Hi, I am Lucilla, I am an Italian host. I started hosting just two months and a half ago, I just reached the superhost status and I never wrote on the community before so sorry if I did some mistake as where to start this conversation or such 🙂
I have a big problem. I think I became a superhost because I am really attentive to the guests needs and I care, but sometimes I don't know how to say no or making them respect me.
I work multiple jobs and I don't have a proper schedule so when I started I put flexible check in hours. I was convinced there was a better communication with the guests. So after months of people arriving 3 hours late or simply without telling me the hour they arrive, I narrowed and narrowed the check in hours until I reached 13-15. The problem is this: people still don't care. Now I ask the time they arrive before I accept the request and I wrote everything on the ad too, but sometimes the conversation goes in a direction that I can't control.
Specifically: I received a request for the midst of October. A couple and a baby. They immediately tell me they are gonna be arriving at night, without asking if it was OK. I say OK, you can arrive at night but I won't be home after 8 o clock so you need to come before that. There are no shops open around where I can leave the keys, the one open are far and it is really complicated in Italy if you don't speak the language to find your way in the suburbs. They replied that since they have the baby they don't know when they are coming, and they added this: we don't know Also because if we don't get tired maybe we wanna have dinner in Milan.
Now, I am not a hotel. I specified the check in hours. I rent rooms in my own home and they are tremendously cheap. I already told them I will be there at night and that's already a favour. I am offended, I can understand you could have problems with the baby but is it my problem if you wanna have dinner in Milan? I don't know how to tell them they are being rude in a way that I am not rude. Finally I told them that I will hide the keys somewhere if they are not here by 8, but that I prefer that they come earlier. But I feel like I am not dealing well with the situation, I really don't wanna accept their request. What would you do?
Sorry I know it s a long post, I wanted to make you understand how I feel. Sometimes I feel unconfortable with the pretensions but then I don't feel like I have the right to say anything, or I am just afraid of a bad review.
Thanks for your time,
Lucilla