Do you charge for late check outs, and how do you do it?

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So there you have it, Bob_Blank - it’s an individual choice.

I would give late check-out if it works for my family, but I would never charge for it, unless it went into the evening again. If it’s truly an inconvenience, I don’t do it, because if I keep doing things for guests that I don’t really want to do, I’ll burn out. The only time I had an issue was when guests were just hanging out in the rooms and not giving any indication they were leaving…so I did ask them what there plans were, if they needed any help making arrangements, and told them it would be convenient for us to take them to the metro in 30 minutes (because it was, I was headed to the office anyway). That got them up and going!!

Sandy, you have the wildest guests!! Some day I will come stay with you just to meet them! I promise I don’t slam doors - I hate that, too.

But, oh boy, have I learned a lot about how to be a guest by being a host!!! Who knew that my ‘simple’ requests really weren’t that simple!!

But it’s entirely your choice, Bob!

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Give it time dcmooney, give it time! You shall have your own enchanting tales to tell, the kind that make your friends say ‘are they barking mad? Why do they keep doing this?!’. But I am most surprised that you would consider a stay with me (even if in jest). I feel like I must come across as a people hating monster with all my tightening the hatches over the years.

You might have been surprised to see us around the kitchen table with the guests that arrived last night, bottle of wine in hand. We spent many hours hanging out, conversing, and serving an array of local produce and cheeses as we sipped the nice wine they had gifted. Funnily, we do like people sometimes :wink:

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I’m sure my time will come, Sandy! I often wonder in what form it will take. My next guest is staying for 2 months - a PhD research guy from Denmark. We’ve actually already met him and I imagine he’ll be very low maintenance. Let’s hope so - or it will be a long two months!! My current guests are from Australia. One guy is a hoot - up at 5:30 a.m. showering, talks a lot (but is very interesting) and paces constantly while he talks. So we’re standing in the kitchen at 6 a.m. drinking coffee while he paces and tells funny stories, including doing amazing voices. I can only imagine what life must have been like for his mother. He’s charming but a little goes a long way and there’s a week left to their stay. Fingers crossed that it won’t go south. ; ).

My statement about staying with you was hardly in jest. And I’m glad to know that you are still able to enjoy the good times in spite of the bad. Face it, while this is a business, because it involves hospitality and our homes, it also involves our hearts. When someone is careless or reckless with what we’ve created for their enjoyment, it is costly, frustrating, and very difficult to not take it personal. The hospitality biz is hard - and we all have our own issues we’re still dealing with.

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Amen to that last bit dcmooney! In fact, I have actually sought therapy since we have been doing airbnb, because I have found some of the treatment of guests in our home so upsetting, I began to realize that I was much too sensitive to unkind, rude or ungrateful guests, especially after all the work and effort I put into guests’ stays, that there had to be something going on from my end that needed dealing with. It turns out I am a perfectionist and very hard on myself, and also really struggle with saying ‘no’. Having to deal with pushy people has therefore been deeply uncomfortable, and I have often ended up letting guests do things or use things that I’d really rather they didn’t, resulting in me feeling angry afterwards, with the guests, and even worse, with myself.

I’ve learned as angry and resentful as I sound here, in real life I am a very eager people pleaser that always puts my own needs last, and find it extremely uncomfortable to get my own needs met, especially if it means saying no, or laying some ground rules. Partly it is cultural as I am an Aussie who finds Americans to be much more assertive about getting their own needs met, sometimes to the point of not being as considerate about how that impacts anyone else (this is a broad statement and is not meant to refer to everyone, it is just something I’ve noticed as a social difference and have struggled to find ways to respond to. It is also something I admire when used moderately and politely). When people push the boundaries as some inevitably do, I get very hurt and resentful that they would be so inconsiderate and selfish, and not consider our feelings. I can’t believe that people don’t have basic manners or courtesy - but of course, some are viewing their stay as a cheaper hotel, and they don’t want to have to consider anyone else, and this requires that I learn some self protective strategies. The therapy has actually been very enlightening so far, and will no doubt help me cope better when I have guests that I find unpleasant to deal with. Although it’s upsetting when guests seem ungrateful and are unable to recognize all the effort that went into ensuring their comfortable stay, it is a statement about them, not me, and I will eventually find the lack of approval and appreciation easier to handle I believe. Now there’s a look inside my psyche!

Wow, those are long stays dcmooney. Most of our guests that stay don’t stay that long as we attract the weekenders, but it’s true that the issues can rub a little harder over the longer stays. The Aussie guy sounds like his mum forgot to pack his adhd meds ;). He certainly sounds like he has some kind of anxiety issue. Conversations must be difficult if he is running on non stop. Usually Australians should be able to pick up on subtle cues to give a bit more space, or chill out a bit, especially if a bit of humor is used in the form of teasing (by saying ‘wow! You’ve made a record this morning Scotty! we’re going to have to time your word per minute rate. You might make it as an auctioneer!’ Or something else silly). A week with someone pacing in my kitchen that early in the morning would have me feeling tetchy already, because he should recognize this is where the family is getting ready for their day, and a bit of space would be nice. Hopefully he is appreciative, as that can take the sting out of even the most irritating habits.

I hope and believe your Denmark PHD will be charming and inquisitive, and will very much enjoy his stay, and you having him. Although the Danes and people from that part of the world can be restrained and even seem a bit overly reserved in general, when open to a situation such as a home stay, it is usually because of an inquisitiveness to learn about a new culture, and share about their own (unless they are truly just trying to save pennies! - then, yes, you may just get a reserved guest that is nice and quiet). Hopefully…

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25

I’m with you, Sandy - I’ve learned a lot about myself in these few short months. How often can I feel more positive about myself and life just because I’ve got a booking? And quite the opposite if it gets boring?

Interesting about my Australian guest - as soon as I say “well, I need to get some work done” or anything remotely close to that he vanishes. So, that’s nice!! And he is very entertaining. He’s young and hopeful and excited about life.

Thanks for sharing your experience - very helpful!

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26

To me, the whole purpose of Check-In and Check-Out times is to allow me to “turn” the apartment and have it ready for the next guest. I guess for me it is really black and white. If I have a arrival that afternoon, I don’t allow a late checkout. I do offer to store their bags if they have a tour or outing planned. If I don’t have a same day arrival, I usually tell then it is OK to stick around until a specific time. I always make sure to say a specific time, otherwise they may stay into the evening!

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27

Air… Just had an enquiring guest ask for late check out as they had a late plane. I explained I couldn’t do it as it prevents me from renting the place that night. He could leave his bags in the carport though… I fully expected to lose the five-day booking over it…then he wrote back and just decided to book through the next day even though they were leaving that night! I told him his decision was wise and now he could enjoy another full day without rushing around or leaving bags outside. :slight_smile: win win :slight_smile:

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That’s great Kona. Sometimes guests just need to be educated about how we lose a full day’s worth of income by allowing early check in or late check out.

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29

I agree Cabin, I think most of just have a few rooms so we don’t have late check-out or early check-in flexibility that the large chains have. I think once the guests understand that it makes sense and they are OK with it. In Kona’s case, I may have offered them a discount for the extra night (after they booked the extra night), just to leave a good impression.

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@konacoconutz We do it on a case by case basis, if it’s an hour or two and no one is checking in after, I’m usually fine with it. However, we have lots of people who book late flights out and want to stay to 5 or later, we have started telling them it will be the base nightly rate (we charge per person). So, far 3 groups have taken me up on the offer.

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We try to be as flexible as possible but do stress that if we have a same day check in/check out that we need to stick to our strict 11am out 3pm in rule.

We actually get more requests for early check ins that we do for later check out. I think this due to a lot of our guests coming from NA and the TA flights are often some of the earliest of the day.

We always state that if a guests wants to guarantee a late check out - or an early check in, then they need to book the night prior - and a few have done this to ensure an early check in. I can understand why nobody wants to get off a 10 hour flight and then have to hang around until 3pm until they can check in.

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32

You muss charge half day price…if not they can keep taking a shower. I am such guests from Thai, horrible…3 people.

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If you have a YourWelcome tablet then you can charge the guests directly through it - check it out

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I’ve had quite a few guests ask for late check out/early check in, and I have become very strict about it recently.

Airbnb provides insurance to all hosts whenever there is a guest staying with you. However, this insurance gets negated if their booking inquiry has an incorrect number of guests, and after your listed check-out time. My fear is that during a late check out, (if I’m not home, as I am often not) one of these guests will do some kind of damage that would not be covered by Airbnb’s insurance. Maybe it’s the Nervous Nellie in me, but I’m a full proponent of “better safe than sorry”.

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35

Um … no. You need to have your own insurance.

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I’m in the US, and they provide insurance here. Only in 15 countries as of now. Perhaps yours isn’t one of them.
Here’s a link to the page where they explain it:
https://www.airbnb.com/host-protection-insurance

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I hate to break it to you, but this insurance belongs to the same category as Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny.

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I’m not sure I follow. I’ve seen several people post on here about how the insurance has saved them.

Either way, late check outs are annoying and disruptive to my life, and most of the time not worth doing. Using airbnb’s insurance as a “reason” to not allow late check out instead of saying, “I just don’t want to wait around for you to come back,” seems like a much more prudent way to break it to guests.

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So Airbnb paid them large amounts of money? Links appreciated.

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From what it sounded like, yes. But I’m not going to search through all the hundreds of posts I just read to find links for you. They’re all on this forum, should you choose to search for them yourself.

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