Hotel-style checkout times need to go

[Kyril0]

Love AirBNB, been hosting for five years. 

But when I book as a guest for my own travel - I often notice that a lot of hosts put '10-11AM checkout time'.
 
While it may make sense for some, when they have new guests arriving the same afternoon - what percentage of hosts get booked solid like that?
Many are not - but the 10AM checkout requirement is still there.

I feel like it's something that people do automatically,  without giving it a second thought - just because we're all so used to hotels doing it, we don't notice anymore.

But my guests are mostly european, so their return flights  - from here in New York - mostly depart at night.
So I learned early on that I just can't push people out at 11 AM and have them hover around town with kids and bags for 6 hours - as convenient as that is would be for me, I just couldn't feel right about doing that.

Can we maybe ask AirBNB to add a dialog to the host interface that brings this to the host's attention?

Even better - can we ask airBNB to add logic to bookings that makes the checkout time default to (Guest's Return Flight time)  minus (4 hours).
And allow us hosts to override that on a case-by-case basis, if we really need the cleaning done early.


I know that for my own travel, if I see in a listing the 'checkout time 10AM', and the host is not flexible - I am moving on to another host.
This is inhumane treatment of guests.

For hotels, I understand - they have shifts of cleaning maids sweeping the building, they have rooms turning over the same day.

But for us - I believe airBNB should change the default, and link it to guests' flight departure time.

Again - I am a host,  and I believe this is one more practice that could set us apart as a better alternative to hotels.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kyril0

every host can determine his own check out / in time . There is also "flexible" check out  option so I don't see any problem.

Most of our gests check out before 11 AM because it suits them.  They know they have to leave hotel or Airbnb about noon so they book their flight / train / bus  accordingly.

Very rare we are asked for later check out and if we can we will store their luggage for few hours or point them to the train station where they can take a locker.

We are off site hosts and even if we don't have new guests coming the same day we prefer to clean arround 11-15 h and then come home, eat and have some time for ourselves. It would be inconvenient for us to wait until 18 h and then drive to the other side of town and clean until 21-22 h and then drive back ... but we would do it if a guest pay another day ,no problem 🙂

[Jennifer976]

My rooms do get booked that solid and I require that time (11-2) to clean them properly.  I have let guests leave thier bags on the main floor and come back for them later and I have let new guests drop off bags in the morning while they wait to check-in. 

I think most people know the times are a guideline.  They often ask if I can reconsider and when I can I do and the guest arrives or leaves feeling i've made an extra effort .  But if I can't then the guest is not feeling put out as it is right there in black and white.

[Kyril0]

Thanks.

Part of what I'm saying is - yes, hosts can set checkout time - but this 11am is so engraned in our brains, we often don't think.  Some probably do, but many hosts don't. I propose that airBNB default to guest's departure time, with a choice for hosts to adjust checkout if needed.

As for inconveniece to you - that's what money is for that you earn from it.  
My typical guests are a couple with a child.
If they're out on the town for hours befor their flight - they are inconvenienced much more than I am.

And on a side note - if a host tells me it's inconvenient to them to clean at 6pm, so I should pay for 1 more day - bye-bye!   End of conversation.

I know you're joking. It's ok.

My post is more about reconfiguring the airbnb software, to correct for how we humans think, (or don't think.)

[Mark116]

I don't think this is realistic, not only is it unlikely that guests will remember to put in their departure time, but then whose responsibility does it become for same day bookings?  Is it up to airbnbn or then the host has to spend even more time to determine if they can accept the booking, which if they decline, airbnb penalizes them for it.

We used to have a flexible check out but it created too many complications in getting the info from guests on when they would leave in order to determine future bookings.  So, we changed it to 11am and it works much better.  We also allow guests to store their bags and if there are no bookings that day or the next we let them stay later, but your idea is another burden on hosts who are already over burdened by airbnb.

[Alexandra316]

@Kyril0 Yeah, sorry, but if you want to stay until 6 pm, that's another night charge, because you're preventing another guest booking for that night. 95% of my guests check in by 5 pm, which means I would probably lose another booking. If I tell you no and you go stay elsewhere, I'm totally, completely fine with that.

You can put whatever check in and check out hours you want: that's up to you. There is no default setting making you choose 11 am. Hotels generally have 10-11 am check out/3-4 pm check in because it makes sense: that works for the majority of people and maximizes their revenue. If it doesn't work for you, set it to something else. If people don't want to cart their stuff around, they can book a train/boat/plane that leaves earlier, go home earlier, leave their stuff in their vehicle, or find a luggage service that will hold it. Or, they can pay for another night. Pretty simple, I think.

[Zappa0]

 Not sure what you mean by inconvenient to clean at 6pm...what if the host works nights, hence the earlier check in times? 

I personally love that there is a checkout time. When I hosted in my own home it meant I had a few definitive hours to myself. And now that I rent a separate place I'm booked back to back...so yeah check out so I can.come clean and if you need a late checkout I do that on a case to case basis. 

[Emily487]

@Kyril0

If you go to Listing and then Availability, you cam block out the night before and after a booking. It's not ideal but it might allow your guests a flexible window in which to checkout. But it would also result in fewer bookings since for every booking you get, it blocks two extra days for "preparaton".

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kyril0I am not joking 🙂 We have back to back bookings 9 months per year.  So, yes, if our guest wants to stay after 12 AM then he should pay another day as we have new guests arriving in few hours and we have to prepare everything for them.

Our guests often book weeks in advance . If I promise them late check out  then I have to block the next day. Our average stay is just 2 nights (Zagreb is transit destination) so we would lose half of our bookings and earnings if we would block 1 day before and after each stay just to make our guests "more confortable" for free.

I really don't need any more Airbnb suggestions. I have enough their suggestions already  (to shorten our min. stay , to drop the prices etc... ) 

[Yulianna0]

@Kyril0, I was trying for some time “late arrivals/late departures” with check out before 7 pm. Finally I have changed it for more common hours, as not so many need to check out late but many ask for earlier check in. 

[Kathie21]

@Kyril0100% of my guests depart by car for their next destination, and their flight (if they have one at all) is the next day at the earliest (often several days later).  Automatic linking of a check-out time to an irrelevant or non-existant flight time is not going to work and would just cause complete confusion. 

Most hosts want to be able to accommodate new guests the same day as the previous ones leave.  I don't as I prefer a more leisurely clean, so I automatically block out 1 night between guests.  I have my checkout as 12pm .  If for some reason a guest wanted to stay later I would probably agree to 2 or 3pm, but no later because I want to start the cleaning that afternoon.   I live an hour's drive from all but fairly basic shops, so if something urgently needs repacing I want to know promplty, so that I have time to get it before the next guest.  Also, unexpected things happen on a smallholding, so I don't want to be running around like a mad thing the next morning trying to clean the bungalow and hunt for missing chickens or whatever. 

Like you, as a guest, I may also look for another listing if the check-out time is too early for me.  There are lots of factors that make a place suitable or not, this is just one.    

The present system works just fine as far as I'm concerned.  If you want to operate a flexible check-out go ahead, but please don't try to inflict it on the rest of us!

[Zappa0]

Agreed

[Lawrene0]

So the cool thing, @Kyril0, is that with the present system we can each do what works best for us. You don't have back-to-back bookings, so you can allow guests to leave whenever it suits them. Make that a feature of your listing, and rise above those of us who do have back-to-back bookings and need time to clean.

I would submit that it is not inhumane to imagine guests can amuse themselves for a few hours before a flight. I have done it many times to no ill effect. 

I have a set checkout time, not because I am an automaton who cannot think, but for sheer practicality. 

You would have us all be required, by system default, to do something that works best for only you and possibly a few others. 

Oh, just a minute! Are you trolling a little? You are, aren't you?

[Ria16]

@ If I have nobody else booked in for that day I do often tell people they can stay until midday if they want to go down to the beach for one last walk. But really I like to have a load of washing on ASAP and then make use of the drying time  in the garden as I don’t have a drier.  I think 11am is fine for checkout. 

[Kyril0]

Thanks.
People respond with their reasons for setting the checkout time - which is right.
If you have a a good reason - then it's as it should be.

I am talking about all others, who just leave it at 11am, because everywhere is like that - without any better justification.
Stop to think for a second - hotels do that, here is an opprtunity to be better that them.

I am not proposing that airBNB force a different time on us - only that the interface brings it to the host's attention - just a moment to ask, are you sure it has to be 11am?

And yes - someone sugested - I do allow people to stay til their flight time, and yes, I absolutelyadvertise that fact in my description, as an advantage of my place over other places.
And it's working - if I let them, my calendar would be booked 24/7/365, three times over.