Hosts: How much advance notice do you require?

[Dee9]

I DO accept same-day check-in but I like at least a few hours notice.

I received a reservation request at 9pm simply saying 'Hello! I look forward to staying at your place and can be right over!'

I responded that I do not accept guests who do not use a face profile picture (she had scenery as her profile pic) and that I was not prepared for her to come 'right over'.

She was highly offended, and suggested I remove my listing from Airbnb until I can be 'accomodating'.

Im interested in hearing how others handle last minute reservation requests.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Dee9 we have 1 day in advance notice. We simply can not guarantee we could always be available anytime someone book and wants to check in immediately. And we want to be able to plan our day.

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

I require 1-2 days notice.  I am still honing what is best for me.  , but I would wonder what would bring someone here from out of town with absolutely no plans at all for acommodations.  

I want to have a bit of communication prior to booking to find out what brings them to the area.  I would wonder what would bring someone here from out of town with absolutely no plans at all for accommodations.  

[Jamie69]

As a traveler, I often have no idea where I'll be staying that night until the afternoon or later.

I don't reserve rooms in advance. I'm the kind of traveler who gets on the road and I see what happens that day. Sometime after lunch is when I start looking into where I'll be staying that night.

I realize most people don't travel like this. I'm also aware that hosts generally aren't prepared for such last-minute requests. When I send a last-minute request I first acknowledge that it's last-minute and that I understand if the host cannot accomodate me. Sometimes they can, quite often they can't. I point out that I'm very low maintenance. That I just need a bed and a shower and I'll be leaving early in the morning.

So... as a host, I specifically point out in my listing that last-minute bookings are usually ok. I've only had one last-minute request. A guy messaged me and said he was looking for a place that night, and would I be able to host him. I replied that I could; that it would be no problem. I never heard back from him.

Jamie

[Lawrene0]

Hmm, @Dee9, your post got me wondering whether it is nice hosts like you who take same-day guests who get the rehoused folks - those who have been kicked out for breaking another host's rules. That may be a reason not to go with same-day in a popular area. That may be why someone in town needs same-day. Reading the forum, that is always the murky bit. Who gets those rehoused guests? Do they calm down and smarten up in Listing #2?  

Not at all in danger of that here (although it would be effective punishment for some to stick them in a sans-facilities treehouse...), so I do take same-day guests and my strategy is just to have the place always ready. Head down to do the cleaning moments after the goodbyes. 

It is not always possible to be ever-ready, but it has come in handy. 

[Robin4]

@Dee9

I have had two that wanted to arrive within the hour Diane and both of them turned out to be great guests. 

You must assess the situation when the request comes in.

The first one, in a similar time frame to you....It was 9pm and this Instant Book request came through, there had been some trouble with their car and they were never going to get as far as they had planned and wanted a closer alternative so I said I would be pleased to help them, got my skates on and within 45 minutes I was showing them the 'digs' for the night!

The second one was a booking request that said "We are driving through from Melbourne and are just passing Murray Bridge (1 hour away) and have just seen your listing and we would like to stay for 3 nights"... I sat and looked at that request for a couple of minutes though and I did have a thought in my mind..'Who just sets off on a trip and tries to book three nights somewhere or other on an hours notice?' But, there was a good photo of them, and it did look ok and they turned out to be really nice guests.

In both these instances Diane there was a legitimate reason why the notice was short so I accepted, and I wasn't disappointed but, if I had been faced with your situation with no photo and little else I could verify on short notice, I probably would have done the same as you and refused the request.

But I would not just state that I don't take people without photos or some other blunt one or two day rule! I would handle it a bit more subtlely and just say "Unfortunately the timeframe is just too short and I have committments for the remainder of the day that will preclude my listing being available! I would be pleased to accommodate a booking request with a bit more notice and some positive identification...like hotels do!"

That way you make the guest aware of the unreasonable nature of their request and if they are half reasonable, logical people they would accept that without criticising you.

Just my thoughts Di.

Cheers....Rob