literally one room I was waiting for, so they complied with program rules by giving me a room to use on same floor until the suite was ready.

And the first time I visited the Park Hyatt Maldives, they offered a spa cottage to use for late check-out. They needed our water villa but this was a great solution. Hyatt’s elite late check-out benefit isn’t guaranteed at resorts.

In all of these cases, the hotel was complying with program terms or going above and beyond with hospitality. That’s different than telling a guest they can only have their guaranteed late check-out if they change rooms.

• Hyatt Globalists are guaranteed 4 p.m. late check-out
  
• However it is subject to availability at hotels with a casino, Destination Residences, and Hyatt resorts and not offered at Hyatt Residence Club resorts.
  
• Both the Park Hyatt Saigon and Grand Hyatt Erawan are guaranteed late check-out eligible properties.

However, none of the late checkout benefit language says that it must be in the sam eroom! It defines the time and which properties are exempt and never thinks to specify ‘no downgrades’. Most hotels would prefer not to move you, though, because that means housekeeping for an extra room.

That said, “4 p.m. checkout” generally means staying in your room until 4. Here, a guest has to pack, move and re-pack. Hyatt’s published benefit language doesn’t clearly forbid the downgraded room workaround, but it also doesn’t clearly bless it. The rule is about time, while the dispute is about implied meaning.

Now, it can be a reasonable compromise. You still get late checkout, a private place to stay and a shower. It can be considerate to the next guest, so the room can be turned rather than delaying their check-in.

And if the issue is flagged in advance then it might be o.k. for a complimentary upgrade? “We can offer you a suite if you’ll check out of it by Noon, as it’s booked by another guest, but if you’d prefer we’d be happy to extend 4p.m. check-out in your standard room.” (Although this creates bad incentives to always insist on this with suites.) That’s also different from a confirmed suite at booking.

Perhaps the right ‘courtesy room’ is for the arriving guest waiting for a suite, rather than the departing one, like I had at the Intercontinental Manila and Hyatt Regency Amsterdam.

Ultimately late check-out does present challenges. Last year Andaz 5th Avenue gave me 35,000 points when my room wasn’t ready at check-in time. Over a third of the rooms they had turning over that night were occupied by Globalists taking advantage of late check-out, they explained.

And it’s harder with confirmed suites, because there are usually fewer suites than standard rooms. They need to have enough housekeepers to turn rooms over quickly. But 4 p.m. check-out also conflicts with 4 p.m. check-in, if everyone arrives right at the start of check-in!

I find Hyatt actually to be the best at actually honoring promised late check-out. I’m almost always proactively offered late check-out at eligible hotels when I arrive, I don’t have to ask and it’s never denied. I cannot say that for Marriott. Hilton hasn’t even promised it before, though they say they will do so for their new Diamond Reserve members. At IHG, it’s subject to availability, even for Diamond guests.

Ultimately I do think that the guest in the room is entitled to the room until 4 p.m. when being granted late checkout, and if the hotel wishes to deviate from that they ought to offer something that works for the guest – in other words, be generous and suggest something like a spa treatment, meal or points and request the favor of the room downgrade?

In other words, the default should be you keep your assigned room until 4 p.m. where 4 p.m. is not subject to availability. If the hotel needs your room earlier, they should offer something to take care of the guest and not make it a downgrade.