How to ensure hungover guests leave on time?

[Ben551]

Howdy folks! It’s ideas time!

My wife and I have identified a risk that is oh so very likely to materialise tomorrow morning. We would very much like some advice, ideas, thoughts... and luck.

You see, we (in our inexperience) did not have gaps or preparation days in our early days with Airbnb. We turned this feature on almost immediately after we realised not even break-neck speed could manage a same day turnover to our required standard... so we relaxed our bookings and added a preparation day before and after each new booking.

Tomorrow is the very last of the “same day turnover” collisions we inherited from our initial settings and we will be glad when it is behind us.

But there is a problem...

We have discovered that our current guests (lets call them “Team Hangover”) are 2 delightful, beer loving Kiwi blokes who are staying overnight to attend an Eminem concert this evening. They arrived at 2am this morning and (based on our covert Facebook research) tonight we expect they will be back late, rat 4rsed drunk and in the morning likely hungover... 

After Team Hangover checks out, we have a mad rush to prepare our place for guests staying for 2.5 weeks!  These incoming long term guests (lets call them “Team Dubai”) are Super-hosts from Dubai. Naturally, we want to present our place very well for them, at our highest standard... but they arrive at 1PM and our quickest turnover time is 4 hours (with just me). It’s a big space and lots to do... with 2 of us we should be able to get it done in 2 hours but it will be a real push if Team Hangover have left a mess... which is possible. We have also discovered they are smokers... it takes time to air the room from smokers, even if they don’t smoke inside. It “clings” and last time we had smokers it took a full day to de-stink the place, including a chlorine wipe down.

Our success tomorrow morning all hinges on our ability to get Team Hangover out on time at 10AM. If they are late, or sleep in... the whole system will fall down and we will have an unhappy Team Dubai.

So far I’m thinking we will head down tonight and mention somehow that they can’t be late in the morning.... but.... I’m not entirely sure how to say it casually enough. I’ve thought of the old “mow the lawn at 9AM tomorrow morning” trick... but it’s rather a last resort. We have also tried asking Team Dubai to not checkin until 3PM but it’s unclear if they will show up early. It sounds like they are checking out of their other accomodation in the morning and wanted to come straight over! Not good... we’ll still be cleaning....

Help me experienced hosts! What else can we do to avoid a potential disaster? 

~ Ben

[Ann72]

I'm sorry, @Ute42 , it's quite possible to love them both equally - I know from experience!

[Ute42]

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@Ann72 

I know. I love Hard Rock but I also like Conny Francis at 2am at a great party.

Depends on the level of alcohol that I have.

[Ann72]

@Ute42 , well, she's a goddess.

Sorry for the delayed response - I had to step away to listen to The Way I Am.  I adore Eminem's endless whining.

[Ute42]

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@Ann72 

This is what Connie Francis is known for in Germany

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CmD9RaYPn4

If a party gets really late we all sing along to that tune - those of us who are still able to.

[Ann72]

That is hilarious.  I need to see that in person some day!

[Ute42]

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Hi @Ann72 ,

in order to understand why we all sing along to that Conny Francis song late at parties, You need to know what this tune is all about.

Here are the lyrics:

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel,

Sie kommt und geht von Einem zum Andern.

Sie nimmt uns alles, doch sie gibt auch viel zuviel.

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel.

Wir kannten und liebten uns seit Jahren,

Die Zukunft schien uns beiden sonnenklar.

Fast wären wir zum Standesamt gefahren,

Bis alles plötzlich so verändert war.

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel,

Sie kommt und geht von Einem zum Andern.

Sie nimmt uns alles, doch sie gibt auch viel zuviel.

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel.

Wie oft hast Du die Treue mir geschworen,

Und sicher war es so für lange Zeit.

Doch dann hast du aufs neu sein Herz verloren,

Nur darum bin ich wieder einsam heut.

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel,

Sie kommt und geht von Einem zum Andern.

Sie nimmt uns alles, doch sie gibt auch viel zuviel.

Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel.

[Ann72]

@Ute42, naturally I'm going to have to go to Google for the translation!  But it's very cool that she sang in German!  Will come back to you after I've researched lol.

[Ute42]

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@Ann72, don't expect the kind of lyrics Joan Baez always had in her songs.

[Rosemarie9]

Ute, my mother is related to Connie Francis, can't  remember if they are second cousins or third. That branch of the family went to the States, and mine to Australia in the 50's! 

[Ute42]

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@Ben551 

Not a joke: If You can still do it, print out this thread, bang on their door at 9:30 am and give them the paperwork to read. I'm sure the'll find it funny and leave in time.

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Maybe this could be a good idea for all of us: Print it out and put it up somewhere in the listing.

[Ann72]

@Ute42 , I love this idea.

[Susan17]

@Ute42 

I have 12 Scotsmen on a stag party in next door. Lead Stag sent me a message earlier asking about checkout time tomorrow. Told him that I don't have anyone checking in, so a late check-out is possible but, if they piss me off, or piss the neighbours off, in any way, between now and tomorrow morning, they'll be hitting the road at 11am sharp. 🙂

Torrential rain and storms here all weekend. I'm not anticipating any noise, partying or issues from the stags tonight. The threat of early checkout versus the possibility of late check-out works a treat every time 😉

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Susan17   you sound like our Olga from Ukraine 😄 😄

[Susan17]

  @Branka & Silvia

Lol! I believe Olga and I are two very different animals, Branka! Our hosting styles are night and day. (For ecxample, one of the Stags ended up crashing on my sofa at 3am on Saturday night after he inadvertently got locked out next door, I'm guessing that might not happen at Olga's!) Contrary to how I may come across in the CC, when it comes to my guests, I'm probably the most chilled and easy-going host you can find. I don't sweat the small stuff, don't run my home like an army barracks and I certainly don't have a list of rules and fines as long as your arm! 

With two listings side by side, I can have 12 young guys in one house and 12 young girls in the other house, with only one wall between them, so as you can imagine, the potential for disaster is huge. Extremely high-risk category! However, I have only 3 rules - respect my neighbours, respect my house, and no smoking indoors. That's it. 

I'm very relaxed and informal with all my guests, and always have a laugh and a joke with them when I'm doing the check-in tour. This gives me the opportunity to suss them out when they have their guard down, and I can quickly identify any possible troublemakers. Then, just before I leave, I gather them all together in the kitchen for "The Talk". (There are 3 levels of the talk, based on my risk analysis of the likelihood of them "misbehaving" - Mild, Moderate, and Scare the Sh*t Outta Them) I won't go into details of the latter - let's just say, Airbnb definitely wouldn't approve!)

I'm sure many here will disagree, but after over 5000 guests through my doors, and only maybe 3 disasters in all these years (all in the earlier days), I'd have to conclude that a friendly, laid-back approach, coupled with "The Talk", beats any regimental hosting style and laundry list of rules and regulations, hands down. When  you treat visitors to your home as guests - in the old-school hospitality sense of the word - rather than ruling them with a rod of iron, I find you get the very best from them. 🙂

[Sarah977]

Who needs a Netflix or cable subscription when there's so many great series to keep up with for free on this forum.