All about check out times

[Laura2592]

I have seen many threads about late check outs and guests who can't vacate in a timely way. Check out times seem to be all over the map.

As an American traveler, I am used to an 11 am check out as a standard, but realize there is variation. Our listing doesn't do back to back reservations as its hard to get our cleaners scheduled for such a short turn around, so we set ours at 12 noon and will offer certain guests an even later check out as a courtesy. I know many hosts struggle with getting guests to check out timely and some have instituted additional fees for late check out.

So what is your check out time? Do you give your guests a grace period? Do you offer a late check out for a fee? Any tips to share with other hosts on check out best practices? What do you consider a "standard" check out time when you are traveling?

[Pat271]

My checkout is 11. I will give an hour or 2 leeway if either I don’t have someone coming that day, or my housekeeper says it’s ok and it won’t stress her out.

For later check-outs, if it isn’t a back-to-back and if my housekeeper can accommodate, I let them stay as long as they want on check-out day for a half a day’s rent. Many of my guests have late flights and really appreciate this, especially if they have one or more young children, as it’s much more comfortable to wait for the flight at my place than at a mall, restaurant, or at the airport. It also helps me partially fill gaps that are less than my minimum stay.

[Amanda660]

Our checkout time is 11am and we do same day turnovers.  If we have folks checking out on a Sunday we’ll generally clean on a Monday if none is booked in.   We’re not close to airports so don’t ever have flight times to work around.  Our check in us from 3pm.

We’re rarely asked for late checkouts but occasionally for early check ins (quite a few over the summer and more often Booking.com guests.   I’ll offer if we’re ahead of schedule and if the guest is polite.  Pushy doesn’t sit well with me. 😉

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  Ours is 11am.  We thought 10am would be asking for stress from people who can't make it out by that time.  We offer a later [free] check-out basically when we like the guests and when it doesn't compromise the schedule.  We no longer do same day in/out since covid, but with the new cleaning requirements and our desire to wait a few hours before entering the apartment, when there is only 1 day it often feels very rushed.  I somewhat marvel now as if it was a different life that we used to do a turnover in 5 hours all the time.

We send a 'hope you had a great time' by the way here are the few things to do before leaving tomorrow at 11am message the night before.  It seems to work pretty well.

On the whole, we haven't had much of an issue with people checking out late, certainly not later than 15 or 20 minutes. 

[Gordon0]

We're 11am. I've stayed in places with a 10am c/o which, imo, is a bit much (or little). I'll happily let guests check out late if it doesn't affect me (or the cleaner). What grates is the 'I'll be there at 9am' types who think they get to call the shots.

I have an Australian arriving at 6am next week - they were very nice when asking and have even said they'll bring me some homemade banana loaf. That's what gets you an early check in for free!

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Having always left one day prep time between bookings, as far as I'm concerned, they can stay on check-out day as long as they want, although my listing says 4pm. 

This is the best arrangement for my location, as the vast majority of my guests fly here, and their return flights are usually mid-late aft. With the travel time of one hour to the airport and  having to be there a couple hours before the flight, most guests are gone by noon-3.

[Michelle53]

@Laura2592  My check-out time is noon.  I get a lot of weekenders and folks coming in for events and concerts. I think they prefer having more time to sleep in, since often they come back from wherever late at night - or early a.m.

I only occasionally get requests for late check-out. Mostly, it's early check-in, if folks come in on a red-eye, which I only allow if I don;t have to rush to get ready. 

I've recently switched from one day between bookings to two days, since my regular work schedule has become pretty heavy.   More time for me to do laundry and cleaning. 

Same day turnovers were way too much for me, without a cleaning service. 

[Elaine701]

Our published checkout / checkin times are 10:00 and 14:00.

We don't do same day turnovers, so there's a bit of room for flexibility. I generally stay firm with the times, but when it's no inconvenience, I don't mind a late checkout or early checkin (if they ask nicely, and it doesn't cause me any stress). 

[Stephanie1933]

Our check out time is 10am. Often guests ask for a later check out and we can make that work. 

[Robin4]

@Laura2592 

I do do same day turn-arounds as is evidenced by this current screenshot......

I set a strict check-out time of 11.00 am and I have a check-in time of 2.00 pm. That is fine because it gives me a leisurely 3 hours to prepare for the next guest. If I really get my skates on, with a bit of help I can do a turnaround in 1.5 hours, meaning it is possible to be ready for an incoming guest by 12.30 pm.

What gets my back up is when a guest says....."Is there any way we can check-in before 2.00 pm we are coming for an afternoon wedding and would like time to change and to catch our breath before the wedding" . So, I bust my gut to get the cottage ready, offer them a 12.30 pm check-in time .....and they don't turn up until 2.00 pm! Sometimes I almost feel like telling them, the check-in window has closed, try the local caravan park!!!

Cheers........Rob

[Huma0]

I started off with a 12pm check out time because that's what it normally is in European hotels, but changed it to 11am as I realised that if the guests check out even a little bit late, it would be stressful to get ready for the next ones. In UK hotels and B&Bs, a 10am check out is quite normal, but I think that is a little early. I'd rather say 11am and know the guests will probably leave on time than say 10am and be constantly hovering around waiting for them to go.

Now that I only host long term guests, I'm pretty relaxed about check out. If the guest has an evening flight, I don't mind them staying and I don't charge extra for it. If I have another guest arriving the same day, which is rare these days, then I'm happy as long as they vacate the room by 11am. They can always leave their bags here and collect them later.

However, the last time I agreed to this, the guest still didn't check out on time (I also let her drop her bags off before check in on the proviso that she would be on time, which she wasn't). Said guest didn't appreciate this or anything else extra I did for her and left me really low ratings. Sometimes it's just not worth bending your rules.

If I was still doing short term stays, I would be much more strict about check out. Guests would have to check out on time. I would still let some of them leave their bags for collection later but only if they were great guests and seemed reliable. I have had too many problems with this in the past with people leaving me waiting for hours, making me miss meetings even though they knew I had to leave by a certain time, taking the key when I had specifically asked them not to because another guest was arriving, etc. etc. 

That's why my listing says I don't store bags before check in or after check out. I do, but at my discretion. I do not like it when guests simply EXPECT this. This is not a hotel.