A week ago we had a leak from our refrigerator ice maker and needed to pull out the fridge and dry out the flooded area of the house. The rest of the house had been cleaned and prepped for the next guest which wasn’t due till this coming Saturday. Because it’s off-season here and we would need to put in the new solenoid when it arrives in a couple days, we didn’t push the fridge back into place. Also, there were a couple of fans aimed at the damp wall where the flooding occurred, and the toilet had been used by my husband and sons while they worked on the leak and a pellet stove repair during the week. Other than these couple items, the place was spotless and ready.
Last night while watching the Superbowl I didn’t notice for 3 hours that I had a guest book for the night. Upon seeing the booking at 9PM I immediately messaged him explaining the situation, how sorry I was if he’d already arrived, and that I’d be right over to remove the fans, clean the toilet, and push the fridge back into place.
We met the guest just as he was pulling up to the house, and invited him in while we quickly set things right. He was very nice, and was just happy to find accommodation in our remote area in off -season. He didnt seem upset by the situation, and was a lovely guest.
So my question is, do I refund a bit for the inconvenience of having to have us there prepping for about 15 minutes before he could settle in? Refund cleaning fee?
I would definitely do something. A partial refund of cleaning fee? Or just $20 and a message saying “Our apologies, let us buy you breakfast,” or something along those lines.
I would not, the guest was not put out considering he was able to book on such short notice and you were there when he arrived straightening it out.
15 minutes is not a issue, I have been made to wait an hour and a half past my check in time at a Disney hotel, they did not offer me anything.
RR
But we aren’t hotels. 
Still, it was 15 minutes and handled as the guest arrived. Does not warrant money IMO
RR
Great idea! 2020202020
Do you think listings that are available to book at 3 pm should be ready at 3 pm? If I arrived at 9 and the listing wasn’t ready I really wouldn’t be happy about it. Deduct a star for check in for sure, maybe that’s it if there aren’t any other issues. This is something the host should have known and corrected.
Yes I do. I also know that I would be lucky to get a same day booking late in the day in most markets and if the host warned me they needed 15 minutes to get it together I would let it go.
RR
Ok. We disagree again. But it’s good to get a variety of perspectives.
Yes it looks like we do!
RR
It doesn’t sound like a same day booking from the OP. It sounds to me like she just forgot about the guest coming. I may wrong though wouldn’t be the first time lol…
I re read the post and I do not see that, but stuff happens. I forgot I had accepted a early check in awhile back and nearly had a guest show up before the turnover was done, I just got lucky that the housekeepers showed up when they did.
RR
It was a same day booking, 6 Pm reservation and a 9:30 arrival.
If you don’t get many or can’t normally support same-day bookings, you should consider setting an advance notice of 1-day or more.
I get plenty of same day bookings in the on-season, and have never had an issue before. This situation is an extreme outlier, I always clean and prep immediately after each stay,but as mentioned in my post we had some circumstances that were unusual this time. I should have just closed off the listing for a couple of days, but admittedly forgot to do so.
Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated. I did refund the guest the cleaning fee.
OK, that’s reason enough to leave the settings as they are.
Given that you were able to make it ready in 15 minutes, that doesn’t sound like it would have been necessary. The only real problem was just not noticing the instant book for ~3 hours.
I don’t agree than any inconvenience (and a 15 minute wait is hardly a huge deal) needs to have money thrown at it. It sounds like the guest was easy-going about it, so why give any refund? This is the kind of thing that sets a precedent for guests expecting refunds for any little thing that isn’t quite right. Nothing wrong with bringing him over some food treat, or a bottle of wine, but I really wish hosts woud stop refunding $ every time they make some little boo-boo.
Totally agree, I blame the Chiefs!
1 Star - BAM! Take that you stupid mouse! (muah hahah)