I get that. And I do tell our guests not to expect every Airbnb location to be run the same. We do what we do because we enjoy it that way. I’ve been a guest in a lot of Airbnbs, and they’re all different. As long as they deliver what they say they deliver, I’m fine. For example, we serve breakfast here. It’s a listed amenity, and it’s a time we enjoy spending with our guests at the table, and we love to cook. For first time Airbnb guests, I’m sure to tell them we’re an outlier with that, and that most Airbnb locations do not serve breakfast.
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Exactly…
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OMG, I HATE when guests ask for advice, then ignore it and do their own thing, and then act like they had a lousy time because they made poor decisions (lacking the local insight that I provided). But, that’s just me venting and not really on topic.
What matters here is that everyone is right. We have to be flexible, because when it comes down to it, these are not our friends or family, these are paying customers and they expect some degree of flexibility. That said, they sometimes could use subtle reminders that this is not a hotel but someone’s home.
I think responses like ‘if you get here past 10 you forfeit your reservation, I keep the cash, and you are left out in the cold’ may be a bit too harsh for the sake of customer relations. What i would do in this situation is politely say ‘Just a reminder that since I work full time, i need to be in bed by x:00, so if situations arise and you end up arriving later than originally anticipated, i will have a lock box on the door you can use to gain entry. I will look forward to greeting you in person when I can during your stay to make sure you have everything you need. Thanks and see you soon!’
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But this still doesn’t solve the issue for those of us who MUST greet their guests in person.
Some of them don’t give a wit that you have to work. Thinking of my clods who kept me up until 2am waiting and then texted they got lost at the lava flows and were going to sleep in Their car. In the end I couldn’t be here to greet them the next day when they came rolling in and that chaffed me.
I suppose we’re all different. In the past year I’ve come to rely on the lock box more and more and more since a lot of my guests check in during the week and I work long hours. It’s wonderful. I don’t have to worry about being home all day or scheduling activities around an arrival…heck, most of the time I don’t even see guests until they’ve already been with me a few days. They generally take care of themselves and just text if they have questions or need anything. I had a young lady from Hong Kong recently whom I never would have interacted with at ALL had she not thought it was okay to knock on my bedroom door at 5 a.m. to ask what to do with the keys. I left her a negative review. Okay bad example.
The point is I LOVE my lockbox. I also have a handy print out with everything anyone could possibly need to know about my townhouse on the bed when they arrive, along with a basket of hand towels and bottled water. I’ve never had a problem with anyone getting checked in without my help. Love, love, LOVE the lockbox.
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Admittedly, I’ve never used the word ‘forfeit’ when replying to guests. But I have told them, on the occasions that they have finally got in touch with me hours after their stated arrival time and way past the house rules check in times, how to get in touch with ABB (I have a photo of US customer service number as a saved response). ABB is always the one to tell them they will not be getting a refund. The first summer I ever rented, I always gave refunds, not now.
And yes, everything I would normally tell guests upon greeting, is in fact right there in a welcome packet, typed up nice and neat.
Guess what…they do not read it.
Even the last guests I had, who did not self check in, but I was here to greet them, I had given them the usual Welcome Packet as well as maps of the area, mapquest printouts to get from my house to certain popular things to do based on what they communicated via email and in person (they arrived, we chatted, they told me what they wanted to do, before I went to bed, I printed the mapquest directions to the places they expressed an interest in).
Guess what? As I’m working with a dying patient’s family, the guest is calling me asking for exactly the information I left for them. Said they saw the printouts, didn’t read them and didn’t bring them with them, even though that’s exactly what I advise they do.
I was close to instituting a self check in as a matter of usual business until I had the guests who did self check in, used my home for a few hours, leaving used condoms and wrappers on the floor, took showers, obviously went into rooms and looked around that were clearly marked ‘no guest access please’, only to claim an ‘allergy’ before I arrived home and had left the premises, WITH my keys.
Maybe I will stop ABB, or maybe I will get comfortable enough at some point again to share my home with people I don’t meet before I let them. At this point…it’s a toss up, but right now, I do not feel at all safe letting people in my home I’ve never met.
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Great wording! Thanks! I think I will add this to my house description. Right now, it says “Arrival time 10 pm strict. No admission if you arrive later than that” but I like your words much better. They exhibit a sense of humour.
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UPDATE:
I’ve reconsidered, and taken advice of the many here. Just got a reservation for tomorrow.
My 3pm-8pm check in window would have, from what the guests told me were their plans, forced them into going out of their way to meet that window.
They also could not do an earlier check in (which I would have obliged as I have no guests tonight).
So I told them they could self-check in, that way if their plans change, it’s not going to be a problem for them.
Now, I can, should I choose, go about my day (going to be gorgeous weather and I don’t have to work), and not worry about being there to greet them, and then getting resentful if they show up late.
I told them to please show up before 11pm.
Will see how it goes 
Edited to add: Many of my guests are on a limited timetable…traveling 4 hours to get here on a Saturday, needing to be back home Sunday night, so maybe this will actually ENHANCE the quality of their stay. At least that’s how I worded it when I was emailing with them.
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Hope it works out well for you. If guests know that you’ve offered them self check-in to help them avoid making big changes to their schedule, I’d think you can only expect them to be appreciative.
If your place has several rooms, are you giving them some sort of a map/layout so they can find their way to the right one?
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My house is small, but I will leave them the basic instructions to get up to their quarters…it’s rather easy…go through living room and up the stairs
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Getting back to Brittany_Anderson’s original situation: I may be a bit late on this, but my concern is that you are guaranteed a bad review. Here is my psychological analysis of what is going to happen in this guest’s mind: This person has already treated you badly, and they know it. Now, they are going to try to rationalize their behavior. They are going to look for all the things wrong with your accommodation and with you as a person. After they have convinced themselves that you are a bad person, then they can say to themselves, “This host deserved to be treated badly.” Finally, they are going to put all your flaws into a review. When they see it printed on a computer screen, it seems to become true. Now, in their minds, they have justified their behavior. That is my prediction.
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Well, they arrived at 9:50pm. Their tour was supposed to be done at 8:30pm, but ::shockingly:: it ran over. After I got off the phone with ABB superhost rep who told me they would pay me a night’s stay to wait up, I texted the guest to let them know to have a fun hike and I would wait up for them but 10pm was the absolute latest time I could stay up. When they arrived they were pleasant and feigning apologies.
They were out exploring the next day so there was minimal interaction. The day of check out, they left one of the people behind and the other 2 went on a hike. They came back to pick up the third (their mother) at exactly 10:45am when my check out is 11am.
They were clearly packing in as much as they could… I get it…it IS Hawaii.
My review is as follows:
We had a bit of an issue with communication and check in time. Stephanie previously communicated a check in time but changed it to 10pm the day of arrival. Had the family left their previous accommodations 30 minutes earlier they would have had enough time to check in and make the tour they had booked- all within our normal check in hours.
Once settled in, they were very nice and they took great care of the room. It was clear the family was trying to pack as much as they could in what little time they had on the island.
Ok, let the reviews of my review commence.
p.s. I received my added payout from ABB!
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Thinking that was way cheaper than putting them up at the Naniloa or somewhere, not that that is a better option than your place, so they were happy to pay it.
Honestly… I sometimes think guests have no idea what it means to stay in an Airbnb and just assume all the perks of a hotel come along with it and the customer is always right no matter what.
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Have you considered using a lock box? I purchased one on Amazon for about $20 and we love it. People can arrive any time and use the lock box.
We do try to greet guests at arrival, and say goodbye when they leave. However, there have been about 5 or so in 100+ bookings whom we weren’t able to greet due to having a cold or being asleep when they arrived, and had to be gone somewhere when they left. It all worked out okay in each instance.