Last Updated on January 30, 2022
Hotels are sold on a per night basis.
In order to sell the room for the next night, the hotel needs time to clean the room before the next guest arrives in mid-afternoon.
To know the exact check-out time you need to check the specific hotel. Each hotel can set its own checking-out time to suit its local market.
But we can tell you the most common hotel check-out times.
To find out what time hotels typically kick you out I analyzed almost 200,000 hotels in the United States.
This post contains the results of the survey.
When Do You Have To Check Out Of A Hotel Normally?
The check-out survey included all the major hotel chains like Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Hyatt, Best Western, Comfort Inn, and Days Inn as well as all the smaller chains and independent hotels.
The most common hotel check-out time in the United States is 11 am with 86% of hotels choosing that time. Some 6 % of hotels were 1 hour earlier at 10 am, and 6% of hotels were 1 hour later at 12 noon.
There are occasional outliers but we can safely say that for 99% of hotels the check-out time is between 10 AM and 12 PM and there is a great chance that it’s 11 AM.
Here’s the data.
| Check-Out Time | Percentage Of Hotels |
|---|---|
| 9 AM | 0.03 % |
| 10 AM | 6.25 % |
| 11 AM | 86.27 % |
| 12 PM (Noon) | 6.31% |
| 1 PM | 0.76 % |
| 2 PM | 0.32 % |
| 3 PM | 0.06 % |
Obviously, you can leave before the check-out time if you want. In most cases, you don’t even need to bother telling the front desk that you’ve gone but I think it’s more polite to let them know. If they know you have left the room cleaning staff can get to work.
But what if 11 am is too early for you…
You Can Make A Late Check-Out Request
There are many reasons why you might want to check out a little later than the standard check-out time.
You might have arrived late and intend to sleep late.
Your flight might not leave until late in the day.
Hotels aim to sell all their rooms every night. They obviously can’t sell a room to the next guest if the old one is still hanging around.
The hotel has a planned window of between 11 am and 3 pm where housekeeping will clean all the rooms.
It’s possible they can schedule your room to be cleaned last and that might give you a few more hours.
Most hotels will do this as a courtesy if you ask politely and they feel they are able to help.
That might depend on how busy the hotel is. Sometimes it will be impossible to let you stay in your room for longer.
In that case, the hotel might allow you to use hotel facilities for a little longer. You could use the hotel gym or swimming pool for a few hours past your check-out time. If you are having lunch at the hotel restaurant that’s an incentive for the hotel to let you stay in your room until lunchtime. Or the hotel could keep your luggage for you while you explore the city a bit more. If you don’t ask you don’t get!
You need to check with each individual what their policies are regarding late checkout.
Hotels are increasingly offering late check-out as a paid service. You might be able to pay an extra half-day rate to stay longer. Or it could be just a small fee like an extra $20 for an extension.
The Bottom Line
Although most hotels require you to check out before 11 AM, a significant number of hotels have a check-out time of 10 am or 12 pm.
You really need to check the policy of the hotel you are staying at. You can either call the hotel or check their website. Or if you are already there call the front desk clerk.
Generally, check-out time is late morning to allow housekeeping staff time to clean rooms before the next guests start to arrive in mid-afternoon.
It doesn’t help that a portion of the imminent guests will be asking for an early check-in time. It puts pressure on the hotel to get you out of the hotel room so they can get the next guest in.
Later check-out times can be arranged but are not standard. Most hotels will allow you to check out of your room a little later if you ask nicely.
Promising you a very late check-out time would prevent the hotel from selling the room to another guest for the next night.
But remember, if you can afford it, you can always pay for the room for the next night and check out as late as you like.