Can I book a hotel room overnight and use it for just part of an evening

December 11, 2010 9:14 PM

Will a chain hotel (Travelodge in the UK) mind me booking a hotel room overnight, but just using it for part of the evening?

I'll be seeing my finace over Christmas for the first time for a few months, as she's been away abroad. However, we'll be staying with my parents, so any kind of sexual activity is out of the question. She raised the possibility of us getting a cheap hotel room in the local city, checking in mid-afternoon, having an enjoyable few hours there, and checking out mid to late evening and going back to my parents. My main question is: will the hotel raise any questions about this? I don't want it to seem like she's a prostitute or anything - and I also don't want to get too many strange looks/comments from the staff.

What do people think? Will the hotel mind? Do people do this a lot?

posted by anonymous to Human Relations (20 answers total)

If you pay for the full time span, they don't care if you use all or none of it.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 9:15 PM on December 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

This made me smile.

You've rented the room, you leave when you wish. Don't even "check out", just leave the key in the room and leave.

They could care less....

And, do people do it a lot...? yes... unless you brits are a lot more uptight than we are here in the states! :)
posted by HuronBob at 9:25 PM on December 11, 2010 [9 favorites]

They couldn't care less.
posted by sanka at 9:25 PM on December 11, 2010

Nope, it's no problem. (I've done this lots.) And for what it's worth, you check in and pay with a credit card. When you leave, you don't actually need to check out at all - they have the payment, and you don't even have to return the keycard for the room. If this is a big deal to you, you can just walk out like you're going to dinner and it will be a total non-event.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:26 PM on December 11, 2010

Hotel employees really don't give a damn what you do in their hotel if you don't make a mess and it's not going to cause them trouble. If it's actually not illegal, all the better. I've worked in a couple hotels, we wouldn't even be able to work up the energy to gossip about this kind of thing. They might ask you if there was a problem, you can just say there was a change of plans, or whatever.
posted by bluejayk at 9:26 PM on December 11, 2010

I thought this was what people use hotel rooms for.
posted by rancidchickn at 9:46 PM on December 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

If you check in without luggage and a local address they'll be well aware that this is what you're checking in for. I'm not saying they'll care, but they'll know.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:00 PM on December 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

My family travels a lot (via car all over the US), and generally stumble our way into motels late at night, road-weary and ready to collapse onto the first available horizontal surface. On more than one occasion I've encountered a "we're booked solid, sorry!" when calling ahead to scout vacancies, only to be followed up with an "actually, a room has just opened up, someone checked out early!"

So, a few things: 1) it's not a big deal at all, 2) happens all the time, for any number of reasons, 3) if the hotel is full, it would be nice of you (though of course not at all necessary) to officially check out.
posted by phunniemee at 10:00 PM on December 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you're that you'll never run into the desk clerk at your mom's tea, or at church or something, you could ask about hourly rates.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:17 PM on December 11, 2010

*If you're sure...
posted by SLC Mom at 10:18 PM on December 11, 2010

Of for Christ's sake... you're both adults, and you want to have sex. Nothing illegal or anything to be ashamed about. If the hotel asks, and they won't, just tell them it's none of their business.
posted by sbutler at 10:20 PM on December 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

AS others have said... just check in and pay, bring a small duffel or backpack with toiletries and a change of clothes if you need 'em. Walk out of the hotel when your done, if it'll help imagine you are going out to dinner... and that's it.
posted by edgeways at 10:24 PM on December 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Some hotels offer day-use special rates; these aren't even always used for sex. During my travelling days back in my BC years (Before Children), I would sometimes arrive in a city after an all night bus journey and use a room to clean up and nap for a little while before checking out in the afternoon for the next all night bus trip. Unfortunately for me, that was at a time in my life when sex was something other people did, but I could at least still be part of the hotel day-use club. Huzzah!

Go and have some fun! I'm sure the receptionist will know exactly what you're doing, but absolutely not care. :o)
posted by MighstAllCruckingFighty at 1:01 AM on December 12, 2010

Ask for late check out, use the room that night, then go back to your parents' place, then swing back to the hotel in the morning for a little more fun, and check out after that.
posted by inigo2 at 9:06 AM on December 12, 2010 [6 favorites]

I don't want it to seem like she's a prostitute or anything - and I also don't want to get too many strange looks/comments from the staff.

Trust me, the desk clerks can tell who is a prostitute and who isn't. This is a non-issue. Have fun.
posted by jayder at 12:31 PM on December 12, 2010

Based on my experiences with Travelodge, the staff don't care when you check out, or check in, or about anything you do in between the two.
posted by Hogshead at 1:30 PM on December 12, 2010

What everyone else said (they won't care,) but do check out when you leave. Some places will keep charging your card until you "officially" check out.
posted by Marky at 2:27 PM on December 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Anecdote: if you get a really cheap hotel, they might expect you to leave early. A friend and I got a place to stay after a concert in a town far from home, without planning ahead. It was skeezy, but it was cheaper than the other skeezy hotel in the area. We cringed at the condition and some "features" of the room ("Why is there a mirror at the foot of the bed? Ohhh."), but we were tired and we didn't want to sleep in our car. We woke up around 8:30 AM, were dressed and ready to go, and the manager opened the the door, saw we were still there, and closed it behind him without saying a word.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:27 PM on December 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

A lot of places have multiple entrance/exits. And no, the staff surely would not care.
posted by Taurid at 10:58 PM on December 12, 2010

I've done this multiple times before (rented a room for the night but left in the evening - though not for the same reason as you). They don't care. There are so many reasons you could be leaving early - no one's going to think too hard about it.
posted by anonymously at 5:55 PM on December 15, 2010