Executive Travel : Gonna Check Out Early? That Could Cost You Something

If you’re a traveler who makes night-by-night decisions about your lodgings, beware of Hyatt and Westin hotels, and some Hiltons.

In the past several months, each of chose chains has been experimenting with policies that penalize guests as much as $50 for checking out a day or more ahead of their scheduled departure. As 1996 begins, Hyatt and Westin will go nationwide with the measures, and Hilton will be testing the fees at five hotels in New York and Washington, D.C.

This move has frequent travelers carefully watching competing chains such as Marriott, Sheraton and Radisson, which so far have resisted the idea. They could yet fall into line; Hyatt officials note that they have received inquiring calls from other chains and independent hotels in the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

“Philosophically, you hate to see any new charge imposed on consumers,” said Ed Perkins, editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter. “However, it is understandable. At least it’s more understandable than surcharges on phone calls and other minor scams that hotels pull.”

Perkins added, however, that he doesn’t expect the early departure fees to become an industry standard. Instead, he suggested, the early departure fee is likely to become a popular tool for specific hotel properties during periods of unusually high demand.

At Radisson, with 213 U.S. hotels, spokeswoman Karen Waters dismissed the fees as a “penny-wise and pound-foolish” maneuver. “We looked at this earlier in 1995, and the viewpoint Radisson has is that it’s already difficult enough being a road warrior. Why would Radisson want to penalize a business traveler for getting a chance to go home early?”

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In any event, trouble now lies waiting for the traveler who books three nights in a Hyatt, Westin or some Hiltons, then decides to leave after two.

Beginning Jan. 1, the Hyatt chain is imposing this new policy at all 104 of its hotels in North America. By the rules, guests will face a fee of $25 to $50 (depending on the hotel) if they check out a day or more ahead of the schedule they agree to at check-in. In Washington, D.C., where Hyatt first tested the idea early last year, the fee is $50; other Hyatts are charging $25.

Hyatt spokeswoman Carrie Reckert said the hotels are informing customers twice, “at the time of reservation and at the time of check-in,” about the new policy. “And people have been very understanding. We have not received an inordinate amount of complaints.”

Also beginning Jan. 1, Westin hotels will levy the same sort of fees at all 43 of its North American hotels, charging $25 at city hotels, $50 at resorts. The move follows tests in September and October at five Westins scattered around the U.S. Like her counterpart at Hyatt, a Westin spokeswoman declined to say how many travelers the fees were expected to affect. (Westin’s program exempts its frequent stayer program members and guests who are paying undiscounted “rack” rates.)

At Hilton, spokeswoman Kendra Walker said a virtually identical policy (with $50 fee) was started in November at the Washington D.C. Hilton and Towers, the Capital Hilton, the New York Hilton and Towers, the Millennium Hilton in New York and Waldorf-Astoria, also in New York. After a few months of gauging consumer feedback, Walker said, Hilton will decide whether to widen the policy to include other big-city hotels.

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Executives at Hyatt, Westin and Hilton said they expect the fees to affect business travelers far more than leisure travelers, and that their aim is to simplify room management by cutting down on early departures. Architects of Hyatt’s plan said it has reduced early checkouts by as much as 50% at some properties, but declined to give figures on how frequently early checkouts occur. (Hilton officials estimated that generally 5% to 15% of guests check out one day or more early.)

And what if a traveler claims a family crisis or hates their room?

Hyatt’s Reckert said individual hotels “certainly will have the option to waive the fee in light of personal situations. Each hotel will be looking at each case on an individual basis, deciding whether or not to charge the fee.” Westin and Hilton officials said their policies were the essentially the same.

Canceled reservations have long been a tricky variable for hotels, especially those whose customers include many business travelers with frequently changing plans. Though many chains now reserve the right to charge customers who reserve rooms and then don’t show, most city lodgings have had no automatic penalty.

To compensate for that, hotels often overbook rooms just as airlines overbook flights, which means that from time to time, a guest will walk up to the front desk and find that his or her “reserved” room is gone. Hotel industry officials say “walking” is rare.

Penalties for early departure are not an entirely new idea. For several years, many hotels have offered deeply discounted, unrefundable rates for people who pay well in advance.