Online check-in for hotels

Much like airlines have done over the past few years, now hotels are starting to allow advance check-in online.

Hyatt unveiled a new online check-in, check-out system called “Web-In” and “Web-Out” recently. The program is available at more than 100 North American properties now. (Web-Out is brand new, while Web-In was previously reserved for Gold Passport members only.) You can go to www.hyatt.com and click the Check-In button to check in after 1 pm on your arrival date (picking up keys at a kiosk in the hotel lobby). Later, you can check out via the Internet and have a copy of your bill emailed to you. Later this year, Hyatt will introduce another function: allowing guests to choose their rooms via the Web.