What kind of ownership does a guest have over their hotel room?
We pay a lot to stay at hotels, and we want to get our money’s worth. That usually means that we expect our room to be clean, for the facilities to work without an issue, and even for the breakfast buffet to be as diverse as possible. When we check out, and the front desk clerk asks us, “How did you enjoy your stay?”, the answer should be that it was impeccable, absolutely perfect, no complaints.
Does that really happen every time? Absolutely not, but a girl can dream.
With all due respect to the money we pay for a hotel room, we can’t expect the hotel to treat the space as if we own it. The hotel owns it; there is no way around that. As long as you’re there, they will give you as much privacy and autonomy over the room as possible, but at the end of the day, when you check out, the room goes back to the hotel’s care.
This means that if someone decides to check out early, they relinquish their right to the autonomy over the room. Checking out at the front desk is basically saying, “I don’t need this room anymore, it is your responsibility now,” which allows the hotel to do whatever they want with it, including giving it to someone else.
So why was the guest in the story below, posted on Reddit’s r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk, so upset when she found out someone else was staying in a room she checked out of?
It was her decision to check out even though she had paid for another two nights in the hotel, and if she wanted to still have autonomy over it, she simply shouldn’t have handed over the keys. The hotel doesn’t care whether you sleep in a room or not, as long as you’re paying for it, you can do whatever you want with it. But if you officially tell them your stay is finished, the room is back in their control. Do with that what you will.
Author: Kayitsi.com
