Guest won't arrive till late and wants me to give the keys to their friends

[Jessica40]

Hi (Please forgive any naiviety - I'm new to this!)

I've had a potential guest contact me and make a request to book. She says she's arriving quite late (about 10pm) and as I have plans that evening and need to rearrange these, I've declined the request and said if she's still looking at the weekend, to get in touch as I will have a clearer idea on my movements. 

She has come back and asked if I could meet her friend (who she is visiting in the UK), hand my keys to him and he will let her in when she arrives.

This does not make me feel entirely easy as her friend is completely unknown to me and I do not feel comfortable doing this. 

Has anyone else experienced this type of request? What did you do?

Thanks!

[Donna15]

@Jessica40, I haven't had this experience, but the consensus in other theme-related threads is that the key should be given only to the person who made the booking.

In your shoes, I would stick with the original suggestion that she try booking the accommodation later. 

It sounds as though her friend might even be staying with her. Was she in fact booking for two people? Better to be wary than hand over keys to someone with whom you've had no contact.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Go with you gut feel - if it feels wrong or dodgy then it's going to feel like that when you hand over the keys to a stranger.

[Monique677]

I just had a similar request, I was wondering if there is any legal implications of giving the keys over to a friend, rather than the guest who made the booking. Will airbnb still cover any damages etc. If they occur by the friend?

[Helen3]

No you wouldn't be covered through their guarantee if you allowed someone who hadn't booked and paid through Airbnb to have access to your listing in the case of damage etc. @Monique677 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Thanks @Helen3 

The official line must need to be - No guests can be admitted to the accommodation before the arrival of the booking guest. This is *AIRBNB's FAULT (that you are sat in the rain in a freezing car and your new born baby is cold / you're stood outside / your booking guest broke down/ the train has been held up in a flood / some other catastrophe..) as they don't provide adequate insurance cover to cover additional guests in the absence of the booking guest - whether you can be identified, or not.

*Insert appropriate amendment if felt neccessary.

For a hospitality company they don't help Hosts to be hospitable do they?

[Helen3]

Well Airbnb are responsible for some things, but when it comes to insurance that is something that is very much down to the owner of the business i.e. the host. @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Airbnb provide a 'guarantee' which is not an insurance but covers guest damage and theft  etc in limited circumstances.  The rest a host should get covered by their own home insurance to cover short term lets.

I wouldn't let someone who hadn't booked have access to my home, but let's face hosts who manage remote listings and have self-check in often have no clue who is actually turning up to stay at their listings. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Helen3 

In part I would agree.

The part I don't agree with is the part where the Airbnb guarantee is void if anybody other than the booking guest arrives first.

There could be any one of those scenarios listed above where the booking guest is legitimately late on arrival, and because of an Airbnb 'rule' this would prevent  access to an accommodation. It would be gracious of Airbnb to uphold their guarantee in such circumstances, allowing the rest of 'their' guests access.

We do have our own insurance, but guests from Airbnb need to be covered by the Airbnb Guarantee - because thats partly why they're being appointed as agents and thats part of the deal. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Monique677 

I realise this thread is from 2016, but there is an option you could consider. 

Frankly, you don’t know the guest who has booked, only her AirBnb profile. You can ask your guest to add her friend to her itinerary ensuring that their profile matches your booking requirements.

If their profile matches your booking requirements then you might be more reassured in granting access?

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Monique677  @Stephanie 

Addressing your legal obligation head on, there is no directive in the Airbnb Terms of Service and there is no 'Help' article dealing with this situation.

Legally, a guest cannot book an accommodation for a third party. Legally speaking, your guests' friends are a third party.

This puts the Host in an awkward position.

We host 8, so over time it is inevitable that group members travelling separately will arrive before the booking guest. We have tried to avert this problem in a couple of ways;

First: We state in our House Rules that the booking guest should invite all guests over 16 to be added to the Airbnb travel itinerary. This, then lists the guests and will take the basic information from them, name and email address being the most basic. This, at least indicates that the added guest is part of the intended group.

Second: We state in our House Rules that the booking guest must be present at check-in. Amongst other things, this places the booking guest in the position of responsibility. In going through the check-in procedure with the booking guest, quirks of the accommodation can be disclosed, hopefully avoiding consequential injury or damages.

In the past I have both told additional guest to either sit in their car and await the booking guest, as well as admitted additional guests into the accommodation depending on circumstances and particularly group type and booking guest interaction.

This is not a definitive answer by any means and it will not be applicable to remote hosts, or hosts who live a distance from the accommodation and need to be present at check-in after travelling. The only definitive answer can be provided by Airbnb who I have already stated provide no direction in this matter.

Stephanie in the London office might add a definitive answer for this @Stephanie There should certainly be one rather than Hosts just being left guessing and being made liable for just being hospitable.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Helen3 

You'll love this one...

Tonight I've had an instant booking for later in the year stating "Thank you, I'm booking on behalf of my wife...."

He's not coming... I won't have Her contact details... Why didn't she book... etc.. etc.. 

Is a 'wife' a third party ?

@Stephanie  ?

[Alon1]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Anyone who didn't book or is not part of the booking is a 3rd Party.

How you chose to deal with it is a different matter. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Alon1 

We’re still in the 48 hr. cancellation phase. Initially I’ve asked for the full details of the ‘wife’ and sent the normal ‘this is what you’ve booked are you sure it’s OK?”.

There is a chance that one of the points may not be acceptable.

[Helen3]

Personally, I would ask him if she can set up her own profile and then the guest can ask Airbnb to transfer the booking @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 🙂

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Helen3 

Thats a good solution.

The 48 hr cancellation period wouldn’t allow adequate time to set up and transfer the booking, especially when there might initially be a booking objection. 

At this time I’m considering offering your solution after the 48hrs free cancellation period. After I’ve had chance to consider it maybe contacting the guest sooner might be a better option.

This only because the AirBnb system is acting to prevent a booking being made for a next of kin. Almost PC gone wrong!

Thanks.