What time can you book a hotel? (After midnight!?) [2022] (2023)

Sometimes you need to book a hotel very late at night or very early in the morning e.g. B. just after midnight.

In these cases, you might be wondering if it's possible to book a hotel room this late and how would that work?

Below I'll take a look at what time you can book a hotel and some important factors to consider when doing so. I'll even talk about how this can get you a discount in some cases!

What time can you book a hotel?

You can usually book a hotel 24 hours a day, but you may need to book over the phone or in person if you are trying to book a hotel for the "night" that started the day before. In some cases, you can also negotiate a discount with reception.

Tip:Use the free appWalletFloto help you travel the world for free, finding the best credit cards and travel deals!

online booking

Sometimes booking hotels very late at night can be difficult or impossible when trying to book them online.

The reason for this is that online reservation systems basically don't allow you to book a room for a specific night after you pass a certain time limit. This can be at night or at midnight or just before.

For example, if it's 1am and you're trying to book a hotel room on Expedia for that night, you probably won't even see the option to do so.

You might have better luck using the hotel's website when trying to book a hotel too late, but even they get cut off at a certain point.

Tip:If you think the site allows you to book a hotel room after midnight, pay attention andcheck everythingbecause you can book for the next night. This happens a lot more often than you think.

The time zone trick

Some people may succeed withchange the timeon the device when searching for hotels after midnight.

Essentially, you're pushing the time to the previous day by changing your time zone, and this can allow you to beat the system and book a stay.

I would be wary of this as it seems to be something that might confuse your booking. For example, a hotel reservation system might still set your reservation for the next night. Perhaps your reservation will never be completed, etc.

So if you choose this route, make sure you confirm your booking!

reservation delay

Another thing to look out for when booking online is that it can sometimes take a while for your reservation to appear in the system. These days, a reservation should appear almost instantly, but sometimes it can take a few minutes.

And occasionally when you make a reservation through something like an OTA there is sometimes a serious delay and you may need to speak to someone at the front desk to follow up on your reservation.

Finding a missed or "delayed" reservation isn't always a quick process, which is why it's one of the reasons you should process your reservation over the phone or in person.

Nothing is worse than arriving at a hotel very late and having to wait a long time while a stressed night auditor tries to make things right.

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There are several apps that specialize in offering last-minute hotel deals. These can be good resources to check if you're booking too late. I would recommend checking:HotelsByDay e HotelTonight.

Book in person or by phone

Rather than booking online, it's probably best to book over the phone or just drop by and book your room in person.

Personally I would recommend booking over the phone as this can save you a trip if the hotel ends up sold out.

But be careful: sometimes, around midnight, there is only one night auditor working at the hotel reception.

If you arrive at the hotel while this person is doing a random task, for example, taking care of a domestic issue, you may have difficulty entering the lobby. They might not answer the phone either.

Get a discount on your booking

One of the perks of booking a hotel late at night is that you can get a discount.🇧🇷 The justification is twofold.

First, around 11pm or later, a hotel doesn't expect many (or in some cases, no guests) to show up and book a room, so they assume those rooms won't sell.

Secondly, you spend much less time in the room, which means less use of the facilities and probably less housework.

Some hotels have something they call a "walking fee" or "fading fee".

These are essentially the minimum price levels that a hotel would offer for rooms when closing a deal with a potential customer.

If you book a hotel around midnight, you can use one of these Walk rates.You will need to do this over the phone or in person as they are not normally visible online.

The best thing to do is contact the front desk and let them know you want to book a hotel for the night and are curious as to whether they are willing to offer a negotiated rate based on you checking in so late. .

Certain types of hotels, such asairport hotelsmay have more experience dealing with many guests who arrive very late, and therefore may have systems in place to process discount requests. Depending on the hotel, this can make or break the discount.

Related:Can you rent a hotel room for a few hours? (Explanation of rates)

Check in too early

In some cases, you may be able to check into a hotel very early, allowing you to stay at the hotel the following night. It's basically two nights for the price of an offer.

If you book the room around 2am or 4am it's like you get itExtremely early check-in.

Most properties probably won't allow you to do this, so I definitely wouldn't count on this happening.

However, you might get lucky and a check-in agent will offer you this option if the hotel has a smaller capacity.

The earliest I could check into a hotel was 6 am.

This was on an extremely beautiful estate known as Singapore.Marina Bay SandsHotel, so it's definitely possible to do this in a five-star hotel. It is worth noting that I did not have any VIP status or recognition at this hotel.

Related:What time is check-in at hotels? (Tips for early check-in)

Last word

Booking a hotel room very late is not always possible online, but whether you want to book online or in person, you can book a hotel room at any time of the night, as long as there is availability.

In some cases you might get a discount because you book so late, for example. B. after midnight. And on very rare occasions, you can check in very early the next night.

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