Midnight Reservations & Hotel Hijinks: Confessions from the Night Audit Desk

If you’ve ever found yourself squinting at your phone, groggy after a long drive, and wondering, “Is it technically Saturday or Sunday right now?”—you’re not alone. But if you’ve ever tried to check into a hotel at 2:40 am for a reservation that begins at 3 pm (on the next day), you might just be the star of tonight’s “Tales from the Front Desk.”
It’s a sold-out Saturday night at a bustling hotel, and our night auditor is prepping for the usual parade: desperate travelers, system gamers, and a healthy dose of confusion about what, exactly, “after midnight” means in the hotel world. Spoiler: It doesn’t mean what you think.