Why? Just do not allow check in until 3
I really do not understand why anyone would cancel for this, this is a business not a social gathering who cares if they are rude and entitled. You told them no, see you at 3 that really is enough IMO
RR
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I believe you and I can accept that answer and respect that that approach never bites you, but I am not comfortable with complete lack of communication myself. I need your years of hosting experience under my belt! 
They probably just don’t have airbnb notifications turned on and would have responded the next time they logged in, probably closer to their trip. This is the case with 95% of my guests, no joke.
If they don’t respond, you have their phone number - shoot them a text! Say, “Hi XXX this is XXX your airbnb host for XYZ date. I sent you a few messages via Airbnb. Are you able to log on to your account and reply? If not, I’m happy to copy and paste them here via text message”
Again, I have to do this with almost all my guests (which is puzzling, but w/e.)
I really don’t care if I hear back from people until it is two or so days before their reservation. That’s the beauty of IB. I don’t care about previous reviews.
I definitely wouldn’t have cancelled this reservation. I’d have very few bookings and a lot of cancellations if I let this scenario bother me.
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I agree with you. I’ve had people say even less than this, and they still turned out to be great guests.
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We see this also - about one guest in 4 or 5. Then a quick text to please look at the app msg.
We also do not see this as a red flag. Some people simply do not get Air notifications on their phone.
To us, the guest wasn’t demanding. They were probably just letting you know when they were arriving - based on their travel schedule. Easy enough to nicely let them know about the check-in time and suggest places of interest for them to see before 3pm.
I also have had some guests who didn’t get Airbnb notifications and once they “confirmed” the booking (we are instant book) they moved on and went about with life. So they weren’t looking for more conversation. A text message sorted it out. The times where people didn’t read the 3 p.m. check-in…it wasn’t being evil…just tired of sorting through all the options and finally picking one – they can’t keep all the rules straight. I’d give the guest some breathing room and see only cancel if you really, really can’t get confirmation that they know the 3 p.m. timeframe.
I would not cancel, I would just let it go I would not care if they showed up early they would not be able to get in anyway. Also, unlike many hosts use direct texts from the start with guests. I am not worried about keeping communication on platform.
RR
I try to keep it on platform if for no other reason than I’ve mistakenly texted the wrong guests, and worse yet sent a text to a guest that was meant for my friend. It was beyond embarrassing! 
We had a booking once where they left moments after they completed the “book now” process. They went on a weekend camping trip and didn’t have any cell service. As soon as they got back home (48 hours later), everything was fine.
@PitonView Same here- happened twice. Guest was on a camping trip with no cell reception, other guest was at a retreat where they weren’t allowed to be digitally connected.
Hosts tend to get irritated, thinking guests are simply not bothering to answer, and for sure there are guests like that, but often it’s something like that, or they aren’t receiving notifications.
I don’t get irritated so much as anxious. Guests will never find my place without the hand-drawn map I send them, so if they haven’t confirmed they received it by a couple days before check-in, it’s worrying.
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I did that. Thought I was texting my sister and was describing how I had poured a great margarita and was basking on the deck and realized I sent it to my guest when they sent back a text : ???. A little embarrassing. It resolved quickly with the margarita, though.
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Ive been a host for over 11 years on this platform. In the past year or so, guest have become very vague and blunt. Telling me when they will arrive, or just’ can we use the pool’. With out any other info given. I have a select answer as I AM NOT instant book for my unit above my house. I want to know who is coming onto my property. I always confirm proper number of guests and if I can, get their reason for ‘travel’… as Im not set up like a hotel for casual meet ups!!.
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I hear you. My check in time is now 3pm-11:59pm
Also I read a strange article advocating odd meeting times like 11:03 so people could remember them
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We received a booking request for one night from a woman (about 1 month from the check-in date). She presented herself as a manager and trainer in health-related work in hospitals and would have numerous opportunities to book our studio again (because of its proximity to a few hospitals by car). At the end she informed me that her boyfriend could pick up the keys early in the morning. I replied to her that check-in was from 4pm onwards.
She answered that her boyfriend would need access to the studio early in order that they could take their lunch in the studio. We said no to her but she still wanted to book. She explained that she asked because in some other occasions and for some other accommodations, check-in takes place in the morning. But her request wasn’t formulated as a question in the first place and “the numerous opportunites to book again” didn’t please me.
The you should answer as I would like to sometimes:
Oh, I didn’t know that but I’m sure the current guests won’t mind, as long as you bring enough food for them also. Just remember, you might need to queue for the toilet or shower, and if you need a nap after lunch I’m also sure the current guests won’t mind budging up a little.
Instead I just say no (if it isn’t convenient) and offer to store their luggage, coward that I am 
JF
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Saying yes means that I would have to block the night before and have the studio ready for him early next day, for a one night booking. I do offer early luggage drop-off from 10.30am onwards to make sure there are no more guests in the studio and that I’ve started the first load of laundry.
Now I do think that his boyfriend had probably planned to sleep in the studio after driving for at least 2 hours from their place to the hospital. (To make sure that they won’t be late because of the rush hours traffic on the highway, they’ll probably have to leave home 3 hours ahead.) It would have been more reasonable to rent also the night before. That’s what we do because we find it extremely difficult to leave home too early.
She certainly has to work the second day as well, otherwise they won’t have to stay overnight near the hospital. They can drive back home after her first day’s work.