What happens when you check-in and your hotel room isn’t ready or you check-out but are not ready to leave the hotel? The Kahala in Honolulu provides a great solution: a hospitality suite.
I wrote about my recent stay at the Kahala last week and how I exchanged a quadruple upgrade for a noon checkout (as opposed to 4pm). That was a worthwhile exchange, but it meant we had to vacate the room hours earlier than I had planned.
What softened the blow of our noon checkout was access to a hospitality suite for as long as we needed it. Located on the first floor of the hotel, the hospitality suite was open to all guests and included:
- Water/Coffee/Tea
- Comfortable sitting area
- Daybeds (two private rooms)
- Restroom + shower
- Two computer stations
- Copy machine
It proved to be a great place to sit and work (yes, both my wife and I ended up doing some work) for a couple hours before departing the hotel. It was also nice to shower before we departed.
CONCLUSION
More hotels need a hospitality suite like the Kahala has. Offering a tranquil room to wait instead of the lobby or restaurant is a nice perk and another amenity that sets the Kahala apart in Honolulu.
What a great idea! If it’s just a single bathroom and shower combined, I can see some contention if more than one guest ends up relaxing in the suite at a time, though.
I know at least one resort on Oahu (Aulani, a Disney resort and spa) that offers guests access to such a room/suite before your room is ready or after checkout on your day of departure. Especially for Hawaii where many return flights depart mid/late afternoon, this makes the guests’ last day much nicer
That’s pretty cool. Last time I was in Aspen we wanted to squeeze in some morning skiing, so the front desk gave us keys to the spa as the hotel was fully committed that night (close to the holidays). We were able to change and shower, then have a drink in the lobby before leaving. I thought that was pretty nice of them. It would be nice for them to offer something like this.
It is a great concept and the guest do not need to pay an extra day, if it is not necessary..
But what when the space in this area becomes very full or tight as a lot of guests want to use this service?? Would it be still comfortable? Have to wait on the queue for the loo and shower??
I’ll pay the extra charges and stay in my room as long as I need it or check-in in my own comfort..no need to brush elbows and getting stressed out!