If you arrive late, ask if the hotel has a room for the physically challenged that has not been booked for the night. Many hotels will hold this room until late in the day — but if it isn’t booked by someone who needs it, they will release it to a latecomer.
These rooms are larger than regular rooms, with added space around the beds and in the bathroom to accommodate wheelchairs.
The benefit to the traveler is less of a feeling of being stuffed in a sardine tin.