Guests checked themselves in early

[Lisa6552]

Hi there, looking for advice please.  I’m renting a room in my own property. My guests said they were arriving before 12 (checkin isn’t till 3) so I said that I wouldn’t be in but they were fine to drop their bags in. He said great I’ll drop bags then go out a walk.  I’ve came home from work at 2, saw they had been in, shouted hello, no response. Went to have a bath, I’m in the bath and guest 2 walks  into the bathroom while I’m in the bath. They had been in, had a shower and went to bed.

I have made my feeling known but I’d really  rather they just left as I’m mortified about the whole thing and I think it’s super disrespectful  to me and my home  and I don’t want them here. 

The 3pm checkin in specific as I work till 2  and it allows me privacy to come home and get a bath get  ready etc before their arrival. They here for 2 nights 

I’m not sure of the best course of action. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Lisa6552 

How totally embarrassing for you, and awkward for the guests.

For now, all you can do is ride it out, as I can guess they are doing. They know what they did, and unless they are totally callous individuals, they must feel awful, too. You've spoken to them, and that's all you can do, except hide from them or get a "shine it on" attitude for the rest of the stay.  

For the future, may I suggest you get and use a lock on the bathroom door, and stick faithfully to your check in time, with no early luggage drop-offs and a locked entrance door until you are ready to greet guests at 3. You know what works for you and you need to stick to that. Firm boundaries needed with any and all shared spaces. There's a lesson here for them and for you. 

Sad that this happened, and there are not a lot of things more embarrassing than this. Glad you shared with the group, that's why we are all here.

[Lorna170]

@Lisa6552   So sorry that this happened to you.  As @Kitty-and-Creek0 suggested,

For the future, may I suggest you get and use a lock on the bathroom door, and stick faithfully to your check in time, with no early luggage drop-offs and a locked entrance door until you are ready to greet guests at 3.

Don't sway from this.  NO GUESTS UNTIL 3PM.  

[Helen744]

@Lisa6552 you will get over it ,confronting and embarrassing as you have found it . We are all naked under our clothes. It has happened to most of us at one time or another . Take all of kitty and creeks advice and simply ask your guests to forget everything, please go out and come in again and move on . All the best H 

[Anne1670]

What is it with guests just ignoring the house rules?  This couple lied to you. Ugh! I hope they have a short stay. 

[Sudsrung0]

I would have thought that to be normal having locks on the bathroom doors especially in a shared house, How much does a simple bolt cost.......?

I am pretty flexible about check in times, I try to accommodate most people we had a guest arrive yesterday I let him come early the apartment was ready and he had been traveling for 17 hours.

He just wanted to get his head down and was very greatfull, Hopefully now he will stay an extra month with us,

[Lorna170]

@Sudsrung0   When in my own home, alone, and believing no guests are present, I would close the bathroom door but not lock it.  Otherwise, if I have company, yes, I would lock the door.  The OP did not think the guests were in the house, so she assumed privacy until 3pm.

[Lisa6552]

There is a lock on the door but as I thought  I’m the only person in the house I didn’t lock it 

[Karen114]

This is a perennial problem with only one of my units. I have key pad entry and now I don't send them the code until a few minutes before check in at 3:00.  I just started doing this as of lately so can't speak to whether it works or not lol.

The breaking point was when guest showed up two hours before check in and was in and out of the unit bothering the cleaners.  He then messaged me that he could not check in until after 4:00 because the unit was not ready.    I have a ring doorbell so I was able to help him straighten out his facts 🙂

[Karen114]

@Lisa6552  I am sure this was very embarrassing for all. Like most things in life, as time passes it will be less bothersome and maybe a year from now you can laugh about it.  

[Heather32]

I don't do early check ins any more. I also don't allow bags to be dropped. I tell the guest I will make a note on the reservation that they would like an early check in and that I will let them know when the property is guest ready. The truth is most of the time I can get a guest in early, but things happen, and I just refuse to commit to anything other than our regular check in time.

[Richard531]

@Lisa6552  As other have said, you can certainly get locks and do other gymnastics.  But that's just a bandaid for a bigger issue.  My suggestion: no early check-in nor late check-out.  Period.  End of story.  

Take your life back.  Reduce entitled behavior in all people.  Am I  just weird that I NEVER ask for early check/late check-out because, ya know, I respect rules/guidelines?  Sheesh!  

[Lisa6552]

Thanks everyone for their response. Thankfully the guests have departed. To date , that was the most awkward hosting experience I’ve had and we both avoided each other for the duration of the stay . Not ideal when you’re sharing a house. I won’t put myself in that position again and will stick rigidly to my stipulated times. Many thanks for the feedback , much appreciated