From May 1, people staying at any of Shanghai's 310 star and 4,500 non-star hotels will have a better say on when to check out.

A new law passed recently by local legislators will end a common practice in hotel industry: checking out by noon. Instead, a guest will set his own checkout time, with the hotel's approval.

A guest would be told about the standard checkout time at the time of checking in. If he needs to stay a little longer, the hotel should provide concierge services.

According to a notice published yesterday at the municipal government's website, shanghai.gov.cn, the new law intends to upgrade the city's hotel services for the Shanghai World Expo next year.

Hotel management authorities should set up a system to collect and analyze the demand and rates for rooms on important occasions or holidays and publish them in the media, the law says. They should also publish the locations and rates of hotels in tourist spots and public places.

When there is a high demand for rooms, as is likely during the Expo, they should organize home lodging. Local residents can apply to provide the service and relevant departments will set the standards required.

Hotels should be able to provide rooms exactly with the same specifics as promised at the time of booking, or else, they should put the guest up in a hotel of similar or higher level.

(China Daily April 2, 2009)