Arrived at 5:30am & hotel would not let me check in

What I do, as many others do, is I pay for the previous night and tell the hotel I will be arriving the next morning.

As Jojo stated, for an arrival that early, I would pay for the previous night so the room is available upon arrival. I don’t think any hotel can guarantee early check-in given that check-out time is usually late morning. Yes some guests will check out early but not sure the hotel staff can know that ahead of time or if there will be unused rooms.

Wish you'd asked before you departed for your trip. We always pay for arrival for the night prior when our international flights are arriving early in the morning. Then we let the hotel know that though we are paying for overnight, we won't be arriving until early morning the next day. Best money we ever spend on travel.

Learned the hard way years ago when we arrived in Ireland at the crack of dawn and waited all day for our room to be ready. We were exhausted and pretty much passed out in the lobby after trying to stay awake until check in time.

There's nothing better than arriving early in the morning to your hotel; getting the room key; dropping off luggage; freshening up and heading out knowing full well you can come back to your room when the jet lag takes over.

Never count on early check in. Besides early check in is conceptually noon/1pm. Arriving at 5:30am and expecting an early check in is not realistic.

We often are allowed to check in prior to official check in time. At the very least, they'll take our luggage, but typically we can get in late morning or mid day. Did you tell them that by early check in, you meant 5:30am? Because, that is really early.

For your trip to London, there are three morning flights out of JFK to London Heathrow--British Airways, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic. You arrive in the evening London time.

I have taken these flights, a few times a year, for the past 8 years. I would hate to go back to overnight flights.

As for early arrival, and as previously stated, the only way you can guarantee a room when you arrive is to pay for the previous night. You must also make sure the hotel understands when you are arriving and doesn't put you down as a no-show.

Most hotels will hold your luggage until check in time. Just ask.

As others have noted, the only way to guarantee early check in is to book the night before. I'm too cheap to do that :)

Normally I just drop by bag at the hotel and go out and do something like go for a walk, or have an early breakfast in a 24hr cafe, McDonalds etc.

I'm in London a lot for work and tend to go straight for meetings, hence I need somewhere to change. I am a member of a club that has a business centre, lounges, and a full bathroom with shower, towels etc if I'm early and the room is not ready. Bigger hotels may offer access to the gym/pool bathrooms for early arrivals.

That said, for your London trip: it's an early morning city, and there are some early-opening and 24hr places, so if you are planning to arrive early, you can do a bit of research and work out where to go. In summer it's nice to take an early morning walk in one of the parks.

What flight did you take that you were at the hotel at 530AM?

The earliest arrival I can find at LIS, coming from the NYC area, is 555AM.

Just make sure if you book the night before they are fully aware of your arrival time. Most hotels will consider you a No Show after midnight.

I know of very few hotels that would offer a room that early. I have though received a room as early as 9 or 10 AM on a rare occasion. However, every hotel has offered to store my bags, and I have been welcome to use common areas.

As others have said, if you really need a room then, then be prepared to pay for the previous day, or some chains have an early check-in fee, but dependent on rooms available (which may not be the room of your choice). I actually have never reserved a room just for an early check-in, once I drop my bags, I am off for coffee or breakfast, or I might spend some time in the lobby using wi-fi and starting my day.

A room has to be vacated and cleaned before the next guest can check in. That would be pretty unlikely in most hotels that early in the morning.
Did the hotel not have a lobby where you could wait?

I can't imagine they would not at least hold your luggage and let you sit in the lobby until a nearby cafe, or their breakfast room, opened...for next time, London or anywhere, you might want to a) check with the hotel on your early arrival options (make sure they know just how early), or b) hang out at the airport for a bit before heading to hotel

My first trip to London was a lot like your experience. Except it was for work, and we had to prepare for the upcoming depositions in the lobby. Every hour or so, I would ask the front desk if our rooms were ready. Of course, they weren't ready until an hour or so after the posted check in time. We were on one of those flights from Newark.

I have read horror stories online about early arrivers who paid for the previous night so they could check in early, only to find out that the hotel consider them no-shows.

I'm sorry this happened to you.

Would the hotel not let you stay in their lobby from 5:30-7:30am?

5:30am is an extremely early arrival to already be at the hotel, the flight must have landed an hour prior to that?

Like others have said, we book the night prior as well. I think the earliest we've landed is around 6:30am in London, and didn't get to the hotel until 8:30am or so. Booking the prior makes such a difference in the start of the trip. a chance to shower, nap for an hour or two if desired, then get on with the day.

As I am now trying to plan a trip to London,Flights from Newark are all late afternoon/evening. I need advice on how to avoid a repeat. I’m 68 yrs old & travel alone.

If you are flying from Newark to London, United has a flight which departs around 8:30am and gets to Heathrow around 8:30pm. This is the only daytime flight from Newark to Europe.

I once had a similar situation on a London trip right at the end of the Covid mess. Flight departure kept changing earlier and we arrived about 6am. We went to the hotel and it held our bags. To waste time we went out for breakfast and walked around for a while. Still to early to check in we just sat in the lobby until we could check in. Fortunately we were able to check in about 9:30 am. They wanted to charge an early check in fee, but I talked them out of it. No need to sit on a bench outside.

I'm with Frank. Arriving in London in the evening is wonderful. My husband's loyalty status at Hilton has sometimes let us check in early-which is typically early afternoon or maybe very late morning.

Anytime you can arrive in London in the evening you are better off IMHO. Not only would I look at Newark, but also JFK. As other areas of Europe, you might want to consider overnighting in London and traveling on to your final destination the next day.

Follow Frank II's advice. Fly out of JFK on one of their day flights. It makes a world of difference. I fly from another east coast city on the day flight, been doing it for a couple of decades. It makes a world of difference. I usually enjoy a night at the Sofitel at Terminal 5...if you flight flies into that terminal...pamper myself and then move on or into London. There is not the huge fatigue overnighters create on a day flight. I am just slightly older than you and travel solo now. Make it as easy as possible for yourself. IMO

Besides, isn't Newark the worst airport on the east coast to deal with? I think so.

Follow Frank II's advice. Fly out of JFK on one of their day flights.

Or you can also fly out of Newark on United’s daytime flight to London.

Thank you for sharing your expertise & great ideas!

I thought I made a good plan, I can see I need to reevaluate my strategy. Your ideas will help me greatly in my future travel.

In summary, I did notify the hotel of a very early arrival. They assured me I could check in.
Please excuse my mistake. My flight landed at 5:30. I arrived at hotel at 6am. They offered to hold my luggage but I was so flustered, I just walked out. I couldn’t find any open restaurants. Newark is more convenient than JFK but will reconsider.
Thanks again & happy travels.