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…but seriously, this takes the cake. Guest (who is a host too) texts me to say that they would like to check-in early (@12:00PM, but check-in is at 3:00PM). They say they are coming to the property now (?). I did not see said text because she didn’t hit the send button as verified by her when I got home. So, not only are they not using the Airbnb app to communicate with me (hello!), they decide they are coming over anyways without a response from me. I’m out at the doctors. They checked themselves in early (hours early) and I have the unpleasant experience of going back to my place to check on my new cleaners work and they are already in there (before check-in!), getting busy.
It’s clear as a bell in the information we send them. It’s on Airbnb’s website, in our house rules, and the message we send them before and after booking in the message thread. Email too. Five places…
This is where those locks with codes that aren’t active until check in time come in handy. Oh, and not “everyone” says that. I’ve had no problems with host-guests. In fact, my very best guest is also a host and now a regular, a friend and a direct booking guest.
I don’t say it either and it hasn’t been my experience - I’ve really good ones like you describe.
However, right now I’m dealing with a very odd and difficult guest is also a host and as much as I am trying to resist the “hosts are bad guests” she keeps making a stink out of also being a host.
Clearly she just happens to be a PITA guest that is also a host but I kind of wonder if that’s where the stereotype stems from - that other bad guests who happen to be hosts make a big deal out of being a host so it gets associated. Also, I think it’s natural to feel that there should be some special relationship within the community, e.g. hosts understanding and respecting other hosts and so bad guests that are also hosts just sting more and stand out, in an in proportionate way.
I have this happen all the time. I just had a host tell me, not ask that they would be there at 12 PM my check in is 4 PM. Also since I was not booked on Monday night over holiday weekend (Labor Day) she would be checking out at 4 PM, but my check out is 11 AM. I told her no on both as I do many sameday bookings and could not allow this unless they wanted to pay for an extra night.
I’ve had many guests arrive early and check in early or meet my cleaning crew. A ton totally ignore my check out. I now list in my rules they will pay $50 per hour for late check outs as I do many sameday bookings and need the house ready asap. I just had to remind one guest a few weeks ago of this fact. She was already well past the hour almost into the full second hour 12:50 PM and my cleaning crew was just waiting around on my dime for them to leave.
I just purchased the locks that I can code to not only new numbers, but time of activation on the new code. Will get them installed within the next week or so.
I’m always dubious about anything that ‘everyone’ says or ‘everyone’ knows.
And as most of here know, in this case it’s simply not true. Hosts are just like any other guests - there are the good, the great and the not even okay.
I don’t understand how they could check in hours early. How many hours? If guests are hours early they are going to either a) bump into the other guests who haven’t left yet or b) get there when the cleaner is still working. I have a five hour turnover window but if guests were ‘hours’ early and could get in (which they can’t in my case) they’d meet one of the above. So how does that happen?
And another host knows she can’t check-in that early, that’s why it’s pissing me off. It’s absurd for her to tell me what time she is arriving when she knows how to find the check-in time as it’s in the listing and the check-in message again. Ironically, I looked at her listing and her check-in time was very restrictive. It was a 2 hour time span. She is just being difficult for fun. The fact that she’s a host is an unfortunate coincidence but makes it extra annoying.
She won’t be able to get in. We have keypad locks and don’t do the code on the front door until we’re done cleaning.
Maybe instead of “Everyone Says Hosts are Bad Guests”, it should be “When Hosts are Bad Guests it’s Infinitely More Frustrating”.
That’s my feeling as to what the root of this is, that it’s just more irritating/frustrating/annoying/disappointing when hosts are bad guests.
For contrast (because today has been extra fun), I have another guest that is annoying me because she is pestering me to check-out late on the last day of her 7-day stay (2 days from now). She began asking about it 2 days before her arrival and I told her I’d be able to accommodate it if that night didn’t book (truth). But she’s been asking me once a day if that night has booked or not. Urgh. I’m tempted to just block it out so she stops asking me about it but it’s a good pricey in-demand night and I believe it will book. Normally, I am happy to let someone stay late if there isn’t a time-crunch but we really need to get these people out of the house asap because her husband plays video games in real-time every morning and curses and yells really loudly. We have someone checking in tomorrow that I am sure it will bother (she’s a regular), so this guest is not getting a late checkout (we believe it’s so he can play his games and want to avoid it Friday morning). However, I am not as annoyed with her because she is a first-time guest and really doesn’t understand what is going on behind the scenes, so to speak. If she were a host, my expectations would be different, fair or not.
We do this also, but some days if there is no guest the day before the code gets set early in the morning when they do a final glance. I’ve had people call or text “Hey the code doesn’t work” at 12 PM 1PM 2 PM etc. when my cleaning people are still there. We had one brillant group try to check in at 12:55 PM and we told them check in is not until 4 PM. They come back at 4:10 PM calling and yelling because the door code still didn’t work and it was after 4 PM. Hello, your at the wrong house!
Every time a bad guest also happens to be host the brain just defaults to “it’s because they are a host and everybody knows…” As the old saying goes “Stereotypes save people the trouble of thinking.” And even if an empirical study were to show that hosts or superhosts were x% more likely to be troublesome guests it still wouldn’t justify stereotyping any individual host-guest.
Exactly. This is one reason why we have keyless locks. We set them to activate for the check-in time (which, for us, is 4 p.m.). If a guest arrived earlier, the lock wouldn’t work for him/her. The lock activates earlier only if the guest has requested (and gotten) an earlier check-in time from us.
By the way, we’ve had dozens of hosts here as guests. All were terrific.
I don’t have this kind of lock system but if I did I would explictly state in the check in message that their code wouldn’t work until check in time. So if they complain to Airbnb I have it in the message record.
I send the code no earlier than i am willing to let them check in. I tell them earlier in the day that once the cabin is prepared for them I will change the code and text them.
Same here. My initial booking reply message says “I will send your door code by AirBnB message when the room is ready or by 4pm, whichever comes first.” I ask them for arrival time in the initial message, so I can arrange for the cleaner (usually me).
It’s repeated in the wayfinding & check-in instructions I Air message them 4 or 5 days before check-in. I then change the lock code and send the code when the room is ready or by 4pm.
Since I have a lot of early morning departures due to ferry and airline schedules, I can allow early check-in when I have the room ready early, but at my convenience and on my schedule.
The automated August code message tells the guest when the code will work and when it won’t. I also have it explicitly stated that guests cannot check-in before 3pm.
To be clear, each guests gets their own unique code that automatically generates when they book.
You got it! This summer hosts were 2 pains, 2 great. One pain did not review & I didn’t review her, the other did a 3 on me for a problem she never mentioned.
The 2 good ones left good reviews. I was too worried about the first 2, after that I didn’t worry, I was too busy.
