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Text message around 5 pm the night before checkout: “Hope you’ve enjoyed your stay! Check out is 11 AM, but if you are leaving earlier, it would be great if you would let me know tonight when you are leaving so I can schedule the cleaners.”
You won’t get 100% of guests responding if they are leaving early, but you’ll get some.
We use the following verbiage in our final auto-message to our guests, sent the evening before they check out:
“Please let us know if you will be leaving the unit any earlier than the 11 AM check-out time, and the approximate time you plan to depart as we will relay that information to our cleaners so that they can better schedule their day.”
We have never had anyone complain, nor leave a bad comment in a review. And most will let us know.
Another thing we ask for is their flight details in the first message that we send them after the booking is complete since we are on an island and the only way to get here is by plane. This will give us an idea of when they will have to leave.
"In the meantime, we would ask that you please provide the following information:
Name of everyone in your party
Flight dates/times for arrival AND departure"
yes, that’s why I send my checkout message at 7am, because I had quite a few who got it at 8am and they’d already left. if people aren’t wise enough to use the Do Not Disturb function on their phone, that isn’t my fault. I tried sending a msg the night before and people “forgot” or didn’t see it anyway. my checkout message doesn’t require a reply.
sure, and your phone can be your gatekeeper, use the technology.
I don’t send one for BDC or vrbo guests, unless I’m up early enough to push one through manually (they don’t have scheduled messages there, or it’s unreliable). My message really is a reminder to get up and out, (I even tell them about our wonderful local cafe with amazing coffee and croissants), and to prompt them to confess to any breakages (had 2 last weekend). And then I can say “oh no worries, glasses break, that’s fine, thanks for telling me” and so they know I’m not going to punish them in the review.
Yes, I know how to turn my ringer off at night and usually do. But there are times when I wouldn’t.
And if those times resulted in me getting an early morning emergency call, that’s fine- that’s exactly why I wouldn’t turn it off. But a message at 7 or 8 am reminding me of check-out time would definitely lead me to mark the host down for communication and mention it in the review.
When I used to drive from Mexico to Canada, I tried to get up and get on the road by 6:30 or 7, because highway driving after dark in Mexico isn’t a good idea. Cows on the road, banditos, giant potholes. Once I pulled off onto the shoulder at night and a piece of barbed wire wrapped itself around my axle.
If a host wanted to get a message to me on check-out morning before I left on a Mexican road trip, they’d have to message at 5:30 am.
Non-emergency calls and texts to anyone, for any reason, should be made during regular business hours, IMO, unless it’s someone you know well enough to know they are always up either early or late. Although I don’t think sending a check-out message at 6 or 7 pm is unreasonable.
And a guest who “forgets” the content of a check-out reminder between one afternoon and the next morning is either an idiot, has dementia, or is lying.
the do not disturb function has options to not exclude calls from your favourites. also if someone calls 3 times it will come through.
and you are right, I have aging parents and my #1 fear rn is getting ‘that call’ from one of them. My phone goes into dnd at night, which means I don’t get constant pings from my daughters sending me non-funny tiktoks at 1am (which they do! often).
And plenty of guests send through a booking request late in the evening, some even at 1am, so they can hardly care if they get a checkout message at 7am. But again, put your phone into dnd and you won’t hear a ping until you’re ready to wake up …
remember that you are leaving today.
someone else posted something about people being able to pack up and be gone in an hour. NOPE. we’ve been astounded to watch people take 2+ hours to pack up and leave, not everyone is as efficient and wonderful as we savvy women who participate in this forum. I think you know that…
Well this thread really went off topic. Ultimately this issue comes up about 5 time a year. I’m going to address nicely in both my welcome message when I gather check in time and also when I sent check out info but only when needed. I want to thank the few folks that actually provided me with some usable suggestions.
lol, sorry! you are right. but such is the nature of human conversations.
there were some great options given, and my other new option: ask chatgpt. that thing is programmed to be uberpolite! I recently asked it to help me write something for my listings and it was bang on point, perfect.
from chatgpt:
When communicating with your guests, it’s important to maintain a polite and friendly tone. Here’s a suggestion for how you can ask about their check-out time in a polite manner:
“Dear guest(s), I hope you have been enjoying your stay with us. As we prepare for our next guests, we kindly request to know your planned check-out time. This will assist us in ensuring a smooth transition and allowing ample time to prepare the space for our next visitors. Please let us know at your earliest convenience what time you anticipate checking out. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”
By using a friendly and considerate tone and expressing your appreciation for their cooperation, you can politely ask your guests about their check-out time without coming across as intrusive or demanding.
@gillian In addition to the heart icon we need one for Ha ha.
Or as ChatGPT might say:
"Given the variety and nuance in online communication, I believe it would be beneficial to diversify the reaction options we have available to us on this forum. Right now, the ‘heart’ icon is a great way to show appreciation or agreement with a post, but it doesn’t cover all the responses we might want to express.
Consider, for instance, the instances where a post makes us laugh. A ‘heart’ can show we enjoyed it, but a specific reaction for humor could convey our response more accurately and would add an additional layer of interaction between users.
What about introducing a ‘Ha ha’ or ‘laughter’ icon? This could be used to indicate that a post has made us laugh, signaling not just agreement but also enjoyment in a more specific sense. I believe this could contribute to richer, more nuanced interactions on the platform.
What are your thoughts on this suggestion? I’m curious to hear other users’ perspectives and if there is a consensus on the potential for such an addition.
Remember to be polite and respectful in your suggestion, as this encourages a positive discussion and increases the chances of your suggestion being seriously considered."
And some here think I am wordy.
But WAAAAY too long.
Hence my desire for a ‘Ha ha’ icon.
Since I began my home based businesses of dog boarding and Airbnb, I have sent and received many messages outside of any hours one might consider “regular” or appropriate. I don’t believe it has had any negative effect on my business. It does seem that the responsibility for managing when one gets messages is shifting from the sender to the recipient.
Some of it was due to being in different time zones than my guests. Some of it was the nature of the business with people wanting to drop off or pick up dogs early or late. Before that, spam calls would start on my phone at 7 am because even though I’m in TX, I’m in that small slice in the far west in the Mountain Time Zone.
Regardless of which “real life,” one is living, since we each have our own idea of what that constitutes, you have to weigh your need to have certain information delivered to the guest against the understanding that not everyone is going to think your message or it’s timing is appropriate.
@Lynick4442 ultimately you can’t control what the guest does, regardless of how one words the request.
“What time are you checking out?”
quote=“KKC, post:36, topic:57593”]
"What time are you checking out?”
[/quote]
Yep, seems pretty simple to me.
Here’s the checkout message we send:
Good morning [guest first name],
We hope you have enjoyed staying at Tranquility Base Cabin and that you’ll consider signing our guest book located on the coffee table. This message is not intended to rush you, but just to remind you, that check-out time is [checkout time], and we may be arriving at that time to begin cleaning. We don’t charge a cleaning fee or service fees; so all we ask is that you please kindly do the following simple tasks before you depart:
√ PLEASE DO NOT WASH DISHES. We will be washing them in our portable dishwasher. Simply rinse thoroughly any used kitchen ware and coffee machine items and leave them in the sink. Leave any food that you don’t want, but be sure to put anything perishable into the refrigerator.
√ Please bag and tie trash (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen) and coffee grounds, in the provided bags, and place the bags in the wheeled tote located just outside under the bathroom window, along the north wall.
√ Regarding Recycling: Sadly, the local refuse company does not currently offer recycling pick-up services at our address. If you do not want to place your recyclables in the trash, you may leave them at a local non-profit drop-off center: Coyote Corner at 6535 Park Blvd in Joshua Tree (drop-off behind the store) uses proceeds from the donation of recyclables to provide free drinking water to travelers. Alternatively, The Cactus Mart at 49889 29 Palms Highway in Morongo Valley (on your way to the 10 freeway) donates their proceeds to the Morongo Preserve. {no @muddy, we’re not going to offer to haul their recyclables away for them. 
}
√ For safety, ensure that all propane units are off: barbecue, gas range, fire pit, and make sure the hot tub cover is secured.
√ Check for your personal belongings in drawers, closet, electrical outlets, and behinds doors, and please don’t forget to sign out of any streaming services on the TV before you end your stay with us, as we won’t be held responsible for any use of your personal streaming accounts by subsequent guests.
√ Close & latch all windows, turn off all lights, leave the Climate Control set at 70°F, lock the sliding glass door and then the front door as you exit.
√ Please send us a quick message to let us know you’ve left!
Finally, when prompted by Airbnb, please leave us an honest review, and if there is anything we can do better, let us know through the private feedback section. We’d also love it if you’d mention us on social media. If you’d like to recommend our cabin to friends or family, copy and paste our custom url below.
Instagram – Please follow us @tranquility_base_cabin
We look forward to hosting you again!
Thank you!
Bob & Tam
The primary notion, since we do mostly (95%?) 2-night stays, is that we don’t want to be giving them checkout info after only one night in the place. “Hi, did your check-in go smoothly? Good, now start getting ready to leave!”
But, I am thinking about it. And I’m sure you’re right; I can do better.
Suggestion to do better: cut way down on the words. Lots of words make it sound more polite and less demanding, but you can be succinct without being rude.
I like the suggestion of having a later checkin time. You could also block your calendar on days when you’re very busy. If I get to chat to the guest I ask where they’re going next, and offer suggestions how to get there by bus, taxi , Uber etc etc That way I find out via conversation when they plan to leave.
Generally I don’t bother with that though and manage the turn over with my husbands help.
Do you have a check out time listed on your page? They have a specific area on the page where you are supposed to list this information.
Our check out and check in time are not only listed, but also posted in the room. Check out time is 9:00 AM and check in time is 3:00 PM. We not only do the cleaning ourselves, we also live upstairs from the unit
Without any clear time boundaries set you can end up having people use an entire day they haven’t paid for.
I’m sure that @Lynick4442 does post the check-out time in her listing. I’m not sure that you can setup a listing without one! As an aside, your practice to post the check-in and checkout times in the room is one I’ve seen elsewhere too from some Hosts.
The OP is asking a different question, whether there’s a ‘nice’ way to ask guests whether they’ll be checking out early without putting off/putting pressure on the guest.
Posting the check in time in a room is a bit nonsensical, but in my rooms I pot a sign saying “Checkout is by 10 am”
I send my checkout instructions at 5pm the day before checkout. I have almost zero issues with guests missing that.
If I have a same day turnover I also send this message:
Sarah,
Just wondering if you had an idea of your checkout time, no rush just want to plan my cleaning schedule for the day.
Thanks!
It’s very much non-pushy and matter of fact and is received very well, I typically get a reply with more info like “my flight is at 10am so were leaving here at 8am” or something along those lines.
Then I relay this to my cleaner so she can get a jump on the days cleanings.