I have a 4pm check in and a 10 am check out. I offer early check in for a fee and explain it’s because of the cleaning issue. I very rarely get complaints.
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I was going to say 4 p.m. seems late for check-in, ours is 3 p.m. My husband and I are going to stay at an Airbnb as a guest today and check in is 3 p.m. I’m grateful because we have to be somewhere at 5 p.m. for an event so 4 p.m. would have really made it tough. Our check out is 11 a.m.
I like two things that you have mentioned that I am now going to incorporate. I hate calling the people who work for me “cleaners”, I try to use the term “villa manager” where I can but now every time I use “cleaner” I’m going to change it to “housekeeper”.
In relation to access, I say the cleaner will be there at 11, but I tell the cleaners never to arrive before 11.15. We all know that an 11am check out means 11.30 in reality. Which is why I won’t extend to a 12 check out as that will mean 12.30!
This is the info I give my ladies: Entering villas – Always knock on the door before you enter. If they are still there past 11.15 politely say that you are ready to clean and ask how much longer they will be. If they are still there by 11.30 you have permission to inform them that you will be entering the spa area through the garage door to start cleaning that area. By 11.45 tell them that you need to get the washing on as you have guests booking in; strip the bed and get the machine on.
If you are going around to drop something off during a reservation and they are not there then leave the item on the table outside. You should not enter the villa during a stay unless you have permission from the guest or have been invited in.
If you are doing an interim clean then knock and wait for them to answer, if they are not there then you can enter, as you are expected.
I hadn’t thought to add it to the house rules that the cleaner can access at 11am, thanks I am going to add that now.
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Curious what people do with set check-in times if the guests flight arrives at 9 or 11 pm, for example?
Do you have self-check in otherwise?
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Yep.We get lots of guest who love the self check in option.
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Self check-in for sure! we have tried numbers of locks. I highly recommend
with a wink hub, just the simple one, least expensive hub.
Very easy to set up and use. Remotely change the code. Total cost about $200. Not too crazy.
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I have self check in. I’ve had people arrive as late as 3 am. It’s so convenient to not have to worry about them texting me every xx hour with an update because I’m “waiting for them.”
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We allow late check in With Prior Approval and have had folks arrive as late as 1AM. We have to show them how to get back to the cabana entrance . …
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We do have self check in too where I can just give people the gate and door code to get in.
I have eight units, half on 11am to 3pm and half on noon to 4pm. As for check-in, it’s strictly with old-style mechanical lockboxes. Some guests have a little trouble getting them open the first time, but every system will be difficult for someone.
We usually have one night stayers and often for weddings or tourist activities. Self check in from 2pm. Check out before 11. Many are tardy checking out 
. We are only a room though and love in the house so can be flexible. We got marked down to 4 for value last week - they arrived at 2, left just after 11. We offer breakfast, tea, coffee, fruit, chocolate, juice…$85 in a tourist town. Even offered to pick up their car. Not sure what they want considering we are in the very low end of price in our town.
I’d like to have check out at 10, however most are 11 in our town and it’s working okay.
I do flexible check-in (and then it will depend on my schedule but I do usually ask the guest what they prefer first and try to work that) and noon checkout. I clean myself and am not a morning person so it suits me. I also state in the listing that if I can, and it is agreed upon ahead of time, I will allow 24 hours for the stay so I once had a 9pm checkin that we were both very happy with her checking out at 9pm the next day.
Since it is an important aspect of people’s stay and how it effects hosts I think they should have a separate stars category for arrival/departure so we can slam the tardy who leave late without any consideration for their hosts. One star off for each 10 minutes late leaving should do it.
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No self check-in here, not into my home. I will happily arrange to let someone in from a late flight but only as long as they have arranged with me beforehand if it’s possible. I have cancelled people in the middle of the night, without penalty, who have dicked me around with a constantly changing ETA.
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Thanks Ken! I also wanted to ask you another question…as you are one of the only hosts who offer a breakfast (and an amazing one at that). Do you do the breakfast as a one off or is it daily throughout their stay? What if, for example, it’s a 2 week stay and you dont particularly like the guests or you find them demanding, etc? Is it written into your listing or is it as you and your wife feel on the day? And if so, is it reflected in the price of your listing?
How does that work with Airbnb, Joan? In terms of cancellations mid trip? Do you make that well known to the guest up front?
11 and 4 too. Even if the room is technically ready it gives me a chance to take a break before guest time.
So thorough, Poppy! That is good info. I love that you don’t like calling them cleaners either. I hate that too!
A misunderstanding! I’ve not cancelled anyone mid trip, only when they have told me they will arrive at xxx time, don’t arrive, give me multiple excuses and I have found myself sitting up until well past midnight. I’ve only cancelled x 2 bookings, only one of which was Airbnb. Other issues arose with this, in that the people arriving were not in fact the guest who had booked, although they pretended to be her. A long story not worth telling, apart from it involving two phones, two brains and four hands to cancel!
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@Icklemiss – breakfast is every morning of the guests’ stay. It’s written into the listing and reflected in the price. There is a comparable Air listing a few blocks away – a room in a house (not a detached structure as ours is) with pool access, no cooking privileges and no breakfast of any kind. They charge $45/65 per night depending on season. We charge $65/99 per night, but comparable breakfasts at a nearby restaurant cost $20 or more.
We seldom get more than 1 week stays, but we did have a grad student spend 22 days here while doing field research for his dissertation, and he go breakfast every day. He tried everything on he menu and then some!
Whether or not I like a guest has no bearing on whether I cook for them, what I cook, or how I cook it.
As a Personal Chef I’ve prepared dinners for some real rich a$$hats showing off for other rich a$$hats, and some really nice people who scrimped and saved to have me make a special anniversary dinner for them. A$$hat money spends even better than money earned from really nice folks!
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