This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Uggg. I was just relating a story about guests doing that exact same to me. Only this pair texted at 9 they were going to the lava flows and would be to my house by 11. Well 11, 12, 1 and 2 go by… no guests. No call, nothing. I’m fuming as I have to get up at 5;30 the next morning… finally they call and say they were lost and going to sleep in their car and would check in in the morning! I was not going to be there, so I was pissed and went to bed.
That’s when I changed my rules to a check in window 4-11. I was not about to be waiting up until flipping all hours only to have them tell me they were not coming anyway.!!!
I do get plenty of bookings and only last week did I say no to some guests who told me they were planning to arrive at midnight.
However, the guests who arrived last night told me “they would arrive by bus at 9:40 pm” and I was expecting them to then quickly find their way to my house. Clearly, my expectations were flawed.
I know there are some rude guests out there, but right now, I am looking at the mistakes I might have made, myself.
Things happen, and mistakes are made. Planning based on set expectations that traffic will never delay a bus, or that a plane will never be delayed, or that a guest might make mistakes in getting on the wrong bus will mean that rather than seeing these things as part of the experience and welcomed as ways to be a 5 star host, you will resent guests. It is different than a guest telling you that they are 2 and arriving with 4, or guests asking to check in early and being argumentative.
Venting here I suppose is a god way to release your frustration, but in the long run you might want to figure out ways for these issues to affect you less. Self check in, or simply a doorbell that rings in your bedroom, so that you can be sleeping until they arrive are ways to help you.
Travel is like that, you can’t let it stress you especially when things are not in the control of the guest or yourself.
@konacoconutz - Have you thought about making the window 4-9 pm? The problem with “4-11” is that some people will try to check in at 11 pm, and then when they are a little late, it will still be not good for you. If you say “9 pm at the latest”, then when someone arrives at 9:15, you are not out of sleep.
Just saying - there are well-intentioned people out there that sometimes run into a little more traffic than they thought, or the waitress was a little slower in taking their order, etc., etc.,…
Good thought Piton, but impractical because flights to Kona are sometimes late and I am an hour from the airport.
So I know guests are getting here as soon as they can.
Last night’s guests did not give me an ETA as I ask. This is so I have a general window of arrival. I knew they were on the plane when they didn’t answer right away. Finally upon landing, they text. I know that by the time they get their rental car, and drive down here it will be about an hour and fifteen later.
Guests arrive at about 10:15. Orientation and we are all in bed by 10:30.
Maybe you can say 4-9 is the standard window, and an extra/grace period is available till 11 in exceptional circumstances.
That way, they’ll feel they must do their best to get there soon as they can (if they’re considerate of course)?
Totally, and I would do that if I lived closer to town and the airport. Once they get their rental and get on the road, I don’t want them to stress on these rural roads.
Normally late arrivals even to 11 are okay and they are truly trying to check in first. However, if they are alate because they are off doing an activity, I am far less forgiving!
What you are suggesting is basically to provide a 24/7 check-in service. I am certainly not going to install a doorbell that rings in my bedroom 24/7. I wonder if there are any hosts reading this, who are doing that?
Airbnb provides some additional income to me. As a main business, I sell software and customers are able to choose optional 24 x 7 telephone hotline support, 365 days a year. This service comes at a price of US$ 4,200 a year.
If Airbnb will pay a flat fee of US$ 4,200 a year to me, I might consider offering guests to check in any time they like. As it is, I am going to insist that I need some sleep at night.
I am flexible with lateness, since I just leave a key but I would also be quite annoyed with someone showing up to meet me 2 hours late. The problem is it’s just too hard to tell how a guest will be until they arrive. Hope it doesn’t happen again- you may want to really stress that in an email to people. You can say “if you’re going to be more than 20 minutes late please text me” and make sure they have your phone number ahead of time.
I do my best to vet my guests pretty well before I accept them, and I usually know what they do for a living and a couple of other things from a quick Google search. I’m glad I do this because the first guest I ever accepted, and I had already told her where the key was hidden, turned out to be a drug user with recent mug shots. The only reason I knew that is a friend told me to look her up, since he felt her photo on Airbnb looked suspicious.
Anyway, I had a recent experience around time that was frustrating. My last guests arrived last Saturday 4 hours early and the young lady was trying to park a big sedan in my tiny driveway next to my new car. I ran outside to stop her, and let them know the place wasn’t ready, and told them to come back in an hour and a half. I live in TX and the asphalt was burning my feet- it was over 100 degrees- and since I ran out without shoes I was hopping around and a bit curt with them. It was pretty annoying to see them pull in so early. They looked surprised when I told them I needed more time. I sent them a message after they pulled away, saying that they could call me if they needed recommendations about where to hang out for a bit. He sent me back a curt message, which made it clear that he didn’t see my pov on sending them away. Even though my home is in a very pretty area, the backyard is a bamboo forest, it’s quiet and charming, I wasn’t even here so they had the whole house to themselves, they gave me my first less than 5 star review (it was a 4). I am tempted to email him to say I don’t think my place deserves a 4 and since this is a business for me I’d appreciate accurate reviews, but I know that’s not a good idea and I have to just let it go.
If you want to avoid waiting for people for hours, the best way is to give them the impression that YOU might not be there in the case they’re late and that THEY will have to wait for you to come back. This does miracles for arrival accuracy. If you just state that you need to get some sleep they won’t take it seriously and even brush it off with an excuse that “they’re paying” and “you’re at home anyways”. Maybe not to your face, but this is certainly what they have on their mind. I allow check in at any time after 14:00, but I reduced endless waits significantly since I started saying to my guests that in the case they’re not on time, they should let me know half an hour in advance that they arriving because I might not be at home and it might otherwise happen that they’ll have to wait for me for half an hour. They became unusually responsive and accurate since I introduced this.
What recourse do you have for late arrivals? My checkin window ends at 9, it’s now 11:30 and the guests have just arrived. They did let me know they would be late, but I get up at 5 am for work. Where/how do you draw the line?
Once I was almost 3 hours late on arrival but that was because I was trapped en route to brisbane and there was a heavy downpour. Most cars on the road ended up having to park by the side until the rain subsides. I was very apologetic throughout, gave him 5 stars and even noted it in my review that I delayed his plans.
…
If you just state that you need to get some sleep they won’t take it seriously and even brush it off with an excuse that “they’re paying” and “you’re at home anyways”. Maybe not to your face, but this is certainly what they have on their mind. I allow check in at any time after 14:00, but I reduced endless waits significantly since I started saying to my guests that in the case they’re not on time, they should let me know half an hour in advance that they arriving because I might not be at home and it might otherwise happen that they’ll have to wait for me for half an hour. They became unusually responsive and accurate since I introduced this.