Budget hotels discussion

[bleeder4]

I guess it's not the case so much now that hotels nearly all use smartcards as keys, but it's not so long ago that you could walk in to a hotel, ask for the key to any room and assuming it was behind the counter (ie the guest had handed it in when they left the room) they'd just give it to you no questions asked.

You can still do that in the smaller local hotels. It's only really the chains/big hotels that have switched to smartcards.

 

[The exile]

You can still do that in the smaller local hotels. It's only really the chains/big hotels that have switched to smartcards.

In smaller hotels, it’s likely that they recognise you…

 

[Bletchleyite]

It happened to me at a French budget hotel (simple case of locking myself out when I went to the non en suite loo). Short wait at reception - describe what was in the room (in terms of my luggage) and the staff member went first, knocked, had a quick peep round the door, then waited while I retrieved my key card.

That's a reasonable way to do it, but it would need a bit of thought on what they could ask about, e.g. *where* a particular item was perhaps, as you do need to protect, say, a wife who has left her husband and is staying there from her husband gaining access, and her husband would likely know what she owns and has taken.

 

[The exile]

That's a reasonable way to do it, but it would need a bit of thought on what they could ask about, e.g. *where* a particular item was perhaps, as you do need to protect, say, a wife who has left her husband and is staying there from her husband gaining access, and her husband would likely know what she owns and has taken.

I think “where” was part of the information as well.
Corridor CCTV helps as well.

 

[takno]

You can still do that in the smaller local hotels. It's only really the chains/big hotels that have switched to smartcards.

I don't know if all that many people hand the keys in at reception on the way out anymore. It's been a good few years since I've stayed anywhere that even suggested it.

 

[D6130]

I don't know if all that many people hand the keys in at reception on the way out anymore. It's been a good few years since I've stayed anywhere that even suggested it.

It's still quite common in smaller family-run hotels in France and Italy....and I think it is here too. The last time I remember having to do it was at the Sandringham Hotel in Cardiff city centre a couple of years ago

 

[cactustwirly]

I don't know if all that many people hand the keys in at reception on the way out anymore. It's been a good few years since I've stayed anywhere that even suggested it.

How else do you check out?

 

[Bletchleyite]

How else do you check out?

It used to be usual to hand in your key at reception every time you went out, e.g. if going out for a meal, not just on check-out.

The other thing you used to pretty much universally see was needing to deposit your passport with the hotel while staying.

 

[Ediswan]

It used to be usual to hand in your key at reception every time you went out, e.g. if going out for a meal, not just on check-out.

Traditional metal keys were expensive to replace.

 

[The exile]

Traditional metal keys were expensive to replace.

Not to mention that if everyone abided by it it was a good cross check in case of fire / emergency.

 

[TheSmiths82]

It used to be usual to hand in your key at reception every time you went out, e.g. if going out for a meal, not just on check-out.

The other thing you used to pretty much universally see was needing to deposit your passport with the hotel while staying.

This is still quiet common in some hotels on the south coast of England, (having to hand your key in) I personally hate it and it puts me off booking none chain hotels. I also hate hotels that you have to ring a number to into at night, again very common the south Coast. It is always a cause of anxiety, will the night porter ring hear the bell etc. I had an issue in Torquay once where the night porter didn't hear me ring the bell because he had the vacuum cleaner on. I had to wait about 15 minutes before the door was opened. The hotel was a dump and I checked out early and wen to London a day earlier instead but I am sure that panic about the door opening was one of the reasons I left early.

In many hotels in Spain it is the opposite with the doors open all night and a proper 24 hour reception. Even a one star hotel Barcelona had this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Mar 2026 ==

Not to mention that if everyone abided by it it was a good cross check in case of fire / emergency.

I am guessing as many hotels now have sensors in the room to detect movement and data from card entry on the door means they could probably print a list of guests likely to still be in the room very quickly.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Mar 2026 ==

Traditional metal keys were expensive to replace.

I am sure I stayed at a hotel once that I had to pay a £25 deposit for the key!

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is still quiet common in some hotels on the south coast of England, (having to hand your key in) I personally hate it and it puts me off booking none chain hotels. I also hate hotels that you have to ring a number to into at night, again very common the south Coast. It is always a cause of anxiety, will the night porter ring hear the bell etc. I had an issue in Torquay once where the night porter didn't hear me ring the bell because he had the vacuum cleaner on. I had to wait about 15 minutes before the door was opened. The hotel was a dump and I checked out early and wen to London a day earlier instead but I am sure that panic about the door opening was one of the reasons I left early.

This sort of thing is why I favour Premier Inns. No such silly surprises, though you do sometimes have to use an intercom to be let in they always answer it quickly even at 3am.

 

[takno]

This sort of thing is why I favour Premier Inns. No such silly surprises, though you do sometimes have to use an intercom to be let in they always answer it quickly even at 3am.

I've just been quite surprised at a large central Travelodge to be provided with a magstripe key. Is that still common in Travelodges?

 

[Steddenm]

I've just been quite surprised at a large central Travelodge to be provided with a magstripe key. Is that still common in Travelodges?

Yeah a lot of them still use those. Some use the NFC keys and smaller ones use a physical key (ie Belfast, Leicester Forest East).

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've just been quite surprised at a large central Travelodge to be provided with a magstripe key. Is that still common in Travelodges?

Yep. I've even had one with a physical key quite recently. Unlike PI they only replace door locks when they refurbish.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Sorry about my typos in my previous post, it has been a very long day! Most of the Travelodge's I have been to usually have a either NFC or a magnetic card. I think most are now NFC, I don't think I have ever had a key in a Travelodge but then I always tend to stay in city centre ones that have a high turn over of guests as opposed to ones on big trunk roads which will often have workers stay for a week or more.

Another thing I like about Travelodge is none of their rooms have the stupid card slot to turn the electricity on. Although I do usually have a few Metrolink tickets in my wallet

 

[styles]

This is still quiet common in some hotels on the south coast of England, (having to hand your key in) I personally hate it and it puts me off booking none chain hotels. I also hate hotels that you have to ring a number to into at night, again very common the south Coast. It is always a cause of anxiety, will the night porter ring hear the bell etc. I had an issue in Torquay once where the night porter didn't hear me ring the bell because he had the vacuum cleaner on. I had to wait about 15 minutes before the door was opened. The hotel was a dump and I checked out early and wen to London a day earlier instead but I am sure that panic about the door opening was one of the reasons I left early.

In many hotels in Spain it is the opposite with the doors open all night and a proper 24 hour reception. Even a one star hotel Barcelona had this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Mar 2026 ==

For me it depends why I'm booking. Sometimes I'm booking with plans to get back to the room after work and a bite to eat, read a book or watch TV for a couple of hours, then hit the hay.

If I'm planning on "networking" (ugh) or going out with mates for food and drinks and I might get back late, it does irk me not being able to just walk through the door. I don't mind outside hours key codes etc on doors for none-chain places, but anywhere which has a strict doors locked at Xpm policy, or have to call this number after Ypm is a no for me if there's a chance I'll be out late.

I find it's a lot less common now though with electronic key code locks for the front doors etc.

I am sure I stayed at a hotel once that I had to pay a £25 deposit for the key!

Now this does ring a bell, a key deposit, but not for at least a decade now!

 

[takno]

Sorry about my typos in my previous post, it has been a very long day! Most of the Travelodge's I have been to usually have a either NFC or a magnetic card. I think most are now NFC, I don't think I have ever had a key in a Travelodge but then I always tend to stay in city centre ones that have a high turn over of guests as opposed to ones on big trunk roads which will often have workers stay for a week or more.

Another thing I like about Travelodge is none of their rooms have the stupid card slot to turn the electricity on. Although I do usually have a few Metrolink tickets in my wallet

I carry a card from a previous hotel for that. Using the actual room key is a pain

 

[Iskra]

And I would have removed from the premises the person already registered under that 'false name'. Fire Regulations etc.

This is a bit like when posters suggest train guards should confrontationally and stringently enforce often archaic railway byelaws.

It's easier said than done and an unnecessary point of conflict/risk of escalation. It's the kind of grey area where you are unlikely to get the police to attend, so realistically are you going to put yourself at risk over a bit of stupidity when there's a group of people who have done the same thing and there's only 2 staff to deal with it, which isn't enough if things kick off?

The only sensible reasons for removing from the premises that I've encountered are; smoking/drug-use in a room, tampering with fire equipment, setting the fire alarm off recklessly, some form of incident which the police have attended such as actual violence/abuse/domestic violence. Anything else and you're just going to get yourself assaulted needlessly. The main purpose of hotel night staff is to get everyone through the night safely, including themselves and if that means not enforcing rules strictly, I don't think any higher management are going to be overly concerned providing it is reasonable.

*although of course removing from the premises is different to declining to check someone in in the first place, which is a bit easier.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Mar 2026 ==

I am guessing as many hotels now have sensors in the room to detect movement and data from card entry on the door means they could probably print a list of guests likely to still be in the room very quickly.

Every hotel will print off a rooming list of who is occupying each room every few hours so that it is up to date and available to be taken outside for a roll call if needed.

However, sensors etc definitely aren’t linked to the reservation system even in newly constructed hotels. Doors do record who accessed them and when (including staff) but this data is not immediately available to regular staff, only senior management and they tend not to be around at the times most incidents occur.

The rooming list is all well and good, but if someone has gone out for the night or even just nipped to the shop you would have no way of knowing.

 

[sprunt]

Not to mention that if everyone abided by it it was a good cross check in case of fire / emergency.

If there's an evacuation, the staff should be checking all bedrooms regardless of whether or not they believe them to be occupied.

 

[Iskra]

If there's an evacuation, the staff should be checking all bedrooms regardless of whether or not they believe them to be occupied.

That would be firmly the fire brigade’s responsibility. No staff member would ever be expected to remain in a burning building for longer than strictly necessary without the proper fire-grade clothing, training and equipment which is clearly unlikely to be provided for the role.

And priority would go to evacuating guests with additional needs.

 

[Cross City]

That would be firmly the fire brigade’s responsibility. No staff member would ever be expected to remain in a burning building for longer than strictly necessary without the proper fire-grade clothing, training and equipment which is clearly unlikely to be provided for the role.

And priority would go to evacuating guests with additional needs.

If the alarm goes off Premier Inn staff absolutely do have to do a sweep of the building, mainly looking for vulnerable or disabled people.

Obviously if the building is on fire then they wouldn't be expected to put themselves in danger, but until that happens checking bedrooms and other publicly accessible areas is a must.

 

[Iskra]

If the alarm goes off Premier Inn staff absolutely do have to do a sweep of the building, mainly looking for vulnerable or disabled people.

Obviously if the building is on fire then they wouldn't be expected to put themselves in danger, but until that happens checking bedrooms and other publicly accessible areas is a must.

So at the premises I am familiar with, guests with additional needs inform staff on arrival and they will be given a room as close as possible to an evacuation staircase and will be assisted from their room or a pre-agreed location according to their needs. There should be no need at all for random sweeps.

 

[Cross City]

So at the premises I am familiar with, guests with additional needs inform staff on arrival and they will be given a room as close as possible to an evacuation staircase and will be assisted from their room or a pre-agreed location according to their needs. There should be no need at all for random sweeps.

This is true that does happen, but that would rely on all vulnerable guests disclosing their problems, which they don't.

Sweeps aren't random, they're a set defined path where the person conducting them also has a list of the rooms which are sold that day/night. It takes minutes to cover dozens of rooms.

 

[Iskra]

This is true that does happen, but that would rely on all vulnerable guests disclosing their problems, which they don't.

Sweeps aren't random, they're a set defined path where the person conducting them also has a list of the rooms which are sold that day/night. It takes minutes to cover dozens of rooms.

Fair enough, possibly works in a small PI but probably wouldn’t in the building I’m referring to which has 13 floors!

 

[Cross City]

Fair enough, possibly works in a small PI but probably wouldn’t in the building I’m referring to which has 13 floors!

I imagine in a building that large there'd be multiple staff taking a floor or so each. That's how it worked in the last one I worked at 6-7 years ago.

 

[bleeder4]

Fair enough, possibly works in a small PI but probably wouldn’t in the building I’m referring to which has 13 floors!

Crikey, I didn't even realise some Premier Inns were as large as that. 13 floors?! All the city centre ones I've stayed at have had 3 at the most.

 

[The exile]

If there's an evacuation, the staff should be checking all bedrooms regardless of whether or not they believe them to be occupied.

I’m not talking about now!

 

[Iskra]

I imagine in a building that large there'd be multiple staff taking a floor or so each. That's how it worked in the last one I worked at 6-7 years ago.

Generally there are two fire teams; one starts at the top and one at the bottom to investigate the fire alarm. However, during the deadest hours of the night there is only the Ground Floor fire team. There is no contingency for visiting every room, the onus is on guests to evacuate themselves unless they have pre-notified that they need help- the alarm is extremely loud. Recent fire training states it takes 3 minutes for a fire to truly take hold; it takes 2 minutes to run up the stairs to the 13th floor from the ground floor under exercise conditions, it’s probably longer when going against a tide of evacuating guests and you weren’t in position because it is unexpected. That doesn’t leave sufficient time to visit 300+ rooms individually.

Crikey, I didn't even realise some Premier Inns were as large as that. 13 floors?! All the city centre ones I've stayed at have had 3 at the most.

To clarify, I’m not talking about a PI. It’s a more premium brand, but as pricing is done by algorithms it can be budget prices sometimes.

 

[D6130]

The Leicester city centre Premier Inn is pretty tall....I think it may have thirteen floors.