How to deal with guests that expect to check-in way earlier than your listed check-in time

I can recommend two local places. One is somewhere I stayed (just up the street) when maintenance was taking place on our building. It was fabulous.

The other was an Airbnb that my in-laws stayed in. It had many advantages but wasn’t perfect by any means. When I recommend them, I point out the good and the less-than-good.

I am not confusing Airbnb with hotel, trust me on that .
The bag can be held anywhere in a house but not in guestroom. I held many many bags for my guests and see absolutely no problem with that. But of course If someone does then sure just say no

Guest cannot insist on coming in before check in time.
How would they like it if another guest showed up while they were still in your place?
Yep, hold their bags if you can, but let them find something to do till check in time.
Guests know the drill!

I don’t do anymore early check-ins. maybe, maybe an hour, but that’s just the most I can do these days.
Reason: I used to go above and beyond, offering 5-6 hours early check-ins and late checkouts, free bottles of wine, free cookies, free fruit, even free dinners, only to receive 4 star reviews. F*** that.
Ever since I stopped being so overly generous, my reviews have gotten much better.
To be honest, after getting several 4-stars even after doing so much, I stopped caring. And since I stopped being so concerned and just taking it as is, things have gotten better.
Whatever… lol

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Nah, you nailed it. This is the right attitude! Works for me as well.

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I’m at the point that, at least if I get a 4-star, I didn’t have to sweat it too much. Next.

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TOTALLY!!! It’s what most hosts get to after doing this long enough. Break your back, go the extra mile? Get 4 stars. Don’t go the extra mile? 4 stars. Relax and enjoy it more? five stars.

As @konacoconutz said - NAILED IT! I’m about to be Superhost for third time in a row for all my not caring any more. Can’t believe it, tbh, after doing this for 5 years with close to 1000 reviews I seem to have finally got it right: do nothing special and stop caring :rofl: Of course, nobody believes you when you tell them this is the secret … but we know it’s true :wink:

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It’s possible to see at least a of a couple of reasons why there could be a problem with that! In addition to being available for check-in, the host would now have to be available to receive the luggage, if drop off is before check-in time or pick up after check out time, depending on which end of the reservation this is taking place. The guest could claim that items have been stolen from their luggage (there is an actually case of this which has been posted on Airbnb Community). I’m sure that other hosts can add to this list.

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With Airbnb many hosts have other jobs and can’t be available 24/7 to receive someone’s luggage! I have often found guests who ask for a special early check in or luggage drop off are usually late and waste more of my time than a standard guest. Give an inch and they’ll take a mile - time and time again I have been taught by experience it’s best to uphold boundaries.

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Then say no. For me it’s never a problem. And I do it on my terms. I Let them know when.I am.home,not the other way around

Yes, @Yana, I think we understand that a host can say no… what I was trying to show was that there are potential problems where you

… I found your comment a little disconcerting, so I was trying to help by offering some possible reasons why some hosts might not think that this would be a good idea.

Unless they try they wouldn’t.know what is the potential.problem for.them.for accepting luggage. I travel a lot and for me it’s a huge advantage when I can leave my bags with a host. I arrive often in a morning after transatlantic flight and for.me.It’s essential to leave bags.
Some hosts who are working or any other issues they Have will figure it out on their own wether to accept luggage or not. I guess I don’t like.the idea of propaganding t to not accept luggage.

Many people can’t just state what they would do and why…they have to try to tell others what they should do. Or say someone shouldn’t host, or they would never stay in such and such a place. I see it on my dog hosting forums as well, when someone has a certain practice they want everyone else to have the same practice.

I agree that everyone should do what works for them…if we could just get guests to read our listings instead of assuming, it would help.

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Go it! You would prefer that all hosts accept luggage. If we agree that there are many ways to interpret a situation and that some hosts work a full time job, have other obligations, reasons, or concerns… I guess my question would be, why then are you propagandizing that all hosts should accept luggage?

You can have as many of your own terms as you like, if guests then rock up late anyway they have 100% wasted your time. If you go off and do something else because they didn’t turn up on time, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be knocking on the door late and will give you a stinking review!

Then.It’s their.problem. I had it happened few times and guests accepted their fault.of.not.coming on time. There was no drama and no bad reviews.

What I’ve been doing lately on all my bookings is asking what time they’ll be arriving. If it’s before the 5PM check in and there’s already a guest booked for same day check out, I’ll let them know then and there that check is isn’t available until after 5PM due to a guest checking out the same day. So far, no one has complained and been very accepting of the check in time so fingers crossed it keeps working! Could be my check in/out times are clearly noted and also in the listing and guest rules too and if they missed the first mention, there’s 2 more!

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I noticed, some time ago, that there is a separate box in the communication section for guests to provide the host with their check-in “window.” Even though my listing has a stated check-in time, I recently received a request with a notification that the guest wanted to check in early. I have a full time job, so it wasn’t possible.The guest has been both a host and a guest and has a combined total reviews of over one hundred. Because of his status as a host (his last review as a host was in April 2018 though no longer has an active listing), I was curious enough to ask him if he had read my house rules and in particular where it indicated when check-in was available. He answered - no. I was stunned. Since he hadn’t read the rules and the review from his last stay as a guest was mediocre (I am guessing that he also got a thumbs down, and wasn’t able to IB my room), I declined his request. But it left me wondering why Airbnb allows the guest to indicate a check in time outside of the time allowed by the host? Do guests receive any kind of warning that the requested check in is outside the parameters set by the host? Seems like Airbnb is setting up guests for failure by not managing the guest’s expectations properly.

Airbnb are heading to a hotel model where the guest can request a check in time - I get the same requests on Booking.com

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