Can You Ship a Package to a Hotel?
Sometimes a situation may arise where you need something shipped to your temporary place of residence, such as a hotel or hostel: an urgent online purchase, an item you left at home, a piece of luggage you don’t want to log around. Can this be arranged? Let’s figure out together whether it is possible to ship packages to a hotel and retrieve them upon arrival.
Many hotels and hostels will hold packages for their guests, however, there are nuances you should be aware of. For example, identity thieves may have packages shipped to hotels as part of their schemes. Due to this, most hotels only accept packages for guests who have a reservation and return them to the original sender if the reservation gets canceled. If there is no reservation under the name on the shipping label, the package gets declined.
Even if you have a reservation, the hotel may refuse to accept a package on your behalf if you don’t let them know in advance that a package is going to arrive for you. So the first thing you should do if you need something delivered to the hotel you’re planning to stay at—part of your luggage, an online purchase, whatever— is to call or email the hotel ahead of time and ask if they will accept a package for you.
Keep in mind that some hotels may not accept packages for a variety of reasons (limited storage space, concerns about loss or damage, security concerns, bad experiences with unreasonable guests or scams, etc.) or may have certain restrictions or limitations. For example, a lot of hotels will not accept COD packages (cash on delivery). Besides, there are hotels that charge a fee for handling their guests’ packages.
If the hotel gives you the green light, congratulations! Now you need to make sure that the package is properly addressed. It is generally recommended to use the following addressing format:
Guest Name
c/o Hotel Name
Hotel Address
City, State, ZIP Code
Most hotels require that the package label includes the guest’s anticipated arrival date next to their name, and some also require the inclusion of the reservation confirmation number.
The letters “c/o” before the name of the hotel mean “in care of”; they indicate that the package is sent to an addressee that is supposed to accept it on behalf of the intended recipient. “c/o” is used to let the hotel know that the package is intended for one of their guests and ensure that it reaches the recipient instead of getting returned to the sender.
If your hotel accepts packages and the address is correct, you should check with the front desk to retrieve your package upon arrival.
What options do you have if your hotel refuses to accept a package on your behalf? In this case, you can have it shipped to the nearest Post Office, UPS Store, or FedEx location (depending on your preferred carrier) for pickup.
Most carriers also have alternative pickup locations such as USPS gopost units or UPS Access Points. However, there are some things you should know before having your package shipped to one of such locations. For example, you need to sign up for gopost in order to use gopost lockers to pick up or ship packages.
As for UPS Access Points, only e-commerce businesses can ship directly to these UPS locations. So you can use a UPS Access Point to pick up an online purchase, but if you want someone to ship you some personal items (or ship them to yourself because you don’t want to travel with luggage), you should address your package to a UPS Store. It is, however, possible to redirect a package from a UPS Store to a UPS Access Point using UPS My Choice. Keep in mind that you will have to pay a fee for redirecting your package unless you have Premium My Choice membership.
So, let’s sum everything up. While a lot of hotels will accept packages on behalf of their guests, you should always make a reservation under your name first and then contact the hotel ahead of your arrival to check their policy regarding packages addressed to guests and give them a heads up that a package will be arriving for you.