Beijing hotels extend checkout time

By Chen Qian  |   2008-6-17  |     ONLINE EDITION

SEVENTY-ONE hotels in Beijing's Miyun County began to extend checkout times from 12pm to 2pm in response to a suggestion by the Miyun Consumers' Association and the Tourists and Hotels Association, Legal Daily reported today.

The hotels include Beijing Shihao International Hotel and RGHCM Garden Resorts. They also agreed to cancel bans on bringing in outside food and no longer charge fees for sterilized dishware to satisfy customers.

The secretary of the Miyun Consumers' Association said consumers can make complaints if any of the 71 hotels fail to fulfill their promises, the report said.

Hotels usually charge by day and set checkout at 12pm even though most guests don't stay for 24 hours. However, if guests failed to checkout before 12pm, they were charged a half day fee if they left before 6pm and full price after that, the report said.

The Beijing Consumers' Association said in March that the rule is unfair to consumers. It said on Monday that the rule violated the principle of voluntariness, equality, fairness, honesty and credibility, and broke recognized business ethics, according to the report.

The association insisted the 12pm checkout was not negotiated with consumers, said the report.

Hotels said it is an industry practice, not only in Beijing, but around the world, the report said.