Arrived around 12:30 for a 3 pm check-in. They were very firm on saying I had to come back at 3 but let me check in my bag. I asked if I could use the spa before 3 given that I was also paying for that separately and the staff were very firm on that too. I don't understand that - I wouldn't even have minded paying an extra £10 for another day's worth but I think I was made to feel like I was being demanding for even asking. On top of that, two of us were spending over £200 on treatments at the spa between us, so it really wouldn't have killed the hotel staff to recognise that.
I then left my bag and went out for a wander. When I came back with my wife to check in at 2:45, the room still wasn't ready and nor was anybody else's. 3 pm is already quite late as a check-in time and its four hours on from the standard check-out time. When it got to 3 pm though, the staff smiled and told me that my room would be ready at 3:15 pm! No real apology, no explanation and no effort to put things right - if somebody has to wait longer, the staff should do something like offer them a late check-out or tell them that they're welcome to a complementary coffee on the house etc... In the end, I made a point of going down to the spa and using that from 3 pm because I was paying for it and they couldn't get my room ready. This morning, before I checked out, housekeeping also knocked. No wonder no rooms are ready for 3 pm if the staff try to clean a room on the day of checkout before the guest left