Guest arrives late.

[Annette230]

I have a guest arriving next week - he booked via the instant acceptance Airbandb that l took as l am often busy this time of year and didn’t want to miss a booking. He is arriving late at night and obviously did not read that entry was  up to 4Pm.  He suggested that a friend come and collect the keys. This l will not do as we do not know this other person so we would be giving keys to a complete stranger. Maybe there should be a standard text sent to the client after an instant booking to ask them to confirm they have read the conditions.

[Richard223]

I think they already need to confirm they have agreed to the house rules before instant booking. Problem is many guests don't even read them.

[Emilia42]

@Annette230 

You can create that standard text: 

"Dear guest, thank you for booking! As you may have noticed from my listing description/house rules we do not accept check-in past 4 pm as well as {insert other house rules here.} If these house rules work for you I am happy to welcome you into our home. If not, you are able to cancel for a full refund of your deposit within 48 hours of booking. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Thank you -"

[Huma0]

@Emilia42 

Yes, you can and I have one that asks for their check in time (reminding them of the window) as well as other things. Most do not respond to those questions unfortunately. Luckily, I don't have issues with this often now as I host long-term guests who rarely instant book, but before that, it was a complete nightmare.

[Huma0]

PS @Annette230 

Your check in window is your business, but up to 4pm does seem very early. Is there anybody you can rope in to do later check ins for you when necessary?

Also, I have a late check in fee for arrivals after my 3-9pm check in time. I will waive this if they're coming before 10pm, but I always remind guests when they inform me of a late arrival that there will be an extra fee involved. They can't really argue with that as it's clearly stated on the listing. I've only once had guests not pay it, even though they turned up at 1am, instead of 8pm, but I wasn't surprised really as they didn't follow most of my other house rules either! The rest have been fine about it though.