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Ah, I’d forgotten this was part of the CC thread. I like to write my snarky responses here and get them out of my system. The reality is that I’m quite guest centric when dealing with the guests.
My 2 night booking starting today messaged me a couple of nights ago asking for early check in today and I was non committal. It’s not just out of principle, with my at home dog boarding and “real life” I don’t know what might come up. Last night I told them they could check in at 1pm.
This morning I finished the room and left on errands around 9:15 am. I noticed a car parked on the street with no one in it. When I came back around 10:15 I saw a couple in the car and they matched the description of my guests. I look at my phone and a text had come in. The guest was here and asking if they can park on the street but they would wait until 1pm as agreed. So I went to the car and asked if they were my guests. Like the (faux) stern schoolmarm I used to be, I asked him to give me an excuse for why he was here so early. He said they drove straight from CA and thought they would stop to rest but didn’t. I said go ahead and check in, I feel badly for your dog. LOL. A very cute little dog goes a long way with me.
Now here is the truth, this is an Asian couple and given the recent assholery going around with attacks and bias, I’d rather give them a free half day than have them subjected to any problems in that regard. They easily could have played on my emotions and said they were afraid to stop in a rest stop in AZ. That could be the real reason they are here early. Anyway, due to my two days between bookings the room is ready and there’s no reason not to let them check in early. They’ve been extremely polite. I could get my knickers in a wad and make myself the victim of “entitled” guests but that’s not how I chose to look at it.
Although I have a super flexible check-in window of 11 AM to 11 PM, which had suited all my guests up to then, I had a guest who was arriving by bus at 9 AM. But when I asked for her arrival time, she also said she realized that 9 was too early to check in and she’d just find a cafe to hang out in until 11.
I knew she had a long highway bus trip from where she was coming and that shleping with her bags and waiting around, when what she likely would want most was a shower, I told her no problem if she wanted to check in when she arrived in town.
I have no issue being accommodating to a guest, if I’m able, who doesn’t come across as demanding or entitled.
Here’s the secret that demanding guests don’t understand: It’s amazing what I’ll do for guests who are appreciative and treat me like a human being. That seems like it should be a low bar, doesn’t it?
I’ll offer my good guests stuff they haven’t even asked for! “Oh, your flight doesn’t leave until 6:00? I can accommodate a late check out at 2:00 for you.”
I just had a fellow host book my place for tomorrow. But I noticed that in her message to me, she said something that told me she had the wrong date, that she was arriving today. I quickly messaged her to make sure, and she called me from the road. Sure enough, she was on the way. And so apologetic! Fortunately, no one was staying tonight and after an couple of hours of frantic cleaning, I could just work around it. She was lovely and offered her place at a discount if I wanted to go to the beach. So much better than my place!! If I can be kind, I will be, and I find it always works out.
JamJerrup, I find the current wave of post Covid guests to be very different and therefore more demanding. Maybe because we’re more embedded in a residential area here, I’m getting a lot of family members who want desperately to see their relatives, feel safe enough to travel but not safe enough / not welcome to stay in the same house. So they resent paying for accommodation where they would historically have stayed with relatives, are often newish to AirBnB, ask endless questions, and often ultimately don’t book. I miss the good old days when people were positive about traveling, had actively elected to stay in an Air, and had a simple old fashioned vacation planned with clear expectations. Hope it comes back.
Interesting. I have had the opposite experience. I am also getting family members, but they are happy and grateful to have a place to stay to visit relatives safely and comfortably. Hope your lot don’t head my way!
So what happened to just booking the night before if you want in early? We took an overnight train from Italy to Austria (Salzburg) and arrived at 6 AM. I booked the night before even though we arrived at the property at 7 AM. Good thing we did - we didn’t get ANY sleep on the train!
Funnily enough I was visiting a nearby town with a friend, about 20km away, and he said “how does that run down motel here have a 3.5 star rating”? I told him about the booking checker and how I had thought about recommending this place to them as it is very cheap. But didn’t because I thought it best to disengage once it was clear they wouldn’t be staying. He agreed this was the best strategy.
