Want to take advantage of Peninsula PenClub benefits, including a room upgrade, complimentary breakfast, a hotel credit, and more? Contact Ford ([email protected]) for more details. He may even be able to help if you already have a stay booked.
In 2021, Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotels rolled out The Peninsula Promise, which consisted of a few different initiatives. I’d argue the most significant perk is that the hotel group offers the industry’s most flexible policy when it comes to being able to check-in and check-out when you’d like. In this post, I’d like to go over how that works.
In this post:
What is the Peninsula Hotels brand?
For those of you not familiar with Peninsula, the well regarded luxury hotel group has properties in 12 cities, including Bangkok, Beijing, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Istanbul, Manila, New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Peninsula is particularly known for its properties in Asia, and for that matter, even the properties outside of Asia have some touches that remind you of the brand’s roots. While Peninsula isn’t the fastest growing hotel group, it’s generally very well regarded.
Peninsula guarantees early check-in & late check-out
Peninsula offers Peninsula Time, as it’s called, which is an extended and flexible schedule for check-ins and check-outs. The policy is in a league of its own among hotel groups:
- Guests can arrange to have their room ready as early as 6AM on their arrival date
- Guests can stay in their room as late as 10PM on their departure date
- There’s no additional cost for this, and no elite status is required; you just have to book direct or through a travel advisor to take advantage of this
- Requests must be made at least 24 hours before arrival
- If the reserved room isn’t ready upon arrival, a hospitality room will be provided until the room is ready
- In theory Peninsula reserves the right to have blackout dates, but it’s my understanding that those are rarely used
This is something that a travel advisor booking through programs like Virtuoso or Peninsula PenClub can also arrange, as this can be combined with those rates. Ford and his team are happy to help with these requests, and can be reached at [email protected].
Those programs offer perks like complimentary breakfast, a room upgrade, a welcome amenity, and a property specific amenity (like a $100 food & beverage credit). Since I’m sure some people will be curious, I should mention that if you do check-in at 6AM (or whatever time in the morning), don’t expect that breakfast will be included for that extra morning.
Is the Peninsula Time benefit too good to be true?
The Peninsula Time concept truly is an unheard of policy in the hotel industry, as you could book a one night stay where you check-in at 6AM and check-out at 10PM the next day, meaning your one night stay could last up to 40 hours. This is especially valuable if you have a flight arriving early in the morning or a flight departing late in the evening, since those can otherwise be tricky for booking hotels.
Even looking at all of the major hotel loyalty programs and luxury hotel programs available through travel agents, generally the best you’ll get is early check-in subject to availability, and guaranteed late check-out at 4PM.
This policy was introduced during the pandemic, and with Peninsula being heavily focused on Asia, the travel recovery there definitely lagged other parts of the globe, so the hotel group tried to get creative. That being said, even as we’ve seen a recovery, it still seems like this should be sustainable in the long run with a bit of an investment, as it really is a competitive advantage:
- Presumably most guests aren’t actually familiar with this benefit, so I imagine it’s not requested that frequently
- This largely just comes down to managing room inventory and housekeeping resources efficiently; I imagine Peninsula properties have more round-the-clock housekeepers than other brands, for situations where guests want a 10PM check-out while others want a 6AM check-in
- Certainly in some situations Peninsula won’t be able to sell hotels to capacity, but broadly speaking, there are also lots of people checking out early in the morning, or only arriving late in the evening
Interestingly, the Peninsula Beverly Hills offered this benefit even before the pandemic, and it seemed to work there. In fairness, there aren’t too many people arriving in Los Angeles at 6AM, based purely on the timezone and flight schedules (that being said, some presumably appreciated a late check-out prior to a redeye).
Bottom line
All 12 Peninsula properties around the globe offer Peninsula Time, whereby you can check-in as early as 6AM and check-out as late as 10PM. This is otherwise unheard of, especially since this is something that can be guaranteed in advance.
This is by far the most generous check-in and check-out policy of any hotel group, and it could be a reason to consider Peninsula, especially for a short stay. I don’t think other hotel groups will match this perk, though I hope Peninsula keeps it around for years to come.
What do you make of the Peninsula Time concept?
@JJ There is no Ritz Dubai. It is the Ritz-Carlton Dubai. Ritz and Ritz Carlton are not the same hotel chain. Ritz London and Ritz Paris are not even owned by the same entity. Of course, Ritz Carlton is fully under the Marriott brand.
Um.....this is the policy.
You must prepay and non refundable and restricted changes
Non-refundable but changeable subject to availability. Amendments are allowed up to 6 months from the original booking stay date
Cancellation or reduction in room nights will result in forfeiture of the advance payment
Ben when oh when are you actually going to stay at a Peninsula and give us a review? I’d love to see a review of the Peninsula Bangkok which has been a property we’ve stayed at least once a year for the last 10 years…
Can you do this thru FHR?
We usually stay at the Peninsula in Paris every 2 years when we come for our wedding anniversary.
We always checked in around 10 am and left quite late, once at 7pm, one other time after dinner.
It surprised us but i never thought it would be the case at all Peninsula properties
It works wonders with the CX HKG banks for very early morning arrivals and 10 pm - 1 am departures
Recently stayed at the Peninsula Istanbul via a Virtuoso booking. The staff did not mention this even once, in fact our room was not ready when we arrived around 10am. However, they did offer us a temporary room to rest until 3pm. For checkout we had to leave around 2pm to catch a flight, so did not get to test out the 10pm checkout limit.
Us is left in the dust when it comes to airline and hotel experience period
Wonder if they honor this with Amex FHR bookings? Terms say noon (if available) and 4pm, but to me, FHR is same as Virtuoso.
Well, you can guess what kind of prices you're going to be charged at a hotel group that can afford to do this.
Far less than you would think. I've stayed in the Peninsula Manila and it blows any American hotel chain out of the water, by a long shot, in fact.
Darryl M.
For a random weekday stay in February.
Peninsula NYC: $945
London: £850
Tokyo: ¥126000 ($840)
Chicago: $525
These are about the prices I would think for a hotel chain offering this kind of benefit. This is certainly in the "luxury" price class.
Eric 'The Dope' Schmidt, you're cherry-picking the most expensive Peninsula properties in the priciest cities on earth and acting like that proves anything? Of course NYC is $945, London £850, Tokyo $840 – those are hyper-expensive markets where even a decent room costs an arm and a leg. Chicago at $525 is the "bargain" in your list, and it's still more than double what you'd pay in Manila.
I literally just told you I've stayed...
Eric 'The Dope' Schmidt, you're cherry-picking the most expensive Peninsula properties in the priciest cities on earth and acting like that proves anything? Of course NYC is $945, London £850, Tokyo $840 – those are hyper-expensive markets where even a decent room costs an arm and a leg. Chicago at $525 is the "bargain" in your list, and it's still more than double what you'd pay in Manila.
I literally just told you I've stayed at The Peninsula Manila – a random weekday in February there runs $200–$300 max for a superior/deluxe room (often closer to $220–$250 on Booking/Agoda/Momondo right now, with advance deals dipping under $200). That's the same iconic Peninsula brand – Rolls-Royce transfers, legendary service, massive rooms, killer breakfast – but at a fraction of your "luxury" prices because Manila isn't priced for hedge-fund bros.
You're proving my point: Peninsula is cheaper than most people think, especially if you're not insisting on staying in overinflated Western/Japanese capitals. For the price of one night in your NYC example, I could stay 3–4 nights in Manila and still have cash left for spa treatments.
Stop moving the goalposts with your selective examples. If you want true Peninsula luxury without the sticker shock, Manila delivers it better than anywhere else in the chain. Try it before knocking it.
One could argue that if you’re worried about the room rate, then you’re not in their target demo. The Ibis and the Courtyard by Marriott are just down the street.
@PeteAU, but surely anyone who isn't worried about the rate could just extend the booking to the previous and/or following day.
Or you can book an extra night at the Ibis and still have $300 left over for dinner and drinks. YMMV
Bingo!
Agreed with digital_nomad. I’m so focused on US hotel loyalty programs that I didn’t know this existed. Although for the most part as a Titanium Elite, many Marriott properties I’ve stayed at allowed me to check in as early as 6am when I needed it but check out beyond 4pm is unheard of. Thanks for sharing!
I've enjoyed a handful of 18:00 late check outs on the back of my GHA Titanium status, although they admittedly are subject to availability.
(And this blog is once again munching my comments!)
Just 2 things
1. PENINSULA LONDON didn’t honor it last September when I stayed with them, even though both my travel agent and myself shared my arrival flight information . My room ended up being given to me at 6pm, and I arrived at noon.
So this doesn’t work all the time
2. New Roaewood in London, The Chancery, has also flexible check in & check out times and their amenities with Rosewood Elite...
Just 2 things
1. PENINSULA LONDON didn’t honor it last September when I stayed with them, even though both my travel agent and myself shared my arrival flight information . My room ended up being given to me at 6pm, and I arrived at noon.
So this doesn’t work all the time
2. New Roaewood in London, The Chancery, has also flexible check in & check out times and their amenities with Rosewood Elite are better than those offered by Peninsula.
Same thing with the RITZ in Paris
I rather book these 2 in both London and Paris
Great Policy. However, I do feel this is an area where hotels and hotel management also make a difference.
Had a reservation at a Mandarin Oriental in Lucern. Our flight landed at 6 in the morning and we were at the hotel by 8. However, We only called in after we landed to let them know of our very early arrival.
Not only did the staff have the room (with an upgrade) ready by 9:30AM...
Great Policy. However, I do feel this is an area where hotels and hotel management also make a difference.
Had a reservation at a Mandarin Oriental in Lucern. Our flight landed at 6 in the morning and we were at the hotel by 8. However, We only called in after we landed to let them know of our very early arrival.
Not only did the staff have the room (with an upgrade) ready by 9:30AM but in-fact they even served us breakfast (on the hotel) till we waited.
It was definitely a great start to the whole trip!
Switzerland things! You will never find equal in the world.
I've literally had the same thing happen to me in Dubai at the Ritz. Breakfast was already served in my room with hot eggs, sausage, and oatmeal & chilled fruit and juice.
Being focused on US-accessible loyalty programs, I had no idea of this benefit, and it's the sort of thing that could be very useful to me in the future - great article!