on check-out

I generally stay at large, busy hotels where they check-in and check-out scores or even hundreds of guests per day. It seems fair enough that a hotel will want to ensure your particulars when you check in (and particularly the particulars of your credit card), so that they are covered in the event that you disappear or trash the room, or trash the room and disappear, in logical order. Having obtained that however, I really can't understand why the check-out process is always so slow, and why half the time they almost seem surprised that you actually need to leave. Then of course there's the tricky dance of checking the bill. There's been a few times where it seems my scrutiny has given significant personal offence to reception, as though I've just accused them of cheating on me with my best friend. I do wonder if it's all simply a stalling tactic while a cloaked figure scurries up to my room to double-check the mini-bar consumption. Damn you, tamper-evident packaging!