Sofitel offers guests Fiji Airways check-in desk at hotel to save passengers hours

It’s one of the worst parts of going overseas, but one hotel has come up with a genius way to give you hours of extra free time.

It’s one of the most painful parts of going overseas – having to cut the end of your holiday short to spend hours sitting at the airport with nothing to do.

But one hotel in Fiji has worked out a solution, by setting up an airline check-in desk at the resort.

Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa, located on the man-made Denaru Island and less than half an hour from Nadi International Airport, established the Fiji Airways check in-desk four years ago in the hotel’s lobby.

Would you rather wait for your flight at the airport, or here?

And while the check-in desk has been a massive hit with hotel customers, Sofitel Fiji’s director of sales and marketing Michael Bell said establishing it was not easy.

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Bell said it took time to build a system that Fiji’s aviation regulators felt happy and secure about.

There are obviously a number of security risks that come with passengers leaving their bags in a location outside the airport before picking them up in the destination country.

To ensure zero tampering, Sofitel and Fiji Airways worked with Fiji’s transport security body to establish cameras along the route, filming every moment of your suitcase’s journey.

The Fiji Airways employee at the counter takes your bags and prints your boarding pass.

The check-in desk at Sofitel Fiji. Picture: news.com.au

The desk is located just outside the lobby. Picture: news.com.au

Fiji Airways then follows up with a text message to confirm your luggage is at the airport and on the plane.

The ability to drop your bags at the hotel, a service that is complimentary to all Fiji Airways customers outside of the US, guarantees guests an extra one-and-a-half hours in the resort.

It means, rather than sitting in an uncomfortable airport chair, you can instead spend extra time lounging by the pool or wandering on the beach.

The ‘Resort Check-in’ feature is believed to be the first of its kind in the Pacific.

While it is currently only available at the Sofitel, the nearby Raddison Blu Resort Fiji, InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa and the SheratonFiji Golf and Beach Resort will all get their in-hotel check-in desks later this year.

“We designed the service to be another customer experience enhancement for Fiji Airways guests. It was all about adding more value to our guests’ departure day,” Fiji Airways said in a statement.

“We issue the boarding passes, tag and take bags off the guests, leaving them free to enjoy Fiji for a few more hours. They then get to bypass check-in at the airport and head straight to security.”

A lot of work was done to ensure the bags are secured. Picture: news.com.au

Fiji Airways confirmed the huge amount of work that went into ensuring the safety and security of the system.

“The required aviation regulators for Fiji and the Civil Aviation Authority all approved operation of the ‘Resort Check-In’ service and undertook extensive inspections of the high-quality safety and security processes in place,” the airline said.

“All checked-in luggage is carefully and securely transferred to Nadi International Airport and loaded on the guests’ respective flights.

“To ensure a smooth operation from the get-go, we implemented a trial phase prior to launch which was highly commended by the resort management, our own teams and, most importantly, our guests.”

This journalist was a guest of Fiji Airways.