Is Airbnb hiding our check in time?

[Nanxing0]

In the past year or two I have noticed a drastically increasing trend that guests do not pay attention to the check in time. Basically those guests send in a booking request with a message saying they are checking in at xxx time which is much earlier than my 4pm regular check in time. Then I respond to the guest pointing out and most of time they would tell me that they did not notice that while booking. Is it that Airbnb has made the booking process in the way that check in time is not apparent?

[Emiel1]

@Nanxing0 

The check-in time is mentioned in the listing (although at the bottom)

Some guests do not read it and must be educated after booking.

[Emilia42]

@Nanxing0 

Here is my take .... This is what the guest sees when they go to book. They are sending a message as instructed.

[Nanxing0]

@Emilia42 This is the issue. It's not mentioning the check in and out time at or before this step. I believe Airbnb used to have the check in and out time clearly mentioned at or before this step but at some point they removed it.

[Pat271]

Yes - and I think the whole message should be rethought. Many hosts don’t really need to know *why* guests are traveling, just a little about who’s coming, and the 2nd part should read something like “…and how soon after check-in time you plan to arrive”.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Pat271 

I strongly disagree as to the necessity of the "why the guests are traveling" question. It is vital to us to know this, to be able to tell if the goals of a guest are suitable for our home and location. Those who pre-answer that "why"  question are likely to get an immediate acceptance, and no back and forth with us about why they are traveling, and what their plans and expectations are. Those who have read our rules and volunteer the code words in their request get their request accepted immediately. We share our home, and we go to great lengths to make those goals happen for each guest. There are guests who fall in love with the photos and do not read the listing. Those are the ones who might be quite unsuitable to our particular location and amenities. I'd venture to say that this is important information to a large number of hosts, and to the advantage of the best possible experience for guests. 

I do agree with the second point - I've gotten recent queries from guests about our "check in window." The check in and check out times definitely need to be prominently posted for the guests to find and digest. I've also heard from guests that they "will arrive" at times much earlier than our check in time; in response to this "tell the host when you'll check in" instruction. That causes a lot more communication need, and telling a guest who says they will check in at an early hour that we are not OK with that. 

[Pat271]

Curious to know what kind of guest plans would cause you to turn away a guest. Maybe this depends on what kind of property a host is offering.

My properties are 1) A downtown weekend location in the midst of restaurants, parks, and other amenities, and 2) A resort location in Maui. I already know what activities the guests are planning. It wouldn’t make sense, and also be somewhat intrusive, for me to ask.

I can see where with, say, a house in the suburbs or similar, it would be more important to make sure that the guest’s planned activities are a good fit. For instance, guests may be planning on going to a sporting event, but may be unaware that the property is dozens of miles away from the stadium. 

My main goal during the pre-booking phase is to establish communication and trust between the guest and myself, and gauge by their manners, respectfulness, and appreciation whether they would be a good fit. For this, simply asking them to tell me a little about themselves and the people traveling with them is sufficient. However, I can imagine cases where more information might be required with different types of properties and locations, although I’ve never had anyone in a hotel, inn, B&B, nor short-term rental ever ask me for a summary of my planned activities.

There is no right or wrong approach here. We all have different property types, and different hosting styles. 

[Gordon0]

Like @Kitty-and-Creek0, the why the guests are traveling question is really important for me. It helps weed out guest who think they're coming to my place and will be on the doorstep of Buckingham Palace, or that they'll be able to get to Trafalgar Square in five minutes, neither of which is possible. This question helps me work out their expectations and, if need be, I can nudge them towards another area, @Pat271.

There are many heightened expectations that this questions helps manage.  

[Stephanie365]

@Pat271  What kind of guest plans would make me turn down a booking....

"Hi, I'm meeting up with a bunch of my friends from my fraternity. We're having a 5 year reunion. I'm not sure when I will get there. I just need a place to crash after the party."

Um, no. I don't want a drunk crashing in the home I live in and likely puking up alcohol half the night. And if I were to receive a message like this I would direct them to someplace closer to the university. Not a good idea to navigate my unlit, windy, narrow country roads while drunk. You're not going to make it here.

[Pat271]

@Stephanie365  Potential guests with plans such as these definitely don’t tell me about them. I agree that anyone stupid enough to voluntarily admit to these plans is not someone I would want to host.😂

[Huma0]

@Pat271 

Another reason, which has been discussed a lot on the CC and especially so lately, is about guests who are working entirely from home, e.g. digital nomads. A lot of hosts do not want guests who are going to be at the listing all day using utilities (which are obviously very expensive these days).

If one is a homeshare host, this can get even more stressful. Very few guests clean up after themselves properly, so someone who is cooking three times a day and constantly in and out of the kitchen can create extra cleaning for the host. Some of these guests might commandeer a communal area for their work, which is annoying. If a homeshare host themselves works from home, it can also be really distracting to have the guests there all day.

I'm not turning away guests who work from home, but it's certainly something I've considered.

[Pat271]

@Huma0  I understand. Are these preferences something you highlight in your listing description? Doing so might set the stage for attracting the more active types of guests in the first place, before the interrogation phase of the booking begins.😉

I do similar highlighting for my Maui description. It is in the heart of a lot of activities, restaurants, and other amenities, so in my description, I market to the type of guest who wants to venture out most of the day, rather than the type of guest who wants to chill at the resort. Both types of visitors to Maui are common; my place is just more suitable to the former type of guest.

[Huma0]

@Pat271 

Not so much yet, as I am finding this more of a new phenomenon, but I did recently add that guests shouldn't take over communal spaces as their workspaces. For far, I am not sure if it's made any difference. Some guests still do it and others don't. I don't have enough of a sample since I introduced this rule to know if people are paying attention to it or not!

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 @Pat271 

Thanks for bringing up a couple of my own concerns. An important issue for us with  digital nomads is internet speed and reliability. For those of us not on the grid, that is important. I have referred a guest elsewhere who let us know he expected to work online daily, with conferences and courses, for his entire stay. There is not enough digital capability for that here. We also work from home, and it is like you described, @Huma0 . My internet speed can be very slow if someone else is online, so it would be an issue for everyone.

He also planned to use the kitchen for his 3 meals including cooking at late night hours, which would completely disrupt the rhythms of the household. I thanked him for sharing all of this. He was such a nice man and it was difficult to say "no" to him. Under different circumstances he'd definitely be a terrific guest. I let him know that and that we'd love to host him for an R&R visit. 

Yes, we are all different, that's the beauty of the thing!

[Huma0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

Yes, it certainly doesn't sound like your place is set up for digital nomads. 

My WiFi is actually pretty decent, and multiple people can be working online at the same time without it being an issue. The guest who complained about the WiFi in her room, however, was using Teams (she only had a problem when using that) and the broadband engineer told me that requires high upload speeds, which most domestic WiFi packages do not have as they are designed for people to stream TV shows/movies etc. (no one is going to have a problem here if they want to watch Netflix!), and use it for other 'domestic' stuff.

The problem is, that these days, people seem to expect WiFi to be the same as in a commercial office building. I have done everything I can to improve the speed and range, including going for the top package with my provider, but it is what it is. 

I currently have another digital nomad staying with me. Before he booked, he read the review from that guest and was very concerned about the WiFi/combined with the rule about not using communal areas for work. Well, he's been here for three days now and hasn't reported any issues with the WiFi, nor attempted to work outside of his room.

However, we had a clash almost as soon as he arrived. During check in, I reminded him that I don't allow guests to eat in the bedrooms and he got VERY upset about it and said he didn't see that in the house rules. He said one of the reasons he booked the room is because there was a desk that he could eat at. He then told me I have too many rules. This is another problem with digital nomads. They are treating their rooms not just as bedrooms, but as offices and a lot of people are in the habit of eating at their desks. 

Anyway, he later apologised (twice) for his grumpiness and admitted that it was indeed in my house rules and that he had missed it.