Early check in penalty fee at a motel

When checking in to attend a wedding in town at 2:30 pm, with the reception at the adjoining hall to the motel, we were told if we checked in before 3 pm, there was a $25.00 early penalty. We had to pay so we could get ready for the wedding. That is a 25% penalty to check in to a room that was already clean!! For the luxury rooms, the penalty was $30.00! NOWHERE on their site is this mentioned nor was it when we made the reservation! What a total scam! Numerous people were hit with the same and they knew they had us. Plus, the desk employeed were the most rude I have dealt with in 35+ years of travelin on a weekly basis across the US. They made no apologies and made only matter of fact type replies.1 lady told us to leave after we compalined and said she would call the cops! We asked for the phone and said we would call them and she told us to use our room phone!!! I strongly suggest to stay away from this poorly run scam job of a motel!!!

Comment On This

At most hotels, check out is at 11am. That only gives the housekeeping staff 4 hours to clean an entire hotel full of rooms, so that you can check in at 3pm. And half of the people checking out ask if they can have a late checkout!

Having to pay an additional fee to check in early [forcing the housekeepers to work even faster] is completely understandable. I am sure somewhere on their site it told that check in was at 3pm.

A courteous hotel would be glad to check you in early without a fee, and allow people to check out after normal checkout time, but people seem to start to expect it and not consider it special treatment.

If you needed to be at a wedding at 2:30 you should have checked in the previous day.