It's A Shame That the First Hotel Group to Offer Guaranteed Check-In at Any Time Is A Luxury Chain

We all know the situation -- and the dilemma. You've arrived at your airport destination at an ultra-early hour, say 6:30am, after an overnight flight. You then arrive at your hotel at 8am, exhausted, craving to take a fast nap, or yearning to shower and change clothes. The hotel advises, reluctantly, that you can't check-in until 2pm. All the rooms are still occupied, and those that aren't haven't yet been cleaned and made ready for you by the chambermaid staff.

One hotel chain -- and one only, as best I know -- has confronted that situation and solved it. How? By staggering the work shifts of their chambermaid staff. Let's say that ten rooms will be emptied by 7am Several chambermaids who normally arrive for work at 8 or 9am are instead re-scheduled to come in at 7am that day. They immediately clean up the vacated rooms, so that they can be ready for incoming guests by 8am -- something unheard of in all other hotels of the world.

The chain that has decided to do this is Capella Hotels, operators of some of the world's most expensive hotels, including the new Setai on Fifth Avenue and 36th Street in New York City. The president of Capella has announced that henceforth, all arriving guests in all Capella hotels will be able to enter their room immediately on arrival, no matter how early. The job of enforcing that guarantee is an enormously complex one, and yet he feels the goal is worth the effort. And clearly, there will be many well-fixed travelers who will choose Capella because of that guarantee.

So how about it, you lower-priced hotels? The first moderately-priced hotel chain to emulate Capella's initiative will be deluged with reservations, in my view. But is the guarantee feasible? I'd be happy to receive comments from readers who may work in the hotel industry.