To greet or not to greet, that is the question

[Inna22]

Up until last December I never greeted my guests. In November we travelled and stayed at an Airbnb. The host greeted as was incredibly nice. A few things went wrong (including roaches) but my husband forbid me to give him a bad review because he really connected with the host. So I have decided to start greeting in hopes to further boost my reviews since it clearly has a profound effect on some people.

This week I had two comments from guests about how intrusive they felt it was to be greeted. One said he booked Airbnb for privacy reasons but still gave five stars. The other one said he was tired after the long drive but was not comfortable saying no to me. I spend about 5-10 minutes with each guest (unless they want to chat) and this one also had a lot of questions about parking so I told him I would help him sort it out when I come over.  He gave four stars and in his comments said it was because of the greeting.

It is a pain in the behind for me to greet guests because it is usually when my kids have activities, during dinner or when I am putting them to bed. If I am loosing just as many stars as I am gaining, perhaps I should go back to not greeting. I understand some hosts need to exchange keys, collect certain forms etc but mine are designed as self-check in. Of course I would always come for any suspicions reservation as I have done before

[Deb125]

ALOHA!  it sure is important for live-ins to have communication!  That being said,  there are other hosts that aren't live in's, or even in the same state, I live in the same area of the condo we rent out, one mile away.. and guests still choose to text.....  we are living in an instant communication world.. AIRBNB won't even give you the full names of the guests, nor contact info until they've paid in full.. makes it tough sometimes to do business.. 

[Linda-And-Richard0]

@Inna22  My husband and I live right next door to our listing so we have the pleasure of greeting all guests upon arrival.  Some are very chatty and ask questions about the property.  Others arrive and just want to get on with thier plans.  We just have to "read" the guest to determine which catagory they fall into.  Either way, I still give them a walk-through of the property and go over the house rules.  Greeting guests in person also gives us the opportunity to verify the person that booked is also the person checking in.  We also verify there are no pets and that the number of guests is the same as stated in the reservation.  Seems to me the original idea behind Airbnb was to share your home and meet people from around the world. 

[Sarah_Matthew0]

@Inna0 we are a in very similar position to @Linda0 and Richard, we live across the road from our property and love to show our guests around and answer questions, and like you say greeting in person verifys  who and how many are actually checking in, I also like to think that having that a personal connection with guests means they will respect your property more.

[Inna22]

I do state in my listing that I check IDs. I did not ask these particular guest because they both matched the picture and were clearly family people. So would  have they felt better if I asked for an ID and that was my reason for coming over? I felt that would have been even more offensive. But then they could not complain that I was intruding

[Mike1034]

@Inna22 Greeting and not greeting are a good question. So is the checkout time to meet the guest. Do you see goodbye to your guest in person?

How about sending reminders for checkin and checkout?

[Inna22]

@Mike1034 

I never check them out unless they are walking out as I walk in. I usually come over at some point to look at the place- both after the guests and to make sure the cleaners did a good job. I remind them of check out times and expectations in my welcome message and check out time is on a handwritten note I leave. Putting the time on the note drastically decreased guests in shock at 11 pm the night before check out that they have to be out by 10 or simply asleep when we come to clean. Which is a huge issue in the summer when I have back to back bookings.

[J-Renato0]

@Inna22 

I do not understand why someone would think that Airbnb is for the ones that want privacy! It sounds as if the guest would be using Airbnb for sexual encounters as a love hotel.

About to greet or not to greet:

I meet the guests up to give them the keys and quickly show the apartment. Usually we talk briefly and I answer some questions if the guests want to ask something. Most of guests from many countries seem to like this brief contact and think it is helpful to them.
If another person goes to the apartment in my place for check-in, I do not go to the apartment later to greet the guest.
In case of self check-in, I only talk to the guest via messenger.

I believe that greeting guests has no influence on reviews. I would not give 5 star to some host if I thought the host does not deserve.

[Inna22]

@J-Renato0 

I think it is harder to downgrade someone with whom you made a personal connection. I do think if someone did not necessarily have a negative experience but is tough grader or some very little things went wrong, would be less likely to reflect in a review

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  Apart from the type of guests who feel they just have to say something negative, I think you're quite right. Harder to give a bad nit-picky review to someone you've had a face-to-face conversation with, someone who's nice to you, rather than some faceless entity who's just sent you a list of rules and questions and to whom you've given your money.

[Sheryil1]

I greet my guests whether they like it or not, haven't had any bad reviews about it but when you said your husband said don't give someone a bad review where you stayed I have that to.  My husband let's me run the b and b as I see fit but when it comes to the reviews he always interferes when it is likely to be a bad review. His opinion is if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all.

[Inna22]

@Sheryil1 I should put it on my post stay message!

[Ellen33]

We always offer them a welcome drink. But we let them decide: can we offer you a welcome drink or do you want us to show you the room directly.

Only a few dont take a drink. Some go to the room first and come back for a drink after a few minutes.

We like the personal contact...but not always....haha.

Sometimes we get invited by guests to have breakfast together with them.

We are onsite hosts who provide breakfast.

S

[Inna22]

@Ellen33 I can not offer anyone a drink as it opens a whole other can of warms

[Cathie19]

Hi @Inna22. Tough s#*3 at my place. If you come to my homestay, you get me greeting you. Not a choice. The length and depth depends on the time of your arrival.......  and rapport.

A 12.30pm orientation is more detailed than the 3am version. But then, I’ll say, I’ll run through the laundry tomorrow or for something that they may need....

If they want to remain incognito... there are plenty of hotels out there! 

[Rowena29]

Hi @Inna22 @Cathie19 @Sarah977 ,

I still think ( based on what I said earlier in the thread) that if you're going to meet and greet the guest (which BTW I think is a great idea for all the reasons you stated in your inital question), then you need to change your check in method on your listing.

From experience I reckon  there are some guests are seeing "check yourself in with a keypad" as the second line under your heading and  finding that highly desirable - there is definitely a breed of guest who doesn't WANT  to meet anyone. .Then they're narked to discover you are there to meet them.    If you plan to keep meeting and greeting I would suggest changing your checkin method.   Since I"ve done that, I've found that the guests with attitude have stopped ( touch wood) Personally if a guest thinks it's a massive bore having to meet me, the owner of the place they're staying,  I'd  rather they stayed elsewhere. ( I don't get it though - I mean even a hotel has a reception, right?!).

I raised this whole issue a couple of weeks back and got some interesting insights from  so  will provide the link in case it's useful

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Stated-Check-in-method-advice/m-p/1006076#M250277

Cheers

Rowena