Late Check-Out Request 'Bonus Opportunity' or 'Annoyance'?

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Maybe 20% of my guests ask for a Late Check-out from my current 10am time - usually to 11am, but sometimes even later. I am curious what other hosts do in such situations. Do you see it as a good opportunity? Or do you get annoyed or not like it and just say ‘No can do’?

When I began hosting I used to just politely say ‘No’. Unlike some hosts who only have one room or so, my 5 bed home takes a long time to clean properly - four hours on average. So a late check-out can put a lot of pressure on tight cleaning schedules - as most of my bookings are back-to-back.

But then I began charging a late check-out fee, and that went surprisingly well. However I then began a new approach of offering guests the option of a fee, OR the option to at least put all the towels on to a wash cycle.

That is it. No stripping beds etc - just that if you want to check-out 11am, that may be possible if you can agree to put on the washing of your towels. So long as they are washed by 11am when you leave - that works for all of us.

My two regular professional cleaners have said this works very well. They arrive 11am and the towels are good to go to the dryer, and a new load started. It doesn’t ‘slow them down’ as it used to.

I know this arrangement may not work for all hosts. I certainly don’t want to suggest anyone ‘should’ consider this. But would you? have you? Do you charge for late check-out? or do you just say ‘No, sorry - we can’t accommodate you?’

I always want to accommodate my guest needs as best I can, and giving choices… options seems to me (at least) to be the best for all. A slight additional revenue opportunity, though I far prefer guests to put on their towels. About 75% of the requests do the towels. Surprisingly about maybe 15-20% of all guests do the towels anyway - just because I note it’s an entirely optional help in my check-out note, and some guests seem to actually like doing this. Surprising, but there you go. There are good people out there.

I hope this hosting suggestion can help other hosts consider more creative strategies to this. We can be annoyed, OR see it as an option to give guests an even better experience in their stay - if we can collaborate together with guests and ensure our hard working cleaners are not impacted.

How do you manage Late Check-Out requests? What do you think of ‘collaborative’ approaches that support this?

<Small request. If we can please keep comments on-topic, and not personal. Everyone is able to host as they see fit - my way is only how it works for me. So if you disagree, please don’t be disagreeable in doing so - as our forum guidelines suggest! Let’s engage positively, and see how we can best support each other in creative and professional hosting strategies :slight_smile:>

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Literally 5 mins after I made my post on Late Check-out, I got this exchange of another guest leaving today. They didn’t even ask for a late check-out, but as they asked about the check-out time I pitched, and they seemed delighted. This is a common experience. I find many guests seem quite pleased to be accommodated, or to help engage in collaboration. Either way, it is always a positive experience (for me at least) when guests ask for late check-out.

They either pay an extra fee, OR do cleaning work (to help reduce cleaning expenses … and give the cleaner less stress) - so it works well for both sides. Only in cases where I have Early check-in coming that day do I occasionally say ‘Sorry, I can’t on this occasion’ - as it will be too tight.

I also offer the Self-Clean On-Arrival approach too, which is a bit more in this vein - but the Late Check-out of putting on the towels (a five min job for guests) or in this case a strip linen and wash… really helps make late check-outs a breeze for me. A positive experience. It feels good to help make guests extra happy. I know not all might want to do this though - but perhaps my experience might help some hosts consider - and rethink the late check-out request to be a bonus, and not an irritation.

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I get the feeling that you seem to be getting much more mindful guests as we do here.

Like I mentioned before, I think this is related to the type of accommodation you offer and where you’re located.

With our two little studios in the center of town and hundreds of guests, we had 2 reservations where the guests thoughtfully left the place in pristine condition, something they said would be the only way they treat someone else’s home.

All other guests seem to just try to squeeze every little penny of value out of the $60 a night including early check-ins/late check-outs (rare) without even offering to pay. When we don’t have BTB bookings we let them leave later at no cost as we clean ourselves.

In a different scenario I could see your approach working well - for us not so much.

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We always accommodate requests for early check in or late check out. Neither are annoyances, and we don’t ever charge extra, it is just part of our approach. Even where guests offer to book the night before as well just so that they can get in at 9am after a long haul flight, our response is always: don’t worry, it will be ready for you. They don’t have to do or pay anything more to ‘earn’ that flexibility. And our guests are without fail very appreciative of our hosting. But then, as we are deliberately not the cheapest accommodation around, I am not needing to wrest every last penny of profit on spurious ‘extras’.

And most significantly, unlike yourself, we also no longer schedule same day changeovers so host flexibility is just part of our normal business.

I’m guessing your guests in Australia are culturally very different to the ones we generally host in the UK.

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Love your approach — as a guest it would make complete sense to me and I would gladly “trade” another hour for throwing towels in the washer.

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Exactly. It’s literally five mins task - but having towels (often ten towels!) washed clean and ready by 11am makes the world of difference to my cleaners. I prefer this to ‘charging’ guests for late C-O in fact. Just seems a clear win for guests, myself, and for cleaners too.

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Great point! Yes, Australian’s seem a bit more laid back than those from the UK, which can be a bit more stiff and formal. It’s very rare to have guests sound even slightly annoyed to be given options such as ‘If you help a bit, we can better offer you what you want’ such as the Wash towels for late check-out option.

You are also spot on that the issue of late check-outs being a problem is far more for larger operations than just a room or two, and especially for back-to-back bookings. Certainly easy to grant later departures if you are not rushing with a tight time window to get things done for next guests.

I agree with you too. I am sure I could raise rates even more, given I am already back-to-back booked so heavily, but I actually prefer more guests than profit if that makes sense. I host as I like making other guests happy, so while certainly it’s nice to earn from operations - the guest reviews and messages are really nice, and I enjoy the social connection. Having more engagement with guests over collaborative tasks (that benefit them too) is definitely a good aspect that works for me. Regards charging - yes, I prefer NOT to charge for late check-out as I encourage the towels in the wash. It’s free for guests, but then means a bit less cleaning effort (and cost) so it works both ways. I only charge if guests have asked to pay as some do (and as per my screenshot), or they sound a bit stiff and less likely to be open to this arrangement (e.g. racing off early morning to the airport etc and no time).

Good to hear you are not the cheapest around, so you can focus more on quality - and having a day gap between certainly gives you more space to offer late check-outs and have more flexibility with cleaning. I used to do that, but now I figured how to get B2B working so well for me (with guest help on towels or even Self-Clean On-Arrival), B2B is less of a problem. Leaving gaps certainly would be a big impact, as many of my bookings are only one night though.

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You mentioned before that you were inundated with bookings when you had one night min stay setting. I get this is hard to manage, but it shows you have demand to ‘work with’ creatively, that is being blocked by min-stay setting.

You are (I presume) using min stay settings to ensure your work doing a clean / turnover is ‘worth it’. It is not if you keep your current cleaning fee or ‘Booking fee’ as I see it - the one off cost you apply to all bookings.

My Advice to consider if it works for you:
Duplicate your listing to allow you to list the same studio on a second listing.
Set a one night min stay. Set a much higher cleaning / booking fee - could even be $60, or certainly a LOT higher than you charge now. Don’t worry that it seems higher than others. Now Airbnb will give you some bookings on this second listing (Link to your first to ensure calendar sync). You probably don’t think you could get any at the much higher rate. But you will for sure. I was surprised but it is not uncommon. Now you can take one or two night bookings, and get paid the same as a two or three night booking, but using less dates. Higher average daily rate ADR. You can’t do this with your existing listing - you need to duplicate so you can set different min-stay or clean fees.
This approach isn’t related to Self-Clean at all mind.

There would also be a definite market for Self-Clean as well though, if you leave fresh linen in a tub under the bed, and market a separate listing as 1 day min, but you clean. I am sure you would get booked at $60 and not need to clean for it, thus giving more flexibility. So long as most of your bookings are professional cleaned, the others sort of fit in between and fill gaps.

It takes a bit to understand how it works, but you will for sure increase revenue, while also giving more guests opportunity to enjoy your space. Hope it helps - try it and see. I was surprised myself. If you have low value / high volume booking demand, it is a way to differentiate you in the market and increase revenue.

Some guests have booked me just because they see it as ‘Different’ and are curious - I’ve had comments that my listing stood out being novel, and they picked mine for this reason.

In Economics, if you are a ‘price taker’ you have to differentiate to grow revenue, else you are at the price floor like everyone else. Offering different style / services is a way to differentiate. I don’t think you should lower your prices, but you could offer ‘guest benefits’ like ‘Self-Clean’, and while this makes no sense - it actually works. It’s a market niche where some seem to want it - and it would address your concerns on spending too much time on change-overs for low value bookings.

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I have a hard time wrapping my head around your approach, specifically talking about charging as much for the cleaning as the cost of one night ($60/$60). First of all, I would price myself higher than most hotels - which is, usually, the reason why most of our guests book us because we’re cheaper than a hotel.

Secondly, we already receive a concerning amount of 4 stars for value as we’re offering a basic studio (no washer/dryer, no kitchen, no couch etc.). It’s a basic place for guests who are out and about instead of just hanging out or lounging around like at your place, where you have the space and the size of garden to enjoy even just visually.

As much as I would enjoy the personal side and chat with guests about their plans in the area etc. we rarely have the chatty type who likes to share. Actually, I would say 50% of the guests we get kind of want to be left alone as in not looking you in the eye when passing you as they get back or when they leave.

I envy a little the hosts who get guests that are social (explorer types) rather than disappearing all day in the accommodation and then coming and going multiple times during the night. :unamused:

I’ll give the double listing a thought.

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I completely understand your hesitation about pricing a 1-night stay with a high cleaning fee, especially if you’re worried it might make your listing less competitive than hotels. However, I think there’s a real opportunity here to attract more guests and increase your profits by testing a duplicate listing with a 1-night minimum and a higher cleaning fee.

Many travelers, like myself, choose Airbnb over hotels for reasons beyond just price, things like a unique vibe, a more convenient location, or simply because a hotel might be booked out. For example, I often search Airbnb first and am happy to pay a bit more for a place that feels special or fits my needs better. I last week I got my annual $100 Superhost voucher, which makes me even more likely to book with hosts like you - I can’t spend it on hotels.

You mentioned guests book because you’re cheaper than hotels, but I wonder if that’s the full story. It might be confirmation bias, because you have not seen the alternative. Some guests might be choosing your place for its charm or location and would still book even at a slightly higher rate for a 1-night stay. I sometimes book Airbnb myself without researching hotel prices (maybe I am just busy to check all rates when travelling), so hotels could be cheaper and I might not even know.

Creating a duplicate listing with a 1-night minimum and a higher cleaning fee could test this without risking your main listing. It’s quick to set up. Just a few clicks to copy your listing, adjust the settings, and publish. If you get a booking at a higher nightly rate, you’ll know it works. If not, you can tweak or remove it with no harm done. Hope it helps you earn more and work less :slight_smile:

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It feels a bit like having ghosts around, doesn’t it ? I almost always get the social types, at least even if they are busy and out and about most of the time, they are still friendly and we usually have at least one chat during their stay.

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If I don’t have a back-to-back check in, I offer a later checkout of 2 pm for a $30 fee.

I’m the cleaner and if I’m going to be inconvenienced by having to stay around to clean, then I want to be compensated.

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Agree, and I think that fee is fair. I usually charge $15 for a single room, or $30 for whole house - for one hour - IF I can easily accommodate them.

It’s fair to account for disruption to schedules, and more so if it was a B2B clean. But I prefer if guests take up the suggestion to at least put on the towels to wash instead of paying extra. Not for a single room guest, but with often ten guests / towels… having that washed when we come in at 11am means there isn’t much disruption at all, but the guests get what they want too.

And as Muddy and Hosterer commented, I also enjoy social interaction with guests. Ideally if I am staying there with them in person, but currently it’s more in messages these days.

I find though - the collaboration with guests (re optional tasks) can enhance the experience of hosting. May sound small, but chatting about these small tasks does increase connection - and it’s nice to see guests sounding delighted ‘to help’, even if they are doing so to make it easier to give themselves a late check-out.

It can weirdly feel like I am giving them a ‘bonus’ by allowing them to help sometimes. Long ago I assumed guests would just never want to, but that hasn’t been the case for the majority. I’ve almost never had a guest annoyed at being asked via ‘polite suggestion’ to trade some (entirely optional) tasks for Late Check-out.