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Does anyone have any idea how to handle late arrivals being sprung on you at the last minute? Last weekend, and again today, I have had two young couples do the same thing. Book saying nothing about arrival time, I make it very clear arrival is between 4 and 10pm, then the day before arriving drop a line saying, might be getting there a bit later, around 8-9pm. Then the doozy. On the day of arrival it’s the same thing ‘oh, we’re working late! A deadline came up!’. This has happened so many times now, all playing out the same way, and it’s totally obvious that they knew they were working late and intended to drive up after. Often, haven’t packed before work making it even later. This makes it so we are up until 12:30 and once even until 3am. It’s always the same, the girl today, ‘I’ll probably be there at 11:30. I hope it’s not an inconvenience’.
It is an inconvenience. We’re already settled in bed winding down at 10-10:30, and asleep by 10:45. Trying to stay awake and presentable until midnight and after is just so annoying it pisses me off for the rest of their stay. The guests that did it last weekend also decided not to check out before 2pm either had to get them moving (after they slept until 12 and had a leisurely breakfast). Nice enough in person, but just couldn’t give two hoots about respecting our rules. And now I have people doing it again. I honestly wish I could say, ‘No. Check in times are 4-10pm, if you can’t get there within half an hour of that, then we will be locking up and not accepting you’. But Airbnb would never support it. And if we start cancelling people it doesn’t look good for us.
Fortunately for me, I’m a night owl and my husband is an early bird so we can accommodate pretty much any check in time, but I do know how bad it is when the guests don’t read the listing/rules. We just had yet another potential guest who is not comfortable with big dogs and wanted me to cancel her reservation which she made via instant book.
The only thing that I can think of for you is that as I know you don’t use instant book, when you receive an inquiry have the potential guest verify that he/she understands your check in parameters. I would assume that as long as you are clear about it in your listing you would be able to not answer the door until the next day if the guest arrived after 10:00 P.M without incurring any penalty from Airbnb.
could you arrange some kind of selv check-inn? We made it clear in our listing that the guests have to check inn selv after 10.30 PM and that the code lock not will let inn people after 12.00 PM for safety reasons. We made a manual for the selv check-inn, but the good thing is, that after we made this changes in the listing, now one has arrived late. They won’t risk to be to late. I think the guest have to understand that you really mean it.
It is so annoying and I feel your pain! Its happened to us a few times. We Air our spare room in our own house. Now I say, if you are going to be after 1030pm ill leave the key under the matt my the front door etc the room is up the stairs to the right etc etc.
I would set-up a self-check in so this doesn’t continue to bother you. Get a code lock and be done with it. Honestly, late check-ins are part of this business model so if you find yourself annoyed at it, renting out your home might not be the business for you.
I don’t know if this would help your situation, but I always send a message a few days before a guest’s arrival to inquire about their ETA and let explain that it’s important for me to know their arrival time so someone is here to let them in. In our situation a self check-in isn’t a great option.
In two years of hosting, it has been very rare that someone has not given me a time frame to expect them. On the occasion that it has happened, I made a follow up call.
(I have had two or three guests with late flights - but that’s unavoidable.)
I would say that most of the issues I have had are with younger couples.
Thanks for the help everyone. We won’t be setting up a self check in. Our house is big, and we have other guests staying so we need to see our guests in to make sure they make a relatively quiet entry and find where they need to go, and also where to come for coffee/breakfast in the morning. Even when our guests are late and annoy us, we still prefer to see them in.
Again this lady was very nice when she arrived. What tends to annoy me is that I know they have read my check in times, and they know the likelihood that they are going to arrive late, but they never tell me until the day. I always specify, and ask the guest to read my house manual and house rules at booking time also. I would feel much better if I was told the booking so that I had a choice whether to accept them and stay up rather than them saying nothing and a ‘whoops’. I feel they do it because they really want to come, and they don’t want to risk me saying no to the booking. I guess it’s just another one of those Airbnb things, where people expect our homes are like a 24 her hotel lobby, even though standard bnb’s don’t have an all night check in. It’s get there During check in hours or you out of luck. I wish I had more control sometimes.
I have the same problem, Are you sure you wouldn’t get AirBnB to support you? I’ve got check in times actually in my HOUSE RULES. All I can think is that you state check in is between 4pm and 6pm only, later check ins by prior appointment BEFORE booking only. So you make it so early that you build in the contingency. Nobody can expect a host to hang about all evening waiting for them to arrive!
Yes, mine are in my house rules too. That is a good idea, making it even earlier and adding the part you said. I’m trying not to add too much. It seems no one is bothering to follow our house rules much. I think one or two guests have bothered to remove their shoes since I added it as a firm rule. People here just don’t want to do it, even though I provide an area and even clean white slippers.
From my prior experience Airbnb does everything it can to make the host responsible for any cancellation. Unfortunately the guests always give me the 'oh whoops, it’s going to be even later than we expected due to ‘traffic, work,’ or whatever it is that is suddenly my problem now, because they decided they wanted a weekend away during a time they couldn’t assure themselves an ability to get out of work on time, or be organized to leave straight from work. We are only an hour and half from the city, so when you are arriving at midnight, it really means you haven’t left until 10 or so (the time I was promised they would be arriving at the latest). It is disappointing to me that guests disorganization becomes my problem. ‘Thanks for your understanding!’. What? I’m thinking! I’m not understanding. I’m frustrated that I wasn’t given any warning that I’d be staying up this late. It’s people putting themselves before others and thinking ‘oh, if I just act nice enough when I get there they’ll get over the fact that I kept them up after bed time’.
Invariably these folks seem pretty experienced at it! I will write in the reviews what has taken place, because even though many hosts here don’t seem to mind what time guests check in due to their set up, I think honest communication about plans is the important factor here, and guests that don’t do that so that they can get their way (about whatever it may be that makes you bend your rules for them) is important for other hosts to know, and as Ellen said guests that don’t bother reading your listing or taking your rules seriously before booking so that it becomes the hosts problem
It’s okay for Sandy to feel annoyed. My guests do many things that annoy me. Actually in any business I have ever been in, I have experienced wonderful customers and annoying ones. That’s like saying if you find your kid annoying at times, then you have no right being a parent.
Sandy,
I think the only way to try to resolve the issue is to directly tell them before accepting the booking. I agree that they are prob. thinking that as long as they wait to disclose at the last minute, then they will get away with it. I would just reply to an inquiry like this “Before I accept your booking I want to make sure all guests have read the rules section regarding check in/check out. Please note that I am unable to accommodate check in after 10 p.m. If you feel like your work schedule may interfere, then I can decline the booking now. I just like to let all guests know beforehand so that they don’t lose their money on a reservation.” - or something to that effect.
That way you can hopefully weed through the ones who haven’t even asked for time off of work. And if your place is in high demand, then you can replace them with people who are able to show up on time. I think mentioning that you don’t want them to lose any money makes them think they won’t be able to access the home, and they think you are looking out for them at the same time.
Once again, fantastic advice from a truly experienced host. It really is ridiculous all these other hosts (with side businesses trying to make money from ‘helping’ other hosts no less!), have a lack of understanding that many people have a different set up than their own prized little getaway, and also that although most guests behave, we do get the odd problematic guests that we are experiencing from time to time that we need help to find a good solution for (such as Cabinhost and IMO managed to do).
It’s funny, because I again got my ratings for the year in, and we got 96% five star reviews. Now, if I’m so terrible at hosting, then I don’t think I would be generating such a constant figure three years in a row. One of the big things that was constantly mentioned was my ‘warm and kind welcome’. I don’t have to love every minute of it, and the fact is, before I came onto forums complaining about my experiences, I had no help with how to deal with many things, and felt alone so it was much worse. With help from people here, the changes have made for a better experience, and I also feel that we are not alone in our struggles, which really helps.
How many times now have I been told I shouldn’t be a host just because I’ve complained about this issue or another? Well, my bank account, guests, and Airbnb probably would not agree dear ‘chic retreat’, but thank you for your kind help. Perhaps your easy irritability is due to being a little too repressed? Frustrated with guests perhaps? Let it out! We’re here to help!
I was just told in another forum by two different people that I am in the wrong business…ha! I think I struck a nerve with them because I said “I love all my guests…their money that is.” And I don’t ship items back to guests at my expense if they can’t manage their time when leaving in the morning, and doing a final walk through themselves. If they can’t be bothered to double check they emptied the dresser, then I can’t be bothered to kindly ship their items back for free.
Several other forum members thought my comments were “disturbing.” - Lol! Phew! - So thankful I live in the real world! I do think people who get annoyed by those of us who are annoyed, are really annoyed at themselves for allowing guests to walk all over them. Thankfully the majority in this forum aren’t so judgmental.
Wow. Frankly it’s ‘disturbing’ (lol, talk about dramatics!) that anyone would consider you not fit for hosting. I think you’ve got an excellent business sense, a keen understanding of people, and a good grasp of the reasonable. It is not an easy business, and way harder if you let people walk all over you is something I thoroughly agree with, and you have some of the best tips for preventing it, and run a great business.
Miss late pants spent all day in our dining room, where she plugged in her computer, and spoke loudly (yelling at times) into her phone. She decided she was doing business from there, even though she had a perfectly good desk in her room. Left her boyfriend to act as lunch gatherer, and ‘the ignored one’. When I tried to clean the breakfast things from around her cables and wires and papers, she didn’t so much as glance up to say a word to me - nothing. I was the maid I guess.
It is an amazing thing when a guest that pays for a room decides that they’ll take the entire home instead. Sure the areas are shared, but it’s not like the other guests could access it to share it. The guests that stay home all day are the worst I find (luckily we have few). The most awful part is that she said they had plans to be out all day at a local festival when booking, but really it was because she was meeting her boyfriend who was up here, and I don’t think there was any real plans, we were just a midway meeting point while he was out of town. Which is fine, but it would have been great to know in advance. My husband is recording in his studio, and it was a main specification before accepting the booking that she understood there would be music from the studio. Thought it wouldn’t be a problem because as he records from 12-7, the vast majority of our guests are out during those hours, and she said she was fine with it. Well, this morning as he was about to hit the studio, he mentioned it and she appeared shocked and acted as if she hadn’t been told at all. i just found this out at his lunch break. No idea what she is playing at, but I just asked what part wasn’t clear about ‘there is a strong possibility … Will be recording in his studio between 12-7, which means music will be heard through the home. So long as you are fine with that, I can accept your booking’. ‘Oh, it must be my bad memory!’. Once again, guests that can’t be bothered arriving in a timely manner that fits our schedules turns out to be a pest. If she had simply said ‘do you mind if I set up and work all day at the dining room table’, it wouldn’t have been an issue, it’s just something about some people that are so entitled that irks me. Instead she messages after I mention that I did tell her about the music that ‘I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience’. Well, just like the late arrival, it’s too late afterwards. Not really concerned about us, or it wouldn’t have happened. The way to tell with people is how they behave, not what they say. But these are the few annoying ones. It just so happens that I have had two in a row.
Like you Sandy, I also have 96% of people leave 5 star reviews according to Air. So yes, you can still lay the rules down and be a great host. No one is forcing the hand of the traveler to click on a specific listing. If they don’t like the “rules” then they can book elsewhere. If they expect 24 hr. check in, they can book the nearest hotel. Why waste time on Airbnb?
Funny how your guest pretended not to be told about the likelihood of the music. Again, just another way they try to manipulate. And the reason guests continue to play these games? It’s because American culture tries to say the “customer is always right.” Guests have learned to get away with things in the corporate world, and now they are convinced that hosts are just pushovers. It’s a sad world we live in where people are out to take advantage of another. But this business truly opens your eyes to it. And I’ll be damned if I am going to allow guests to begin dictating my terms. I’ll let the other hosts who are comfortable with that…to continue doing just that.
Good for you for trying to find a solution to nip a problem in the bud. I do it one by one and am so much happier now. Still have one more issue to nip in the bud. But after that I think I will be all set
I agree. Do you know what Cabin? Since I followed your advice and put rules up, guests have seemed happier, because it’s like they know what is expected of them, rather than just guessing. Another thing it’s done is give us a more serious kind of tone inasmuch that ‘if you want to stay here, it’s not just our job to look after you, we have expectations for your behavior as well’. People know they will be reiviewed, and having house rules means those that care to be able to continue using Airbnb want to be respectful of the rules. Those that don’t, or think weMre softies and won’t be serious enough to follow up with a review will push boundaries, and I need to do better in my pre booking questioning to try to prevent that as per your suggestions. I really appreciate your help though. I’d never seen rules like yours before and it was an inspiration.
You do command more respect with rules that sound reasonable to the guest.
This is one of the private feedback I received in a review: “Can’t think of anything specifically the host can do to improve but my hopes are that all future guests respect and take care of the cabin and property so we might stay there again sometime.”
Now that’s the perfect guest. I still am fumbling around with my last rules for my the last issue I want to eliminate. I had to play around with the makeup towel abuse in the beginning. I went too far once and then guests were willingly doing laundry before they left…lol. That was the opposite of what I wanted them to do. Because then they set stains in the laundry. But I found the sweet spot and now I enjoy not spraying towels with SHOUT for 20 minutes. Guests no longer do my laundry to hide stains. I always try and try till I succeed. I will never succumb to that guests will just be guests. Not in my rental at least
This comes up for me all the time. I live 3 hours from a major Metro area, I get the couples coming up after Friday work. So late arrivals are frequent and often last minute. I have a well practiced Late Check IN procedure. I make all bookings aware that I can check them in after 9:00PM and that it will be by note. My back door is left unlocked (being a small town I can do that). A detailed note is left taped on the outside of the door. Everything they need to know is on there. They can thus arrive after 9:00 right up to middle of the night. This has worked fine for dozens of late check IN’s over three years of Air BnB. No problem yet, and customers LOVE it. I only ask at booking that they message me if they will run after 9:00PM.
You may not be able to be so trusting and safe as I can be. My clients are a very reliable type, and my small town is very safe.
I only ask that they lock the door upon arrival. The note system works for me. I never, ever stay up late for guests.
I do this too. I always message them the day before arrival and ask if they know about when they plan to arrive. This works well. I let them know a self check IN option is available, and if running late to message me on Air BnB site anytime during their trip up. Works ever so well for me.
As Sandy usually has more than one party of guests, I can understand why she wants to walk them through check in. Our house is tiny (975 square feet) with two bedrooms, one is ours and one for the guests. We’ve still had guest who were confused about which room was theirs even though we had shown them their room. The last thing Sandy needs is a confused guest walking in to another guests’ room. Also, if Sandy is present she can make sure that the arriving guests know to keep their voices low if other guests are sleeping.
