Three hundred hotels in 40 cities across China have launched the "Extended Check-Out" project which directly challenges the hotel industry rule that stipulates, "Check-Out At 12:00 pm". From June 1 to July 31, guests checked into these 300 hotels can extend their check-out time. In some hotels check-out can be extended until 4:00pm with no extra cost.

The 300 hotels are across 40 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian, Xi'an, Nanjing, among others. The "Extended Check-Out" project was jointly launched by the hotels and a travel website; only the guests who book rooms through this website can enjoy the "Extended Check-Out."

Twenty eight hotels in Beijing are participating in the project, including star hotels such as the Grand Hotel Beijing and the Minzu Hotel, among others. Of these, only Feitian Hotel Beijing extended its check-out time to 3:00 pm. All the other hotels extended their check-out time to 2:00 pm.

An insider of tourism said that the hotel industry's "Check-out at 12:00 pm" rule has always been criticized by consumers. Launching the "Extended Check-Out" project will not only satisfy consumers' service requirements, but also can be regarded as a strategy to attract guests amid the downturn of the tourism industry.

Follow-up Report

Some of these hotels still stick to the old check-out time

How is the situation after the launch of "Extended Check-Out" project? On June 3, the reporter visited several hotels randomly picked. The Prime Hotel and the Swissotel Beijing (Hong Kong Macau Centre) are both included on the "Extended Check-Out" list, but their employees in the Room Reservations Department replied that they had not received any notice from the hotel management, so guests who checked in the hotels on June 3 still had to check-out before 12:00 pm. The Grand Hotel Beijing and the Minzu Hotel which are located on Chang’an Avenue already started the "Extended Check-Out" service however, but only for the guests who had booked rooms through the travel website cooperating with the hotels.