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In the NY Times, Michelle Higgins runs through some of the pros and cons of hotels’ self-check-in kiosks.

On the one hand, the kiosks can be a relief from long lines at the check-in desk. Why wait for others to ask a million questions if all you want is your room key? And besides, the airlines have paved the way, making such kiosks commonplace.

On the other hand, if you’re picky about room location, the kiosk isn’t a great choice. Want to make sure you’re far from the ice machine, or perhaps you’re interested in upgrading to a suite (with or without the $100 handshake…), then the kiosk won’t be much help. Kiosks are bound by the rules. You’re more likely to get some flexibility from a desk agent than from a machine.

Doing it yourself can also depersonalize the experience of checking in, an issue only at luxury hotels. Hotels that push the self-serve option too hard risk downgrading their image. Are airlines really the customer-service example to be following here?

What the kiosks ARE good for is check-out — assuming that you weren’t able to use the TV check-out. I’m 0 for 10 on the TV checkout working on my last hotel stays, so the kiosk is a good alternate.

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