Yes it does. I just send my messages, hope all is well, checkout is 11 and I do not care if they answer or not. I do not see the issue here.
RR
For some hosts, it is an issue that guests do not communicate, especially after their reservation is locked down. For me, it boils down to simple manners. What somebody asks you a question it is only polite to reply. Apparently this is not the case for many people, Old-fashioned manners seem to be fairly nonexistent. I am getting more and more to the point of I will send the questions, ask if they need anything or if everything is OK with the house, etc. if they don’t answer and then they say something in the review, I can simply point out I asked you didn’t tell me you should’ve given me the chance to fix it, if it is warranted at that time.
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People on vacation do not care about the hotel staff or the hosts, its all the same to them for the most part. The only thing you can change is how it affects you, whether or not it upsets you is up to you. I choose to not care:)
RR
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I have my first silent guests and it is making me nervous. I have alerted my local contact so I will get a report if anything looks amiss once someone drives by. Last night there were no lights on when my contact passed the place … hopefully the guests just turned in early… are they even there? Laughing…
Guest booked a couple of months ago and never replied after I confirmed the booking and sent check-in instructions. Never replied a month or so later when I sent an email with local holiday event times and locations and a personal recommendation for the best vantage point in the county to watch fireworks. Never replied to the “we are looking forward to your arrival next week…” message… not even crickets replied.
None of the emails I have sent have directly asked for a reply, but it is a first that has just gone totally silent since booking.
Cannot rate on communication or mention in review because the platform they booked on is just one to five stars so I cannot help y’all decide on this one if he sends you a future request.
He will get 5 stars from me if there is no evidence he broke rules or the terms of the booking agreement and he leaves the house in good order. I can’t in good conscious deduct any stars just because he wants to pay me and not talk about it. Lol.
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I had to update. I just got my review from Silent Bob. It’s glowing. I am relieved. 
I have self check-in, and I understand it’s a completely different situation for hosted check-in. But it’s still helpful to me to know guests’ ETA, and my request for approx. arrival time is in the same message with their door code.
But very often I don’t get a response, sometimes with apologies after arrival. So my take away is that they are busy with travel prep and in transit, and messaging me is not their first priority. I get it.
You can’t change people, you can change your response or their environment (i.e. remote control thermostat if you don’t like temp fiddling). So now I just make sure the room is ready for check in at 2:00. If I’ve had to really scramble and then see their Uber pulling up 11:00 p.m. oh well, it just comes with the host job. Likewise departure, even if I see them leaving at 8 a.m., they might just be going out for breakfast. They might stop back for a pee before hitting the road. So I wait until 11:00 check out and bang on the door yelling “Housekeeping!” to make sure they’ve gone.
Adjusting my expectations has actually dialed down my host-ly annoyance level.
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Cameras cameras cameras
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If I see them going out with their bags then I message and ask if they have checked out. If they don’t reply I do bang on the door and go in anyway because it would severely and negatively impact my routine to wait until 11 every time.
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We are working on a solution for this; I have a thread that details why this isn’t simple. Rural life…
Now that you mention it I think I recall it is related to expensive internet?
I have noticed the exact same thing! I always send a message the night they arrive and guests used to respond. Now, not a peep unless they need something. I think it’s a lack of common courtesy.
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Not just expensive, but very limited data too. We are looking into options. Meanwhile, my people are very close. There are eyes on the place at all times, but you wouldn’t know that as a guest, you would never suspect how close my spies are.
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The hills have eyes. LOL. Frankly I pretty much expect that I’m being watched by someone somewhere anytime I am outside my home. Everyone has a camera on their person and take a video of me and upload it to the universe instantly. Luckily it doesn’t bother me to think about it. For those who think being outside is “private,” I feel badly.
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