Pay extra if you check out early?

[WillTravel]

I just remembered this incident from this weekend.

When I checked in at the Summerfield Suites (a Wyndham property), I was given a form to sign which said that if I checked out one or more days early, I would have to pay for an extra night's stay. I saw that the staff was just going through an obligatory ritual, since I only had one night's stay. So I signed it.

However, if I had been staying two or more nights, I think I could have rightly refused to sign. When we initial our agreement with Priceline, we do not agree to pay one extra night's stay if we check out early (or at least not to my recollection). So the hotel is trying to add extra terms and conditions to the agreement after the fact.

Has anyone ever seen this form, either at a Wyndham property or elsewhere? Has anyone refused to sign?

I think the reason the hotel has this agreement is that the hotel is not paid for all of your nights if you check out in advance. So they do lose revenue. That's my educated guess, based on various things I have read. Anyone know for sure?

[thereuare]

The way you describe it, it doesn't sound to me like this was a Priceline specific form and was more their general check-in procedure.

So let's say you booked directly with the hotel for an entire week. After 3 days you decide to go home... apparently this form allows them to charge you for one add'l nite stay as a 'penalty' for checking out early, since they may have turned away other guests if the hotel had thought they were at full occupancy. I couldn't imagine this ever being an issue with a pre-paid reservation, since you wouldn't be getting a refund for your unused days anyway.

I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

[WillTravel]

The form had an entry for booking agent - mine said Priceline.com. So presumably the same form could be used for Expedia or Hotwire or whatever other agent. I can't say for sure, but I think other people have been charged at the rack rate for this one night's stay, rather than the booking rate. Given that the price I paid was perhaps 1/3 of the rack rate, such a penalty could be considerable if you had to leave early.

[zbenye]

Why check out early? Play the game by their rules. No changes allowed. You've prepaid for x nights but only need y nights. You're not going to get a refund for the unneeded nights, so simply pack and leave without checking out. Tell the front desk that you may be absent from your room a few nights (you have the right to sleep wherever you like!) but you are keeping it (it's paid-for, right?!) and will return. Have them enter a note into your record, so that housekeeping isn't alarmed. Then, on the x morning, call the hotel on the phone, tell them the room has been vacated and to go ahead and check you out.

When I did that in the past, I left a few shopping bags filled with newspaper in the room, to give the impression someone was still staying there.

The hotel gains (gets paid for all nights) and Priceline loses the extra profit. Their own rules.

[Welldone Rumproast]

Tell the front desk that you may be absent from your room a few nights (you have the right to sleep wherever you like!) but you are keeping it (it's paid-for, right?!) and will return. Have them enter a note into your record, so that housekeeping isn't alarmed.

This is excellent advice. When I relocated (job transfer) in 1991, I was staying at a Marriott until I could find an apartment etc. My father was taken seriously ill and I flew back to see him. When I returned, the hotel had checked me out and put my possessions into storage "because they thought I had abandoned the room" (even though the long-term stay had been negotiated by my corporation and a few other co-workers were at the same hotel).

[bbbb]

They do this to keep people from booking three or four nights to get a cheaper room rate.I often book a hotel for more nights when i can get the room cheaper and know the hotel will let me get out of the extra nights without any charges.This also will let you book a room at a hotel that has no rooms for the night you need unless you book more then one night.