My daughter in law runs an Airbb in an apartment she owns but doesn’t live in. She had a check-in scheduled for a guest at 4:00pm. It is now almost 7:00pm and she has an important appointment to be at. She has contacted the guest several times and he always has a reason why he is late but is not apologetic at all. What can she do? Can she cancel without penalty?
You make it sound like it’s the guest’s fault and it may be if you already agreed on a time, but if your listing says check-in from “3pm to 11pm” instead of “by appointment only”, then not so much. Did she tell the guest that the time was important? I’d tell the guest to go to a local bar/restaurant while at your appointment [Edit: but only if the appointment is really important]. However, it’s a good lesson that should help her realize that emergencies can always come up and she should always have a backup plan.
I’m not sure if there’s a way to cancel without penalty, but it doesn’t look like it.
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She should cancel her appointment and reschedule it. No one should ever cancel on a guest (especially not same day) unless an absolute dire emergency.
You title says this is about you, the post says your daughter in law. Which is it? Asking for a friend.
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I put the title in first person, but is about my daughter-in-law.
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She did not cancel on the guest, she pushed back her appointment and is waiting for him…he should be there in 10 min…4 hours after the agreed time! I’m going to tell her to get a coded lock box for a backup after this.
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Great solution. The guest’s tardiness and excuses would be mentioned in any review I wrote as well.
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Absolutely, agree - guest or host, vacation or job - if you say you will be there at xx:00, then BE there. I agree that cancelling on the guest is (hum…) wrong, but the guest not caring about the host’s time is also wrong.
On that note - I love my lockbox setup 
And now I have the song “R e.s.p.e.c.t. Find out what it means to me” in my head … Ah, at least it is a good tune. 
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No, the guest isn’t entitled to a refund after they failed to honor the check in time. She should go about her business and wait for the guest to contact her - then make arrangement for the guest to enter when its convenient for her, not the guest who’s already inconvenienced her.
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Just to show how hosts differ … 
Did she tell the guest about her ‘important appointment’ and that she must on no account arrive later than the check in window? 4 - 7 pm seems like a reasonable check in window to me.
It’s a good idea here to know what exactly she told the guest about check in - there are so many options and scenarios.
I agree with @Brian_R170 that it’s a lesson to her to be a bit more responsible when hosting. And cancelling a guest a few hours after check in time is a terrible thing to do.
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Just to provide an end to the story…the two young girls (early 20’s) checked out today and left the place really dirty…food & beer on the floor all of the 15 towels used, nothing broken but filthy. Their response was “sorry”. The neighbor said he saw a steady stream of men coming and going (2 every 20 minutes) and heard the shower after each. So very probably prostitutes. My daughter in law said she had had a bad feeling about them but accepted them anyway even though they had no reviews. Live and learn.
And your review for them?
That is for my daughter-in-law to do, but I assure you that she will find the words to make sure they never are accepted at another Airbb again (with the same profile that is).
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