Should you check out at the front desk when leaving a hotel?

It’s something you may not have given much thought to when it comes to your hotel stay, but you’re probably making this mistake, annoying staff.

It’s something you may not have given much serious thought to before; when you check out of your hotel room, what do you do with your room key?

Do you take it to the front desk, or do you leave it in your room? This topic came up for debate in a recent post on the popular Facebook travel group Girls Love Travel, and opinion was quite divided.

The traveller asked the group: “Debate with my husband: When leaving a hotel (etc) do you physically go to the desk and check out?

“Husband says you absolutely have to go to the lobby and say, ‘hey we are checking out here are our room key cards’. I have never done that unless the room keys are actual keys and not cards. I leave the cards on the dresser or a table and leave. That’s it.

“I used to travel for work and would stay in hotels over 20x a year. We just did a road trip and stayed in four different hotels/resorts and he made us physically check out in each place which really irritated me!

“Often we were running behind and this step was super unnecessary.”

The post received nearly two thousand comments, providing a lot of food for thought.

Her husband insisted on handing in the keys to each hotel. Was he right? Picture: iStock

It seems a lot depends on the type of hotel and the key itself – whether it was a physical key or a card – and also the location where the traveller was staying. Most believed that if you’re checking out early or on time, and had no additional charges to pay, there was no need to attend the front desk.

One person commented: “I’m a flight attendant, travel probably 70 per cent of the year and have done it for the last six years straight. Not once have I ‘checked out’.”

Another wrote: “Checking out (unless it’s physical keys) is what I did in the 90s. I’m over it!”

While a third said: “That is such a waste of time, unless they have money for me, I just leave when my time is up. That is the purpose of checking online.”

However, others made some valid points about why it can be a good idea to make the effort to see the staff at the check in desk, in particular so they can get on with cleaning your room as quickly as possible.

A former hotel worker commented: “As someone who works seasonally in hospitality, I always appreciate when guests come to the desk to check out. This eliminates questions about when housekeeping can access the room for cleaning and also helps us keep track of keys/key cards.”

Some hotels like to be told you’ve left so they can start cleaning your room early, it makes things more efficient. Picture: iStock

It also means the next guest has a greater chance of being able to check in early.

“I asked the front desk one time and they said they are very thankful to know when people leave so they can start cleaning the room, thus allowing people to check in early if needed,” another tourist wrote.

“I had never thought of that before. I feel it’s the polite thing to do, so I do it every time now.”

While another traveller wanted to ensure no financial issues would emerge later: “I always check out at the front desk because I’m afraid they might try to charge me for an extra night or half night. So I want time stamped proof that I left.”

And a fourth said: “I’m on your husband’s side on this, it feels weird to just leave without letting them know.”

For others, the etiquette about checking out seemed to vary by location.

“In USA you don’t have to, in Europe and other places I noticed it’s good to check out.”

Personally, I’m on team check out at the hotel desk, as a minimum it will always be the most polite thing to do to express gratitude for a pleasant stay. As a bonus it will help boost the efficiency of housekeeping services and to ensure your bill is square – once I avoided an extra fee that was going to be erroneously charged to my account, it was much easier to deal with then and there.