Late checkout (apply fee or extend stay)

A guest who is still in the room after their check-out time is a late check-out. Depending on how late they leave, they stay free, pay a late check-out fee, or pay a full extra night. You set the rules once; the check-out works out the charge.

How the charge is decided

Three settings decide it:

• Check-out time: when guests are due out (Setup → Check-out & Billing Times), for example 2:30 PM.
• Grace (min): how long a guest may stay free of charge. Set per room type in Setup → Late Checkout Policy.
• Late check-out window: how long a guest may stay before a full night is charged. One value for the whole hotel, in Setup → Check-out & Billing Times.

With check-out at 2:30 PM, 30 minutes of grace, a $40 fee and a 2-hour window:

The grace must be shorter than the window. Otherwise there is no time in which the fee could apply, and saving is refused.

Before you start

• Set the late check-out window (Setup → Check-out & Billing Times → Late check-out window → Save window).
• Set the grace and late fee for each room type (Setup → Late Checkout Policy). A fee of 0 means that room type never pays a late fee.

Spot a late check-out

On the Room Status Board, a room whose guest is past their check-out time shows Late Check-out (light blue), with the time they were due out. On the Booking Calendar, the room shows a ⏰ clock.

Steps: charge the fee at check-out (recommended)

1. On the Room Status Board, click the room and press Checkout.
2. On the folio, press Settle & Check Out Guest.
3. Set End billing by to the time the guest actually left (it starts at the current time).
4. Check the room line: Late checkout shows the fee, if one is due. It comes from the room type's policy and can't be typed over here.
5. Press Close Rooms, then Bill & Close This Room.
6. Take any payment still due, then press Check Out Guest.

Other options

• The guest is staying another night: extend the stay instead (Booking Calendar → right-click the stay → Extend stay…). The room is then billed as a normal night and no late fee applies.
• Charge the fee now, before the guest leaves: on the Booking Calendar, right-click the stay → Apply late checkout fee. This posts the room type's fee to the folio straight away. Each use adds another fee.

Tips

• Record the real departure time in End billing by. Checking a guest out an hour after they left would otherwise charge them for that hour.
• Hotels that bill rooms automatically charge the next night at the end of the window. A guest who leaves after that has already been charged a night.

Common problems

• No late fee was suggested → the guest left within the grace, the room type's fee is 0, or the guest left after the window, so a full night was charged instead.
• The guest was charged twice for being late → the fee was posted from the calendar and again at check-out. Use one or the other. To remove the extra fee, delete that line from the folio (this needs the right to delete transactions).
• "No late-checkout fee configured for this room type" → set a fee for the room type in Setup → Late Checkout Policy, or post the charge from the folio's Post Charge.
• The ⏰ / Late Check-out mark won't go away → the guest is still checked in. Check them out, or extend their stay.