Average check-in time for hotels

The average time for check-in to hotels is typically in the early afternoon, around 3 to 4 PM. However, this can vary considerably between different hotels and locations. Typical check-out times are in the morning, up to 11 AM and sometimes as late as noon. These times are set by individual hotels to allow for cleaning and preparation of rooms for incoming guests. And of course to meet the particular needs of guests who have requested check-in or check-out outside the usual hours. Most modern hoteliers are willing to allow guests some leeway, depending on the logistics of hotel operations, such as room readiness and staff scheduling.

However, as well as typical daily times for check-in and check-out, we’ll also be examining how to speed up these important activities, so that the average time is significantly reduced. By paying attention to the time of day and duration of check-in and check-out times, you can address one of the biggest pinch points facing all hotels and their guests.

Managing check-in times

No one likes being stuck in a traffic jam, and yet that’s a fact of life in many hotels, when the morning and afternoon rush can mean long lines of guests waiting to be checked-in or out, to be assigned their room, make special requests, or simply settle the bill at the end of their stay. Most of these wait times can be dramatically reduced. This results in happier guests, and staff who are less stressed by peak demand. Fixed check-in and check-out times do have some advantages for hotels however, including:

• Easier and more consistent staff rotas where peak demand can be anticipated and responded to consistently. The hotel lays down the ground rules of when guests can arrive and depart, so staff shifts can be aligned to this.
• Housekeeping and cleaning is ‘linear’ with standard check-in and check-out times. A cleaner can move steadily and logically down a corridor, knowing that every room will be vacant.
• Maintenance activities can also be planned with a fixed schedule, with both public areas and in-room work arranged around set times when the smallest number of guests are in the building.
• Efficiency is aided by having set routines which enable staff to make the check-in and check-out processes streamlined, and to effectively manage room turnover.
• For many guests, having clear communication about fixed check-in and check-out times actually helps them plan activities, and manages their expectations. If guests know when they are required to quit their room, then few object to this clarity.

Downsides of the rush-hours

And yet, fixed check-in and check-out times come with a few disadvantages that could make hotel operations harder. The downsides of peak times include:

• ‘Rush hour’ check-in and check-out leads to queueing and frustrating waits for guests. After a long journey the last thing they need is to be kept waiting on line, and for sure delays in the morning when onward travel connections have to be made are not appreciated. 
• While it may make sense to bulk up staffing to face the challenges of peak times, this can be difficult to organise consistently. It’s often easier on staff to create a more flexible and overlapping approach, which helps smooth out the demands on personnel. 
• While there’s some logic to the ‘linear’ approach to cleaning and maintenance, it doesn’t always make sense, especially if there are urgent issues. It’s better to prioritise, or do work in rooms as they become available. 

So here are some suggestions about what can be done to make the crucial pinch points of check-in and check-out faster and more free-flowing. 

Automating processes to collapse wait times

Let’s start with two simple assumptions:

1. You don’t want to stress or frustrate your guests
2. You don’t want to stress or frustrate your staff

Modern hotel technology is now widely available to make many standard processes smoother and more efficient, at the same time providing add-on services which are entirely new. We know this because we are SabeeApp, and for over eleven years we have been supplying the hospitality industry worldwide with our cloud-based Property Management System, along with a suite of sophisticated additional applications designed to enhance the guest experience, and ease the work of hotel managers and staff. Because the SabeeApp solution is cloud-based, the technology isn’t in your hotel, taking up space in the back office, and never requires visits from a maintenance engineer. We host the software, which means that it can be regularly updated to add new features, leaving hoteliers free to get on with what they do best - running their hotel. Our PMS and ‘Smart Solutions’ are extremely comprehensive, but here we’re looking specifically at how we can help with hotel check-in times.

Speeding up the booking process

• Online check-in is now a must-have. Guests can book anything, anywhere, so why not their choice of hotel? With the advent of multi-lingual chatbots and 24/7 operation through the hotel’s own website, our PMS enables direct booking by the guest at a time of their choosing. This promotes convenience, and doesn’t tie up hotel staff at peak times. Frequently Asked Questions can also be easily covered, further saving time in the booking process.
• Accuracy is essential when a booking is made. Names, addresses, arrival and departure dates and times, and payment methods must all be recorded, and with the Booking Engine of the PMS this can all be entered by the guest. It’s swifter and less frustrating than the old way of repeating details (often many times!) to a harassed front-desk member of staff who is hand-entering the data and probably multi-tasking as well.
• Confirmation of the booking is needed straight away, which is also done automatically. This allows the guest to check their own data and ensures that every aspect of the booking is correct. If they’ve made an inadvertent slip, they can fix it, and then everyone is ‘on the same page’.
• Personalisation has become a key factor across the hospitality industry in recent years. If you think the smoothly functioning automated processes we're describing sound impersonal, they are far from that. The guest will receive their confirmation message - and all future communication - to them by name, using their preferred comms channel. The hotel can also personalise all communications using images and the hotel logo, so that messaging feels ‘real’.

So, we’ve significantly shortened and made the booking process more efficient, and in doing so had the opportunity to advise on house rules about check-in and check-out times. The guest has also been able to use the system to advise of likely late arrival, or request early check-in. This is achieved through our Customer Portal, allowing online check-in, ID scanning, reservation updates, and payments from any web browser. Instant feedback improves guest satisfaction and resolves issues promptly, fostering loyalty through smoother experiences and shorter wait times.

Speeding up the check-in process

There are a number of solutions to speed up the check-in process, particularly self check-in, making it smoother for all concerned:

• Online check-in is the logical continuation of the initial booking process, allowing the guest access through our Guest Advisor app and Customer Portal. Automated check-in is easy and saves a lot of queuing time.
• ID Scanning can be a part of the check-in process initiated by the guest, even before they arrive at the hotel. Think of all the individual pinch points that traditionally would be front desk responsibilities. Each activity may only take a minute or two, but these all compound into aggravating wait times. Inputting all ID information pre-stay has to make sense.
• Smart Solutions in practice include SabeeApp’s Front Office Manager which facilitates the guest journey pre-stay, on check-in and check-out, and even post-stay. It’s a comprehensive offering which really has to be seen in action to be fully appreciated.
• Kiosks are an increasingly attractive proposition for guests who feel more comfortable with an in-person check-in process where they are in control of their own ID documentation and other details. Kiosks in the reception area mean that there is little or no queuing. It also gives hotel reception staff the opportunity to helpfully step in if guests do need assistance in the process. Self check-in kiosks have become big news in the aviation industry, especially for baggage check-in, and are becoming increasingly widespread in hospitality settings.  

And of course, what can be achieved with automated check-in can also be applied to the check-out process. Such automation provides a win-win for guest and hotel staff alike. The majority of guests don’t have to wait at the front desk, leaving staff more free to deal with special requests or guest issues. Health and hygiene problems are also minimised by less close contact between people, and staff tend to be more relaxed and client-facing when they are not stressed by repetitive but demanding tasks.

Going to the next level of average hotel check-in time

In mentioning those incremental ‘a minute here and a minute there’ moments of the check-in process, another area to shave off time is in the issuing of keys, and the handing backwards and forwards of keys during the guest’s stay. And let’s not even get into the subject of lost keys and the admin that can entail! With all the possibilities of touchless check-in, comes the ability to enable keyless access to the guest’s room (and other areas such as a gym or wellness centre). The guest’s smartphone becomes their means of access - more smoothly, and more quickly. Leveraging the power of mobile devices also allows in-stay messaging, advice about special offers or in-hotel events, and upsells. 

None of this takes away from the importance of great staff interaction with guests - in fact it means that staff have more time to be personal and engaging. Hospitality is all about people, and if guests are treated well in a personalised way, they’ll talk glowingly about their experience in your hotel, using social media. A satisfied guest is the greatest marketing any hotel can have.

Aim high and make smooth check-in a priority

The very nature of the hospitality industry means that hotels and their staff are always working on being good, better, best. Deciding on the particular hours that check-in can happen will be down to individual managers, and the average daily times we’ve mentioned here might not be for you. What’s more important is that you consider if ‘average’ is even a thing anymore, and instead adopt the flexible approach enabled by the kind of technologies that we have developed at SabeeApp. Spreading out and smoothing over average times will result in a better-managed guest journey.

In addition, adopting some (or all) of the technologies we’ve talked about here will significantly reduce, or even cancel average check-in times within a hotel, allowing for a free-flowing guest journey from start to finish. So, commit to elevating average hotel check-in times to exceptional hotel check-in times - with SabeeApp.