How do you deal with same day reservations?

[Muslim4]

I have the 'same day booking' option turned on and didn't feel uncomfortable about it before. Mostly guests booked with enough interval (at least a few hours) before the check-in. However, now almost all my bookings come with a very short notice. I have manual check-ins/checkouts, and there's no technical possibility to install e-locks or leave the keys in the boxes there now. Today I needed literally give up everything I was doing, order a taxi to get to my property because guests confirmed their reservation at almost 7pm (check-in time: 2pm - 6pm). That's becoming very annoying, so now I'm thinking of turning this feature off, but, as a result, there might be the decrease of the number of bookings. Short term stays, 2 to 5 nights, are very popular in our city because many tourists use it as a transit destination between other neighboring Central Asian countries.

Does anyone have similar situation? Would you keep accepting 'same day booking' with in-person check-ins/checkouts?

[Zheng49]

@Muslim4 You could incorporate a method of self check-in.

Either via the help of electronic lockpads or another method. That way, guests can check-in without you being present on site. 

If you decide to stick with on-site check-in, then yes I would turn off same day check-in (instant booking) to avoid the very hassle you just experienced. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Muslim4 

Your concerns are quite real, as far as completely upsetting your schedule! There's another reason I do not have same day turned on. In the past few years there have been issues with credit card payments going through the system as quickly as the reservation did. Guests ended up arriving before payment is processed and verified - some legit and some others not. Some hosts ended up burned, or at least quite distressed, of course. 

I always do in person check ins and outs. I host a suite in my home, a wing of the house, so it is so much easier. 

Best wishes and joyful hosting to you!

[Muslim4]

Yeah, that makes sense. However, we have the opposite situation here: Airbnb payouts come very slowly since we only can use traditional bank accounts as hosts. Saturdays and Sundays are days off for local banks. So, very often I get money when a guest has already left. I also think in person check-ins and outs are safer because you actually see people, otherwise sometimes even guests profile photos don't even have their faces or they are wearing sunglasses etc., you can't also check if there are 2 guests as it was in the requests, not 3 or 4.     

[Bhumika]

Hi @Muslim4 , It's so great to see that you've pretty detailed responses from Hosts @Kitty-and-Creek0 @Zheng49 @Darlene276 @Hello6 😍 

I wanted to share a little Community Center Tip ‌💡‌ : If you'd like to tag members in your comments, for them to get a notification of your message — simply press on @ in your keyboard, and the name of the person you are trying to reach should pop up 😊 (In this case Hello,Kitty,Zheng or Darlene). This way, they'll be able to notice your follow up comment in a timely manner 😉 

[Hello6]

We feel for you.   We took same day guests by instant booking for many years when we first started. 

We allowed same day to ensure we got guests and could pay the bills and startup costs early.   

We stopped accepting same day bookings as soon as it was economically practical.  

In fact we now close for half the year to avoid many fixed costs that Spain has lumped on family / small operations. 

We do currently list exclusively on Airbnb.  We find it is the best app for safety and security screening for guests currently still on the market. 

Making the switch from accepting same day bookings and 1 night only bookings has significantly reduced the number of guests we host each tourist season.

The upside is we get a significantly higher quality of guests who enjoy staying a little longer and in a lot of cases continue to rebook with us once they see what we offer.  Especially digital nomads who are not as reliant on requiring a network administrator (we just offer residential wifi). 

 Same day is too costly and the many, many problems when it comes to reviews from one-night wonders affecting our listings and the huge loss of time and energy.  Costs in time, energy and money vs little return with same day. 

We have even used the block feature to not advertise that we could possibly accept a same day booking. 

Significant downside is blocking same day bookings does not prevent a last minute 2100 night before booking happening for the next day.  Blocking same day does not mean a 24 hour cutoff from booking unfortunately.  Usually these guest are brand new to Airbnb and their information and profile doesn't process as guest information till next morning / same day arrival now and notifying us.  This gives them a bad taste and costs us a lot to stop everything to set them up. 

We used to allow inquires for same day, no instant book.  Same problems noted above + even more time texting responses.  Still there is no feature to block by an amount of hours vs an arbitrary that same day means allowing bookings for the next day before the previous days check-in times close. 

We, like you, do not have automated check-in.  Nor is it technically allowed now in Spain to offer self check-in for guests. 

The biggest loss in life is time.  It can't be replaced.  The amount of times we would race back, like you (costs time, energy, money) to the house because of an Instant Booking only to have the guest decide they want to "see" something before they arrive to a scheduled check-in time have been a lot.  It adds up to a lot of lost time for reasons beyond a hosts control. 

We as hosts can not cancel:

- no shows;

- late or no contact walk up shows;

- currently checked in guests who are horrible (without a huge convoluted process including local authorities at times);

So the best screens we have found that reduce the number of "bad" guests currently works are:

- no same day;

-no same day inquiry allowed;

-3 night minimum;

-verified ID guest bookings accepted only;

-maximum group booking of 4;

- no allowing instant booking by guests with bad reviews;

- clearly explaining house rules before and at check-in alongside a mandatory house safety tour at check-in;

- entering guest check-in information to the authorities and;

- requiring all guests to have their picture taken at check-in;

In regards to the guest picture at check in. 

Spain does not allow guests IDs to be photographed and scanners which are legal are way to high a cost for small operations.  We rely on the check-in sheet, ID check, submission of check-in information to authorities and current photograph of the guests for safety of all our guests and hosts.   The photograph is especially helpful to explain and identify guests to authorities as we technically have no way of confirmation that an ID and information presented and signed on a form is in any way accurate.  The photograph has helped to show authorities that guest who gives us information is the following person. 

We have lost an average of 60% guest traffic since we first began on Airbnb.  These measures of stopping same day bookings are part of this loss.  Others include:

- local protests against tourists;

- ever changing licensing regulations and laws limiting the lowest cost per night we can offer;

- illegal and fly by night operations;

- weather;

- local costs increasing post COVID upwards of 800%;

- not being allowed self check-in systems for shared homes such as our hostel in Spain;

Good Luck,

We feel for you. 

This still happens even when guests schedule a check-in well in advance but not near as often.  Usually travelers who plan their trips / stick to their plans and arrive when they schedule a check-in.   We ask all guests to schedule a check-in a minimum of 24 hours in advance and do not allow for walk-in check-in.  If checkin missed we offer a small window of an hour late evening that a host will be available.  If this window is missed we offer another hour the following day and then we close access to our hostel to the guests if they fail to arrive and provide no refund.  

  We went even further, we now only accept a minimum of 3 night bookings.   This is to avoid the Friday, Saturday, Holiday party / discount hunter crowd that cares little for what you actually offer and base their decision price and availability. 

  As a hostel we discovered a lot of our weekend traffic were staying in other "party" hostels long term and would choose ours on the weekend Soley for a price savings.  These party guests would disrupt most everyone.  Too avoid this we started the 3 night minimum. 

As we are a shared home / hostel our current longer term guests and hosts prefer this as well.  Less crazy variance and drag on time. 

[Muslim4]

Thank you for a very detailed excursion! Wow, seems you have a huge experience hosting guests here on Airbnb. No, haven't even tried instant booking. I don't think it's a good idea. It takes 40 - 50 minutes minimum from where I live to the rental property and now even longer since I sold the car. I ask for extra fee for early/late check-ins/checkout, I think it's reasonable especially if you are not using automated check-in.

I'll think about turning off same day bookings, anyway. Currently have 'same day' and '2 nights minimum', but not yet have pre-booked stays at all and it was a rare case I had a guest booking in advance (a couple of weeks maximum) while another is at the property. So, I'm afraid it can make the demand even worse. 

I'll consider your recommendations. Thank you!

[Darlene276]

I have to rent a min of 30 nights per our HOA which is considered legally a long term rental.  I'm looking for clientele that seeks a longer extended stay to vacation, snowbird, traveling professionals and temporary/tramsition needs as apposed to a Motel type operation.   

I require an application that states their info, how many occupants, ages as I'm in  a senior community, if they smoke have pets, how many cars etc and a rental agreement along with a picture ID which is required by the HOA too, but also lets me know who I will be meeting and that there are no more occupants then what I approved.  Just like a regular rental requires.  If you don't, you have no control and vulnerable to all sorts of things even with seniors.  I don't beleive Airbnb or any online market place can really pre-vet the people that use their site to find rentals.   Hotels have security and staff on site whereas private property owners encure a much  bigger risk if they just auto book and theres no rental agreement in place to legally protect them. 

I could never to do short term; it's too demanding and too risky for my taste!

[Jennifer1897]

@Muslim4 Last minute booking can be a bit difficult for hosts as we all have our own lives and responsibilities we tend to daily. Dropping everything to prep for guest can be frustrating and/or hectic. In my settings I require any same day bookings to come in as a request. I work in a secure setting (prison) so I don't have the ability to run home and prep or set up their smart lock code from my work computer. When I message them back regarding their request, I always say something along the lines of

"Thank you for your request, given the nature of the this being a last-minute booking, I will not be able to accommodate a check in till 7pm (or whatever time you choose) . If this is ok, I would be happy to approve your request."

This gives you the flexibility of not having to drop everything, and let's the guest decide if this time frame works for them. Most guests I have dealt with are understanding and end up being great guests,