Late check in that is against house rules?

1

I have my check in times set for 3PM to midnight. I’ve had several guests who knew full well their flight was arriving too late for that and notified me at the last minute. I do remind them of check in times in a message sent a week before their arrival. The last incident the guest said she would be checking in 8-9PM and then decided they were having fun and showed up at 1AM. I do like to check guests in to protect from third party bookings, bringing in extra guests and acquaintances they met locally. The time helps keep things quiet for neighbors and my family too.

So this is part of the house rules too. How far do you go with reinforcing something like this? I would definitely be lax for late flight arrivals beyond their control, but ignoring the rules because they want to stay in the bar until closing is wrong. Of course there is always opportunity to respond on reviews. Your thoughts and experiences?

2

My check in is 6pm to 10pm. I find late night check ins disturb my sleep and I am not paid enough to damage my health.
People can check in then go on their night out, why should we have to wait up for them? I have suggested people book an hotel for the first night if they have a late flight.

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3

We say “Check-in is 4-6PM. Late Check-in with prior approval only.” I did turn away someone who decided she was going to come “sometime in the evening”. I knew they were only an hour away. I repeated 4-6PM or cancel. She called Air, who called me. I explained the situation; Air asked if I could be more accommodating. I said “OK 9PM”. A hour later Air calls back and says they’ve cancelled and would I give a refund. I said NO, we have Strict policy for a reason. They said OK. I got to review the entitled twit, but they did not get to review us.

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4

My latest check in time is also 10PM. How flexible I am with that depends on the circumstances and what my schedule is like for the next day. It also depends on the level of communication I’m receiving from the guest.

If a guest booked a flight that was supposed to land at 5PM, but got delayed until 9:30PM, I can work with that, especially if they keep me updated. Guests who tell me they’ll arrive at 9PM and then, after I’ve messaged them for updates, message me at 10:30PM to tell me they’re an hour away because they decided to meet friends for dinner? Well, they’re usually out of luck.

One of the lines I use a lot is “Since we are not a hotel with 24 hour staff, I am unable to extend check in past 10PM.” It’s helped a lot.

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5

A couple of times Airbnb has come down on my side around guests who made little effort to make the 10pm deadline - cancellation no refund.

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I had a guest like that in August. She knew full well she had booked a flight that didn’t even land until 11:30pm, 1+ hours from my house, with my check-in window of 3pm-9pm. She then said she’d arrive by 1am but didn’t until something like 2:30am.

Turns out she and her bf were the one and only bad guest situation I’ve ever had. They did recreational drugs on my property and tried to light a joint while using the pool (we are a No Smoking property.)

So if you think your guest did it deliberately and expected you’d just go along with it, then they’ll probably disregard other House Rules as well. If it were me, I’d be hold to the stated check-in time.

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7

An airport hotel would have been perfect for these guests! I agree people trying to check in late is a red flag. It shows disrespect, disorganisation or lack of reading the house rules.
I had one who tried it on and I sent her to the youth hostel for the first night. She was the messiest guest ever, make up everywhere and staining the shower cubicle with hair dye.

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The idea of self checkin is freaking me out, but seems to be a condition for Airbnb Plus.

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I have self check in between 4pm and 12 am. I require all guest provide government photo ids before I send them the check in details. I also have a camera at the front door to verify that the guests arriving are the checks that send me the ids. My rules state that if they need to arrive after 12 am they must notify me by 6pm on the day of arrival or a $50 late check in fee will be added. When a guest asks for a late check in I then tell them that people are sleeping below and that they have to walk upstairs to their suite quietly and around the suite. This has made a huge difference and I haven’t been woken up since I added these rules. I have also added an early check in fee because I got tired of guests asking for an early check in, me rushing around to get the suite ready and them having them show up after my normal check in hours and never notifying me.

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