My guest has not checked-out and it is over 1 hour past the check-out time

[Elad4]

My guest has the keys and has not checked-out.

He has left all of his things in the apartment unpacked and is not answering his phone. 

My next guest is tomorrow and the cleaner needs to clean the apartment and have everything ready.

What do I do and has this happened to you before?

Thank you.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Elad4

it happend to us ones, we came to clean, have another guests check in 3 hours later and our guests were not in the apartment and all of their things were there . We called them and they didn't answer. Then we called their parents and they responded and were surprised.. it turns out they thought they have another day left. So they rushed back and packed and everything was fine at the end. 

Maybe your guests also made the same mistake? Are you sure they know the check out time?

Contact Airbnb maybe they will be able to contact them or at least tell you what you can do

[Kate157]

This also happened to me. It was a real pain. I called Airbnb as soon as I realized the problem. Guests things still in room, and I have another guest coming in a few hours. I couldn't reach the guest at all. Airbnb promised to call me back. I waited hours. Nothing happened, I had to call Airbnb again. I got someone helpful this time, and he contacted my arriving guests to make alternate arrangements at a motel for the night. Unfortunately, my arriving guests wanted to stay in this area, they were visiting family close by. All the motels offered to them were the other side of the city, so They ended up on their son's floor for the night. I felt really bad for them. When my original guest finally returned, she realized she had her days mixed up. She had missed her flight as well. It was a very nerve-wracking experience for me, and I am glad it only happened once. 

[Tania-and-Andrew0]

Hello @Elad4,

I know this post is long due but still, to avoid this from happening again make sure you contact the guests the night before to see if they need "further assistance" before checking out tomorrow. Maybe they need a taxi being set up for them or something, it's always a great excuse to contact them, remind them of the check-out time and date.

It is vitally important that you NEVER touch the guests' belongings, even if you feel you're in a rush because it's past the check-out time and you have to clean and another guest is coming. This can get you into a lot of trouble, especially if something's missing (they might even say they had jewelry with them just to take advantage of the situation).

For things like this always use the Airbnb chat and request Airbnb to contact the guest themselves, so you can have evidence that you tried to reach out to the guest in case Airbnb needs to place your new guests somewhere else.

Regards

[Andrea9]

@Elad4

Something many hosts do is message the guests the evening before saying something like thanks for booking and hope they had a good stay and to remind them that check out the next day is xx o'clock, and that the cleaner will arrive then to start preparing the space for the next guests right after. 

That jogs their memory and additionally puts it on record so they can't say they weren't aware of check-out time.

[Elad4]

Thank you @Andrea9 @Tania-and-Andrew0 @Kate157 and @Branka-and-Silvia0 for your feedback. I will certainly start messaging the night before to confirm check-out etc. The issue here is the guest did not respond at all and still has not responded to any of my messages. Luckily he did arrive in the evening and took his things.

I was not aware that AirBnB would relocate a guest in such an event and will make use of their support line in future.

Appreciate your feedback.

[Tania-and-Andrew0]

Hello @Elad4,

I am glad to read everything worked out fine. I have noticed that guests are not really aware that they have to have the Airbnb app on their mobile devices and they don't pay attention to e-mails. Some don't know you will use this as a communication platform, which is why I remind them of this once they arrive.

Also, I now have a note on my listing (and send it to new guests) saying that guests will be reminded to review their hosts and in turn hosts will review guests on: Communicating, cleanliness and following the house's rules. This should help a bit on responding to your messages or requests.

Happy hosting!