How can I stop guests ignoring the check in time?

[Huma0]

I really don't want to have to put it in CAPITALS at the beginning of my listing, as that's not very welcoming, but I am starting to get frustrated that so many guests simply ignore my check in time (3pm). It is in my listing and house rules, which I ask them to read.

Check out (12 pm) doesn't seem to be a problem. Occasionally a guest asks if they can leave bags and pick them up later, which is fine, but most leave earlier than noon with no fuss.

Check in is another matter. I would say that the majority of my guests want to come earlier. Some politely ask if that is an option, or if they can drop their bags earlier. Unfortuntely, a lot just assume they can come straight from the airport/train station and wouldn't have bothered to even communicate this to me had I not asked.

I always message them to ask what time they will arrive (the majority don't offer this information without a prompt). Even when I stress in my message that check in is from 3 pm onwards, they still respond saying, "We'll be arriving at 11 am." So, it's not that they don't know check in is after 3, they just simply don't seem to think it matters.

Even at a five star hotel with 24 hour reception, this is usually not okay.

Any tips for how I can prevent this? What am I doing wrong?!

[Huma0]

Thanks @Helen3, your advice is very sound. Perhaps this keeps happening to me because I try to be too accommodating. When a guest who is coming next week messaged back today to say they were arriving in London early, I had to stop myself from offering an early check in. The guest has lovely reviews and I wanted to be helpful. But, yesterday has taught me a big lesson, so instead, I responded, 'Okay, great, see you at 3pm then!'

Can I just ask, what do you do when a guest is requesting a booking quite far ahead and don't know their arrival time yet because they haven't booked their plane or train?

I guess you could remind them of the check in time and give them the info about left luggage and local cafes in case they are travelling early, then make sure they agree. I just wish sometimes we had more time to accept or decline a booking so all of this stuff could be sorted out before.

[David126]

There is nothing foolproof, well if there is I have yet to find it.

I have a lot of one nighters and occasionally have people ask to check in early, for one night? When I have agreed they are usually late so I just do not. I did have somebody turn up 3 hours early just as I had mopped and was heading to walk the dog whilst everything dried, just said that is what I had done, a few minutes later I would have gone, but it does make me wonder why people would think you would just be hanging around all day just in case they turned up early.

Easier to stick to your guns, always seems to cause issues when I do not.

[Huma0]

Thanks @David126, yes I intend to stick to my guns from now on. It is totally baffling that people think that hosts are waiting at home 24/7, but somehow they do.

I guess they are confusing us with hoteliers, even though they are paying so much less.

I think @Andrea9's solution would work best for me. Plus I really like @Helen3's idea of info on local cafes etc should they be running early. I do send them this anyway in the form of my guidebook, but they don't always read it and Helen's technique is reminding them they can't just show up early while being helpful at the same time.

[Huma0]

And the other thing I've realised is that the guests who come early to drop off their bags don't get the best first impression. That's not just because they don't get the full welcome etc. At this point, but because without being shown the beautiful bedroom and the rest of the house, they don't get the wow factor.

What they see instead is the least attractive part of my house - the hallway. Yes, I know I should probably do something about this, but it's an unusually large hallway and therefore doubles as my office and also as a workshop for upcycling furniture, so there are always paints and brushes etc.

They really need to see that the rest of the house is super organised and pretty. I want them to get a nice feeling when they arrive, not go away worrying that the part they saw doesn't look like the lovely place they booked!

[Louise47]

@Huma0 I was the same as you. Allowed every guest to arrive a little early and leave bags and then check out late, until I had two very rude 18 years who demanded I allowed them to leave their bags at 10am so they could go to a festival (still had guest in the room at that time). when I said NO as I still had guest (because the guest from the night before wanted to check-out late) they still turned up. With guest checking out late and arriving early I had no time to clean anything. 

Then I had two young men who asked to leave their bags, they came back at 5pm to collect them but was not catching a bus till 7pm so decided they would go for a swim in my pool (used the towels I had washed for the next guests) and then wanted to use the shower I had justed cleaned because they wanted to wash their hair because they wanted to look good. I had to allow them to use my private bathroom because I did not want to clean a bathroom again. 

That was the very last time I allow anyone to stay late or arrive early.  I charge if they want to, and I have it on my listing.

I just tell them now that I wont be home till 2pm so will see them then. I have a digital coded box with the door key, so if I'm not home I do not txt them the code until 2pm.

Give them an inch and they will take the whole mile.

I'm renting a room not my time. Thats how I see it. And would you believe that since I have been doing this I have been getting better reveiws. So it does work

[Peggy-And-Mike0]

This thread has been so interesting to me because I happened to catch it just AFTER I offered someone the opportunity to drop off bags next weekend, and I thought now, what have I done?  Can't take it back but it will be the first and last time, hah!  

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

We usually just tell them that they need to book the night before or after their arrival in order to have guaranteed early or late arrival or departure.  We also tell them that they must communicate their exact arrival time clearly to us and well in advance or they will be waiting out on the road.  We ask them to text or message when they have an ETA, text or message if that changes, text or message again 30 minutes before arrival and then text, message or call when they are at the gate.  They comply because I have made it clear to them that no one will be there to let them in if they don't.

I do offer early arrival or late departure if I think that it might help the guest and I have no one booked the night before or after.  We do not strive for anything close to 100% occupancy so this is often the case.  The difference here is that I offer this only at the last minute or if I want to block a night anyway for my own reasons.  I still hold them to accurately communicating their arrival time. 

They can't get in unless met, and I don't give them the gate opener until they have heard my little speech about the use of the listing. They can then come and go freely on their own and depart without my assistance.

[Huma0]

@Peggy-And-Mike0 hopefully you won't have the same issues I've had. Some guests come when they said they would to drop off their bags, then head straight out to do some sightseeing and have lunch and come back at the check in time agreed without any complaints.

Unfortunately, I've found there are many others who have no regard for your time and take advantage of your hospitality. I am sure this is not what they think they are doing, they just haven't considered that the host's convenience should be taken into account!

[Amy38]

@Louise23 Are you crazy...no one deserves to get that much consideration.

@Huma0  I am curious, what ages are these people?   What class?

To me one of the best aspects  of Abnb is that I can offer guests flexibility, but only within reason.  I know I need this when I travel, but hotels have free or cheap baggage check fees and I never expect to check in or out much earlier than the appointed time.

my checkin can move around a lot, but I need to know when it is.

perhaps Abnb should get better at pointing this out to travelers. Hey Lizzie!

[Huma0]

@Amy0

Sorry I somehow missed your response here. These guests aren't a particular age or class, nor a particular nationality.

Of the two sets of guests I mentioned who were dropping off bags early the same day and then demanded to be checked in, one was a middle aged Eastern European couple and the other two young Asian girls. They had nothing in common really, except a disrepect for my time and no shame about lying!

I've had similar experiences with guests of varying ages and backgrounds.

[Jann3]

I found this thread after I had posted mine:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/New-Host-to-be-question-regarding-check-in-check-out-tim...

Glad I did. Thanks to everyone who is responding. Makes me feel validated asking this question before my first booking.

I would love for my place to be given the respect I intend to heap upon it when beginning rentals and you are all giving me great ideas!

[Pete26]

I have a simple check in note with importand info for a successful stay. I always politely point it out; some just pick it up and let in flutter to the ground, some others say Ok and then walk away without reading it. I sometimes feel I have to grab guests by the throat and shove it in their face to get them to read it! Really pisses me off. I have never hammered any of them in the rating but I might start, it is so rude. 

[Huma0]

@Pete26, it's funny how guests do stuff like this but never consider it a rudeness to the host.

One pair of the guests I mentioned above were checking out today.

They decided to leave their bags in the hallway and go out with the keys, without asking me if that was okay or telling me what time they would be back for their bags/check out (I had asked them). This to me this is a bit rude.

They also left some personal items in the room, such as slippers by the bed and toiletries. So, I didn't know if they had fully vacated the room yet, and didn't want to start cleaning with their things in there. It turns out these were things they left because they had been shopping and didn't have enough room in their cases. They were expecting me to dispose of their stuff, again without asking, and look surprised that I would even ask about it. Kind of rude, no?

Anyway, when my check out of 12 o'clock came around, I still hadn't heard from them. Luckily, they didn't come back too late and I didn't have another guest checking into that room. However, if I did have another guest coming this afternoon, I would have been really stressed about it (especially not having the keys). We all know how tough it can be turning the place around when there's a short gap between guests.

However, I don't think they considered for a second that they were messing me around both on arrival and departure. I suppose there are worse ways for guests to behave, but it's still annoying!

[John498]

@Huma0 Never had this problem in 130+ bookings. I do think the check in is very important as you never get a second chance to make a first impression. I am surprised by all the liberty taking and it mostly hadn't occurred to me.

I have a spare set of keys for my current listing and a storage space downstairs for their luggage. I forbid them to enter the flat again but they can keep a spare key until they need to come back and collect their luggage. I have never had one of them enter the flat as far as I know. If noone is staying I always offer to let them stay on while secretly hoping most won't accept 🙂 My New Years Eve guests asked to stay on but I said they would have to pay for a second night as it was likely to be requested. You have to be firm but fair.

Also remember "NO" is one of the most beautiful words. It is so petite but yet so powerful. "NO" says so little and so much. There's iterally NO word like it!

[Huma0]

Thanks @John498, I'm slowly learning to say no, but it doesn't come naturally to me unless I'm talking to my boss! Sounds weird, right? Took me a couple of years to get there, but when I feel I am taken for granted, I now speak up and it works very well.

Perhaps it's time to apply this to my guests. I think it's just a case of finding the right wording...