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@MaryJO. Never been called tucker before! Yes…
Go to EDIT your listing and scroll down until you see the bed icons. That is the Description area with an EDIT button. Continue to scroll down. The next EDIT button is for guest resources. Click this EDIT button and the self checkin option is available to you. It is not a toggle switch, per se. Instead, it is a default NO and you select this if self checkin is an option.
@Berkshiresgal -
I agree with you entirely! We rented a place in Stuttgart this summer, and took a train from Salzburg to Munich to get a car, and drove on to Stuttgart. I had not realized that the owner had to meet us to let us in (my fault, I did not check), and we were running late due to train issues and construction on the Autobahn. He started texting me two hours before we arrived, and chewed up almost all of my international data plan with checking on my progress every five minutes. I felt horrible that we were keeping him waiting, but we didn’t have much other choice.
It’s not that I am trying to avoid meeting the host. It’s just less convenient. I’d be very happy to meet them the next morning for a full tour and a cup of coffee or tea. But it’s really more relaxing to not have a narrow window of arrival.
What an infuriating review. You did absolutely nothing wrong! And that guest was dumb and grouchy! It actually angered me reading their review. Like what do they think they’re checking into - some hotel property owned by a giant faceless corporation - who couldn’t care less about them?
What a luxury to have the owner meet you in person! It’s actually an honor that a host would care enough to want to meet you just to say hi and introduce themselves. And you’re absolutely right - it’s your home and you certainly have to right to meet guests in person if you so choose.
@Helsi gave a good response:
'we like to meet all guests personally to show them around our home…"
I would just change the word “meet” to “welcome”. ‘we like to welcome all guests personally…’
This is a super interesting thread! In direct response to the initial question, this guy is clearly an idiot and as hard as it is, please don’t take any of this to heart (although I’m one to speak… I get really annoyed with guests giving a low score for no reason).
The rest of the thread raises interesting points on self check-in- we have two airbnb’s, both in a different city to where we live so we always do self check-in- and mainly because we don’t want to have to pay someone to meet each guest and wait around if they are running late. I have always wondered if we appeared as the “cheap” host by not personally greeting the guests but of our 75+ reviews, I think we have been rated 5 stars in check-in the most of any category- which I’ve never really taken much notice of but makes sense that the vast majority of people probably do like the self check-in option (I know I personally do also!)
You might want to review your choice to accept instant booking. According to airbnb it increases your bookings but I have tried it and the number of direct bookings we receive is minimal. I don’t think it makes much difference.
I am sorry you had this experience, and I would certainly want to redress it in the feedback saying something along the lines that you were sorry you didn’t want to meet the hosts in person. Something so that people who see it can read between the lines.
I think people should expect Airbnb to be a more “personal” experience than staying in a hotel. If your guest wanted complete anonymity perhaps that’s where he should have stayed. My Airbnb property is just 4 doors from where I live, and I get uncomfortable if the guests haven’t been great communicators before check in - it gives you an opportunity to get to know them a bit. I certainly always try and see my guests in, and consider it part of the “welcome” process. That to me is the essence of Airbnb.
I tell my guests (in a couple of places) to save my guest guide, which contains my contact information, including my address, to a PDF on their phone. This then doesn’t require internet access to read. Though of course they have to remember where they put it. And I’m not sure if that’s possible if they don’t have a smartphone.
Internet to the rescue! So the answer is yes and has been for awhile.
Hmm…I beg to differ since many of our reviews mention how helpful we were, how easy check-in was, etc. Maybe we’re mostly attracting reasonably friendly guests if they’re reading our reviews.
To me there is a big leap between wanting to book a separate space and not being sociable/wanting to meet a host for 2-5 minutes. That is literally all we usually spend, just pointing out a few things that might be quirky about the listing and then we’re out. Quite frequently the guests have specific questions about dinner recommendations, transportation, sightseeing, etc., in which case we might spend an additional 5-10 minutes helping them out. I’m certainly not trying to make friends or anything; just trying to be helpful and make guests’ stays go as smoothly as possible. Partially to get a good review, and partially because I genuinely enjoy helping people with their trips.
We don’t insist on meeting guests, we just prefer it whenever possible. As I mentioned before, in this particular case the guest had no previous reviews and barely communicated about anything prior to arrival. I suppose this could mean they wanted to be left alone but were otherwise great people, but I’m not a mind reader. Also, the guest never directly requested or questioned why they couldn’t just self check-in; I only learned about their sub-par check-in experience in their private comments after their stay.
When I travel I personally expect/appreciate meeting a host in person in case I have any questions/issues, so I didn’t realize it was such a big turn-off.
I’ve never made anyone adhere to a certain time frame. We live very close to our listing and are night owls. I always tell people not to worry if they decide to stop and eat or whatever they choose, it’s their vacation, that we prefer to meet in person but if it doesn’t work out we’ll give them the code. Sometimes we’re not available and we just let them do self check-in.
My pet peeve is non-reviews or dishonest reviews. I hope you reviewed honestly.
I’m quite sociable unless I’m tired from a transatlantic flight and not up to a detailed overview of tourist info. I was too polite to say maybe later.
Then what if I’m held up in traffic? Host says 5 pm, do they have plans at 5:30?
As I said before, I’m renting a place to sleep not looking to find new friends, I’m meeting my friends later. I choose a place to stay based on location and price. Not if I want to bond with hosts.
What an ass… I would definitely respond to him and ridicule him . Letting other hosts know that his not so grea check in experience was only because you did not give him code and met him in person.
And , no, you don’t have to disclose how you do your check ins. It’s your house, your rules
You know it’s only 2-5 minutes, the guest doesn’t. To them, it might be (and in this case, was) a bother. Maybe in your listing you could say that you will meet with guests, not that you prefer to, prefer implying that it isn’t necessary, but in this case it seems like you thought it was. That takes any question of whether or not you plan to meet them out of it, and they’ll assume you will be. You can also change your settings if you’d rather not receive instant books from guests without reviews, if youd rather talk to them through chat first and confirm that you’ll be meeting with them at the property.
You would ridicule him? Jeez, how’s your hosting going…? I mean, sure, as a host you have a right to feel comfortable with your guests, but there are plenty of options within AirBnb to prevent uncomfortable situations. At the end of the day, it’s one 3-star review. Learn from it, improve where you can, and move on to giving the next guest a great experience. Ridiculing someone sounds more like a child’s exclusive tree house club than a professional AirBnb host.
It was a perfect storm. I’ve had plenty of IB guests that had no reviews, just not that had already been members for a few years without a review in combination with poor communication. I was slightly suspicious, I admit. No, I’m not going to change my listing to say I will meet guests rather than prefer to, as I don’t always meet them. Based on your and everyone else’s input on this thread, while I do think this guy overreacted, I will be more sensitive to guests’ preferences and did make my listing more clear. I do think I have a higher risk of being dinged on other things if I don’t meet guests in person than getting dinged for check-in if I do (obviously since this is the first time in a year of hosting). However, to be quite honest, I’d just as soon not host people like this guest. I think he was a rude jerk! If he’d have mentioned it privately I’d have had way more respect.
I’m not giving detailed tourist info unless people ask for it, I’m giving a 2 minute tour. I’m also not making anyone stick to a specific time. I have a busy life and plenty of friends, I’m not looking for that either. I just expect some courtesy. As I said in my last post I honestly don’t think I want guests like this. It’s nothing personal, just a different style. So far I’ve only had one set of guests with this attitude. To each his own.
Of course he was a rude jerk and he made no sense with his ridiculous demand knowing the code before hand. What a sensitive soul , he had to have a 3 minute conversation with a host😂. And you absolutely don’t have to to apologize for your hosting style and cater to people like this. And dont listen to anyone here who tells you to do otherwise . You did absolutely nothing wrong .
My hosting is going just fine , I am a superhost by the way, not that its any of your business . You can say “jeez” as much as you need, but people like this guest must know what they did wrong. Making fun of his stupid demands and his stupid criticism is a way to go so other hosts would know who they are dealing with and other guests won’t pay attention to his stupid review
You were absolutely right to insist on personal check-in, especially since the guest behaved the way he did prior to his arrival (poor communication). I bet your readiness to send the code before their arrival would be higher if they bothered to exchange two messages prior to their arrival. These places are our homes, we have barely any guarantees in the case something goes wrong, and we have the right to make sure everything goes smoothly. It’s better to risk one bad review from a jerk than plenty of bad reviews from people not knowing how to get around your place. And even more importantly, to risk the place getting trashed by some idiots. Guest should know better but to judge all guests’ behaviour by their own character. Even if these people were self-check-in-worthy, there was no way for you to know this, especially after such poor communication. I have no idea why they took it so personally.