Militaryhorsegal,
In this case, you are spot on! She was not only 3 hours later than she committed, which was long after the published check-in time, she got lost following GPS after I instructed her not to follow GPS in our rural area. Then she called me and said I gave her the wrong directions??? To add insult to injury, this guest and her girlfriend have ended up being the dirtiest guests I have EVER had. One or both left blood on and under the toilet seat, gobs of hair in the tub/shower, and a very smelly guestroom after their departure. They ended up leaving just 5 minutes before the departure deadline. I have spent 3 times the amount of time to get the room ready for my next guest. To be fair, I do have a high standard for cleanliness and sanitation but this guest was bad from the beginning. I am waiting at least a week to review her because I don’t want to publish an emotional response. I’m not even sure I will review her at all. I have had countless excellent guests! Many I would invite back as friends. I guess I was bound to get a bad apple sooner or later.
Er, if you don’t review this guest and their dirtiness, how are we hosts going to determine whether they want to host this guest?
Sorry but I have to add to the general tone here. If you’ve no concern at all for your fellow hosts you won’t review. If you do have an inkling, then review.
I’m interested.
Have thought of the real tine drive tracking but most people do not want us to have that ability…in my experience.
Oh my goodness! What was I thinking???
Okay, point taken. I will certainly review them. Not sure what I was thinking…
You are right, jaquo, other hosts have a right to know the truth about these two guests. Airbnb is built on trust and dependability. Point taken! I would NEVER want these two again! #weedThemOut!
Thank you. We have to stick together and help each other 
This current post reminds me that @candycanehost hasn’t been heard from since she was awaiting her late check-in. 
Here’s hoping that she fared better
This scenario is entirely different than the situation with my guests. @candycanehost’s guests had circumstances completely out of their control. I would have left a key under the mat and said, ‘come on in’. My guests promised to be here at a certain time but were partying with friends 20 minutes from my Airbnb. They simply assumed too much!
I would love to hear how it all worked out with @candycanehost
Sorry but I’ve got to ask … did they simply ‘assume’ or did you tell them that they HAD to be there at a certain time or they wouldn’t get in?
They assumed that checking in late meant whenever they FELT like coming in and not their agreed time. They assumed that it was okay to NOT follow directions given to them when they reserved our Airbnb, and could call us at 11:45 telling us they were lost. They assumed that NOT wiping up their bodily fluids (blood) on the toilet seat was okay. Our rules are clearly stated. As I said at the outset of this conversation, It is my fault that I bent the rules for them. I won’t be doing that again.
Yep. I know this sounds weirdly like some sort of animal training - and I don’t want to imply that guests are animals - but once you’ve shown weakness, they are going to make the most of it.
Yep! My policy has now changed because of this incident.
I understand what you’re saying about the “illusion of control”. But I have to say that checking guests in personally has made a big difference in guest behaviour. Yes, they still stain towels and occasionally make a mess BUT they are generally far more respectful and don’t annoy neighbours.
To clarify - the property I manage nearby is on the top floor of a tenement. It is the only STR in the building. Originally I was just the local contact for guests to collect keys so, in essence, it was self check-in. Often there were problems with noise, guests not understanding how to operate the locks, where it was ok to smoke etc etc.
Since I took on the management, there have been no such problems. I explain everything in person on check-in in a friendly but firm way. The only issue so far this year was with one group who arrived much later than the woman who booked. So I only met her and she seemed nice and respectful (yeah…I know). But then all her mates arrived and caused havoc, smoking on the stair, being really loud etc. The most annoying thing is that the neighbour who has my number and knows to call me immediately if there’s any problem decided it was more fun to be passive aggressive and then complain to me afterwards. But that’s a whole other story!!
Anyway, I am not convinced by the argument that self check-in , particularly in a home-share situation, is just the same as checking in guests personally. It’s not my experience.
Well, I certainly didn’t say that it is. In fact, I must have 100 posts here on the forum advocating for being on site.
I’m simply saying a rigid need to control every check in might be unnecessary in some cases and counterproductive to remaining an airbnb host that can make a net profit. As I said earlier in the thread it doesn’t actually make sense for me to advocate self check in to my competitors.
I host in my own home, but I love self check in. People clearing customs could be delayed for hours. I leave a snack for them.
Other times they are just enjoying themselves, so quite frankly so do I!
I once had a guest who took great offense to not being personally received, but clearly he was the exception.
And i had a guest who complained bitterly about me meeting him on site.
He much preferred a self check in and I told him that if that is what he preferred then that is what he needed to book! My properties are over 100 years old and need an explanation on various things and I LIKE to do a head count.
There was a certain amount of deliberation in “misunderstanding” your comment; I was fully aware of the dreadful massacre in El Paso.
I don’t understand; if this is what you really believe, why do you keep your father’s gun?
On a wider front, I have found some of the comments made in this thread judgemental at best, even nasty.
There seems to be something about this time of year. It became unpleasant at about this time last year, when a few of us stopped posting for a while.