Is There a ‘Right’ Way to Check Out of a Hotel?

There's an argument online about the proper etiquette.

“Checking out” of a hotel is definitely more of a breeze than it once was…but there’s an argument online about the proper etiquette.

A Gen Z woman posted a TikTok of her walking out the door of a hotel and into the parking lot, with the tag-line: “Older generations: this is how you check out of a hotel. You just walk out.” In the caption, she added, “The front desk doesn’t need you to tell them you’re checking out, and they don’t need you to hand them your room key.” That may be technically true at a lot of places…but people in the comments are calling this rude.

One person says, “As a former housekeeper, it makes our jobs a lot easier if you’re polite and let someone know.” Others say they let the staff know if they’re leaving early, but not if they’re leaving at the check-out time and some say you should always check-out at the front desk to get a receipt and make sure there weren’t any additional charges.