Hustle to make Early Check-in Happen; Guest Shows up @ 5PM

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@KKC These are fantastic suggestions that I had not considered. Thanks so much for sending along!

I also don’t, and likely never will, own a dog. So some of this entire institution with dogs and how they live/poop/pee is indeed a bit over my head.

Maybe the overall recommendation to tone down the narrative in the Welcome Guide around defecating “on premises” is in order. We’re just trying to remind the guests to be respectful wherever we think we can get their eyeballs (and it’s indeed NOT a House Rule). Ultimately, they’re going to do what they’re going to do.

Spot on. As a matter of course, we never complain to guests about virtually anything they do following checkout around messiness/damages/missing items. The only way a guest will hear from us looking for compensation/discussion/complaints is if there is unequivocally hundreds of dollars in damage in some way. Like when a guest carved the date (day 2 of a 3 night, so it could ONLY be them) into one of our butcher block countertops (and then denied it, lol!). That only happens maybe once every +/- 500 guests.

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Adults? Real ones, not youngsters? Why??? Certainly they weren’t bored with all those amenities! Idiots.

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Then don’t say no. I Tell them you will let them know when the place is ready, then give them an hour max, if I’m ready for them.

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Airbnb it your way, not theirs.

Perhaps bags could be left, so the guests are free to do whatever they’ve come to your area to do.
Also you have to clean up from the past guest.
There are instances where an early arrival can be granted if the guest has arrived in town really early on an early flight etc.
One place I couldn’t checkin early let me sleep on the couch in the community sitting room. I was SO grateful for that.

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Same. Kind of, but really the same.

A Day’s Inn somewhere in Nevada circa 1993. We had a reservation but we arrived late and I guess they had overbooked for some kind of motorcycle conference, so there were “no rooms at the inn” (thankfully neither us were pregnant, but I digress, lol) but they let me and my friend sleep under the awning and then woke us up at 8 am because someone checked out early. We took showers and naps and were long gone before their next guests checked in. Forever grateful. And a good reminder. Travelers, we’re hosting travelers…

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@kkc

Our regular Amazon purchase too!!

https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Rated-Lavender-scented-Dispenser-Bundle/dp/B08DKTRZ96/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=22D49DYFRPERX&keywords=earth+rated+poop+bags+for+dogs+120+pack&qid=1639795772&sprefix=earth+rated+poop+bags+for+dogs+120+pack%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-5

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That’s such a good point Re being travellers. Kindness, respect and consideration are all part of a ‘two way street’.

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Johnny, I just want to make sure that you’re aware that this is a completely open website that can be read by anyone, anywhere in the world? They can also, due to the URL in your profile icon, go to your listing.
.

It’s not a good idea to tell viewers that you have rules that are unenforceable.

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BlockquoteJohnny, I just want to make sure that you’re aware that this is a completely open website that can be read by anyone, anywhere in the world? They can also, due to the URL in your profile icon, go to your listing.

lol, if guests aren’t going to read the Guest Manual, why would they come here?

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With tens of thousands of hits per day, it’s reasonable to assume that some of those viewers will in the future choose a rental that is advertised on Airbnb when they take a trip - if they haven’t already.

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@jaquo Of course, I realize that anyone can go to my listings. I’m not a Keyboard Warrior. I’m a real host, with real listings, in extremely competitive markets. It’s important to me that the listings are public. It gets me better advice (from you amazing people!) and it is my identity.

The reality is that pretty much all House Rules are unenforceable in a grand sense of their “enforceability.” I hope I’m making sense!

Maybe some examples will help. Shoes off listing? Arrival/Departure times? Number of guests? Pet management? Drug use? Parties? Smoking? If someone wants to break the rules, they can and they will. And that’s the end of it.

Once a House Rule is ignored, you have exactly 2 options total:

  • You can make a big stink in the moment while the Rules are being broken
  • You can make a claim for damages (if there are any) after the fact

Both will lead to a crappy review and an even crappier interaction with a defensive guest. Jerks are out there and that’s all there is to it.

I had dinner with 2 friends (husband/wife) that have multiple listings. They OBSESS over their cameras on the listings. Like, sit and watch them for hours and hours and hours. The more they watch the cameras, the more they “discover” that their House Rules are being broken. The stories were interesting, then comical, then just downright sad. And as we were talking about it, the examples went on and on about the times they called the police, evicted guests, got stressed out. . . I’m thinking to myself “I’d rather just not know.” Eventually, I swear, these two hosts will go insane.

People that decide to break the rules are awful. But that’s what they’re going to do.

And as @gillian so poignantly said, the likelihood of a would-be guest coming on here and then seeing my listings, only to then book my listings, only to then break my house rules because I mentioned that my House Rules are unenforceable? Plausible, but I’d say about 1 in a 1,000,000.

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I hope all the other “real hosts” here appreciate the shade as much as I do. I’ll certainly be sitting in it cooling my heels and ignoring your post next time you’re asking for advice.

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Only if you, as the host, decide “that’s the end of it”. It’s a choice.

Not necessarily. I do choose my battles and have definitely been the “obsessed” host in the past (glad that is over!). BUT, my listing is not in a desert. I cannot look the other way if someone is having a party or being disruptive in my community, as an example.

I also address overcrowding (cannot risk my septic and it just pisses me off in general) and as I have improved my approach, I have had good results with good reviews to go with them.

You value quantity over quality because it fits your business goals/model. That’s fine. But, for example, my listing is the only STR I have. I hope to retire there someday or maybe have one of my adult kids stay there so I can be close to grands. I care deeply about how it’s treated. It’s business AND personal…that colors my lenses, for better or for worse.

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Not my experience. I have twice had situations where a guest brought an extra person to my 1 guest only listing. Both times I dealt with it straightforwardly with the guest, with no hard feelings, and things went fine for the rest of their stay. One guest never left a review at all, the other left a 5* review saying she spent the best week of her life here.

You seem convinced that your experiences are universally experienced by all hosts.

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My guest who checked in today stated in his opening email two weeks ago that he would be checking in at 10:00. I responded right away with 10PM is fine that it was self check in. He finally read that yesterday and said no he meant 10 AM is that ok?

Uhm, no. I kindly explained that I had guests checking out at 10 and I would text once it was ready. I also explained that I do not set the housekeepers schedule, that the only thing I knew for sure is it would be ready by 3

Now the guests in the other cabin just asked for a 12:00 check out, after showing up an hour and a half early for check in yesterday. Sorry, housekeeping is scheduled…

RR