Don't know if I replied well to this request

[Lucilla14]

Hi everybody!

It's been more or less a year hosting now, and I am overall satisfied. I learned how to manage difficult situations and how to say no, things I couldn't do when I first started. Nonetheless, today I wanna talk about how uneasy I still feel with some requests and how I am always wondering what can I reply and if when I reply I write the right things.

This girl sent me this request for one of my listings, she's coming with her boyfriend and her dog, she's one of the few people who read my house rules so she asked me if she could check in at 8 p.m., because I have written in the house rules I have a crazy schedule so we need to agree on a check in time before I accept the reservation. So far everything's fine. 

The check out time is 11 a.m., cause I start accepting reservations from 1 p.m, so I have plenty of time to clean the place for the other guests. 

She writes: "we would like to check in at 8 p.m. and check out at 4.30 p.m.. Is that ok?"

I replied that I had no guests arriving on the following day, but that if somebody would book the room I would need them to leave it, since the check out time is at 11 a.m.. I also specified that if nobody was going to book, it would be totally ok for them to stay as long as they needed, I was thinking they wanted to wait in the house for their next flight or train or whatever.

She wrote me this:

I didn't like this message one bit. She didn't ask me if there was any way we can agree on a solution, she didn't ask me if she could pay the fee for delayed check out (I didn't suggest it because I didn't know she needed to work), she just imply that since they are gonna be less than 24h in the house I am in some way obligated to her?.... That I am not "flexible" enough?... It's like I am the bad guy because she didn't read the check out time on the listing! I assumed she was new to the site but she has a lot of reviews (they are all good). So I replied basically explaining to her what a delayed check out fee is, if she wanted to pay it, so she can have the room for as long as she wants, otherwise the check out is at 11, and if nobody's gonna book the room for the following day I have no problem with letting them stay, but if I have a check in the next day before she's finished we can find another solution, she could stay in the kitchen or even in my room, I don't mind, and it is not the first time I have done these kind of favours to the guests. I also wrote to her that she could have asked me for a solution we could both agree on instead of implying some sort of duty on my part (All the more when I already told her she could stay if I wasn't gonna have other guests).

My point is.. isn't it annoying when guests act like this? Like we owe them things they didn't pay for? Did I reply well? And even if you think this is not a big deal, is it only me that gets this stressed out in this kind of situations? Thank you for your attention!

p.s. oh another thing.. I didn't accept the request of a woman because she wouldn't reply to my messages so I didn't know when she would arrive or if she was ok with some things I replied to her about some questions she asked me. She never replied and now I am afraid that she might think she has a reservation with me, but she doesn't because it expired. what would you do? 

[Gordon0]

I've this type of enquiry (and guests who thought they'd try it out too) on a few occasions. It's always a firm 'no'. We don't rent by 24-hour periods. End of. 

[Lucilla14]

@Gordon0 Hi, thanks for your reply. So what would you do? wait for her to reply or don't accept the reservation anyway?

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Lucilla14 

I'd totally NOT host this guest. I don't think I've ever seen any place regardless of whether it's a hotel, motel, hostel or guesthouse that aceept bookings in 24hr blocks. She's got a lot of nerve~~

Why not send a special offer that is worth at least a 2-night stay, and say at this price you'd be happy to let her check in at 8pm and check out at 4:30pm?

[Lucilla14]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 @ thank you very much for your reply. I was afraid I was wrong about this. I get the sense she's not gonna reply anymore, if she does in a way that doesn't convince me, I am gonna decline the request. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Lucilla14 

You could potentially lose a day's rental - just politely decline on the grounds that she is not a good match for the type of accomodation you offer.  She would be better suited to a hotel where she can sit in the lobby and work after check-out time. Or pay the going dayrate if she wants to remain in the room till afternoon.

[Lucilla14]

@Marit-Anne0 @ expecting her answer but I hope she doesn't reply 🙂 thanks for your contribution, I made up my mind: she's gonna pay the late check out or she's leaving 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Lucilla14  I would not accept this one - you are almost guaranteed a bad review if you charge extra after promising that she can stay as long as needed.  

My suggestion now were to block the following dates in your calendar, implicating you already have a booking following her stay and she needs to check out by 11am.

[Lucilla14]

@Marit-Anne0 yes you are right, I can't back out now XD depends on what she replies I guess. If she wants to have the right to stay in the room late she has to pay in advance, even if somebody's not gonna book, that I explained and it is after all the meaning of late check out. And I have no problem really with her staying if nobody books the room. But I have now problems with her cause I don't want her in the house. I'll probably follow your suggestion and make it look like somebody booked for the days after her

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Lucilla14 

You're very accomodating but I didn't like this bit in your reply:

...also specified that if nobody was going to book, it would be totally ok for them to stay as long as they needed,

'as long as they needed' is very open ended. Might that be all weekend with your approval? Until another guest books next week? It could be construde as such and Sylvia could legitimately be there for a week.

Sylvia is very communicative, you just need to say no where appropriate and maybe have an hourly rate available for guests who you agree can stay longer. If you do have that, you should just have said.

Because Sylvia is so communicative, I don't believe she's trying to take advantage by staying later - she's just trying it on to find out if you will agree. You can just say 'No. We cannot do that, Instead we can provide...  additional hours until 5.00pm and the cost will be £...  I hope that might help?'

if you have heard nothing back and she hasn't booked, Message her to say you have reconsidered her situation and if she hasn't managed to book elsewhere you can offer.... whatever you would be happy with...  and await a reply.

[Lucilla14]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @ thank you very much for your reply, you are right I shouldn't have said as long as you need XD anyway I have a late check out fee and I told her so, that if she paid it I would have said to the possible guests booking after her that the room would be available after 5 p.m. My point is, I noticed she is communicative, but she is writing in a way that means "since I am doing a favor to you staying less than 24h, you could as well do a favor to me and let me stay as long as I need"  and that is not right, and we as hosts shouldn't indulge that kind of behavior. If she was so communicative why didn't she simply ask if she could stay and try and make some arrangement we could both agree to?maybe she didn't mean to be rude but she was definitely at least ignoring you can't just ask for free stuff. You should explain your needs and ask what the other person can do to meet them, not implying things so you can have what you want. I had a lot of guests that asked me for extra stuff but they always asked me if it was possible or even if they had to pay. Thanks for your point of view, it gave a lot to think about

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Lucilla14 

she is writing in a way that means "since I am doing a favor to you staying less than 24h, you could as well do a favor to me and let me stay as long as I need"  and that is not right, and we as hosts shouldn't indulge that kind of behavior.

I think thats just part of a negotiation. I don't think the guest has been rude or expectant. You pointed out that she was one of the only guests to read your house rules and she did originally ask "we would like to check in at 8 p.m. and check out at 4.30 p.m.. Is that ok?".  She might even be accommodating of your busy schedule in that question. She is simply looking for some agreement or alternative arrangement from you.

I can understand that you might think her question was implying some duty on your part but you are accommodating her request of arriving at 8.00pm instead of 1.00pm - thats her loss as she wants to book you with your 1.00pm - 11.00am cycle. The part you have no obligation to is the 4.30 departure. Just say 'No' to that.

[Lucilla14]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 thanks. I get your point. That was one of the reasons I wrote this post, because maybe I was misunderstanding her tone. I still think she could have phrased things differently. Good thing I didn't reply rudely to her. Thanks again for taking some time of your day to reply to my post 🙂 everybody was really helpful as usual

[Sarah_Matthew0]

@Lucilla14  Does anyone get 24hrs? Our guests generally check in about 15:00 and leave about 11am so that’s 20hrs, we try to be a bit flexible either way and we recently had guests leave at 12 and new ones turn up at 13:00 that was tight,

also would the dog and boyfriend both be staying on?! 

Regarding the guest not replying to messages have you phoned her?

We are very new to this and everything stresses us out!  My biggest fear is our guests will try and have a party and wreck the house but so far everything has been ok . . . 

[Lucilla14]

@Sarah_Matthew0 Hi, thanks for the reply! No, no one books on a 24h basis. The check in time and check out time are clearly stated in every listing and guests should know that! They pay for the night. It works like this in every hotel BnB hostel, everywhere. And I am very flexible with check ins, I always have guests coming in afte 10 p.m., but that is because I have a very funny schedule and because I always ask the time they will arrive beforehand. The reason of this post is that I am not good at saying no and reacting to people who have pretensions beyond what is fair, and I am always struggling to reply XD I know being new is tough, hang in there, it's just a matter of time and experience. The first month that I was hosting I could barely sleep XD