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I know not everyone is comfortable doing this but I use a lock box for late night arrivals. That way I can tell them in advance that I will probably be sleeping but they can get the key and let themselves in. If that’s the case with a guest I also tell them to CALL ME if they have any problems. I say that I put my iPhone on DND at night, and I will not hear texts but if they call more than once within a few minutes it will come through. This has worked out really well for me. One guest got in around midnight and actually did go to the wrong house (my across the street neighbors!). He followed me instructions and I was able to get out of bed and help him get situated.
Edit to clarify: I leave my lights on even if I go to bed, if the guest needs to use the Lock Box. I do not turn them all off.
Without lights, my guests would not be able to find, see the number pad, or see the door lock… I have to agree with @EllenN; this feels like a host error.
Last night, my guests arrived after dark (6pm). The lights were on. And they still stood on the sidewalk and called me to let me know they were there. When I asked why they didn’t come up on the porch to ring the bell, they explained that this was not customary in their country. It is possible, and likely, that I don’t understand the full implications of this answer since we were using google.translate on my phone.
A 45-minute delay during the day is absolutely no big deal at all. But when a host accepts a late-night arrival during normal sleeping hours and the guest arrives 45 minutes late - past midnight when someone is waiting for them so they can to go to bed - I personally look at that a little differently. To me it’s not “only 45 minutes” as it’s quite a bit more of an imposition than during the day. She was kind enough to accept a late arrival in the first place. But to each his own.
Agreed that when the host didn’t reply to the texts and with no lights on it would cause some concern for many people. That was my reason for suggesting she refund the first night.
Me too. I don’t meet any guests personally if they are arriving after 8 pm. And many do - probably about 25%.
I give full access instructions and leave the lights on so that they can easily find the way to their accommodation. If guests know the situation, they are okay with it. In many years of hosting this has never gone wrong and even though I give them my phone number in case of problems, it’s never happened.
To call the delay an imposition implies that it was under the control of the guest. As he was flying in, he had no control over his arrival time. I always ask guests for their flight information so that I can track the arrival time. Even with this, when guests have to clear customs and/or rent a car there is no knowing what time they will arrive. I maintain that the guest was quite put out and is due a full refund an an apology. If you agree to a guest coming late, you need to either stay awake, leave the front door unlocked or leave the key in a lockbox. No matter what, I believe a light should be on so that the guest knows someone is home, can read the address and can navigate the entrance. I don’t believe that it is the guest’s responsibility to carry a flashlight (torch for you Brits).
Agree, the guest wasn’t welcomed. In this situation, I would have made sure my phone was on and the light out front was on. I’ve had people come late, it’s not an issue here to leave the door unlocked, but even though they came at 0200, I had my brain awake enough to hear that they got in ok. That’s what we get paid for!
Timing: Agreed that there are many cases that may cause a delay when traveling. When I travel and need to ensure I’m at a place at a particular time I work in some extra time for those possible delays, especially if I realized that a late night arrival at someone’s home would mean that they were waiting up for me. I wouldn’t count all aspects of my trip to be “best case scenario” when estimating my arrival time. And I certainly wouldn’t expect my host to track my flight and consider all the timing on my behalf - I have to say that you are an exceptional host, Ellen, for doing that… bravo!
You and I will have to agree to disagree whether an extra 45-minute delay late at night is considered arriving “late”. Poor Cinderelle tried to wait up for him but fell asleep because he didn’t arrive when he was supposed to, regardless of whose control is was under. It was both of their fault and yet neither of their fault.
2). I completely agree with you regarding the lighting. I think he deserves a refund for the first night because those lights should have been on. Maybe then he would have tried the front door - and who knows? - it might have been unlocked. Cinderelle has already apologized and refunded that night because of it.
3). I believe we’ll also have to disagree on getting a Full refund because he still had the option of staying the second night which he had booked.
If I were the guest in this case I would have been grateful for getting a refund after arriving late (IMO I would feel partly responsible) but would have expected to either be inconvenienced by moving the next day, or forfeit my payment for night two at Cinderelle’s.
I appreciate your comments and where you’re coming from though, Ellen.
Hi J Wang,
I think you’ve mentioned before that your listing is a house or small building behind a main house? What if you had a colorful safety light in green or another unusual color so people could look for that. If they stand at the foot of the driveway could they see something like that?
Or one of those decorative flags you can hang on your front porch, I see them around here with exotic birds or some such thing that’s really bright and easy to spot.
this is a very good question and I know there aren’t any easy answers.
Having said that, what annoys me most about Airbnb is people who are arriving late. I had several nights waiting for guests who arrived VERY VERY late and I just cannot stand this any more.
So I now set a check-in time deadline of 10 pm. Trouble is, there is this guest who is supposed to arrive next week, late afternoon was agreed on. Booking went through, weeks ago, everything fine. Now all of a sudden he tells me he will be held up, and will not arrive before midnight. So I am in a similar situation as you were, and I simply don’t know what to do.
Next time, you should just cancel his booking the moment he is telling you that he is running 45 minutes late.
Couldn’t agree more. A 45 minute delay, meaning an arrival time way past midnight, is simply disgusting. If host says “welcome 24 hours a day, just come any time”, that would be different, but this is not what most hosts would say, imho.
thanks so much @Eberhard_Blocher! That is really late! I am going to have to stick to my check-in time - It is currently set at 9 - but when he asked, I honestly thought it would be fine! I know I am a heavy sleeper - but when those dogs bark I wake up instantly. It’s unfortunate that he did not even pull into my driveway as THAT alone causes the dogs to bark,. This guest simply did a drive by!
On your issue of the guest changing his arrival time - is it early enough for you to call AirBnB and see what they say, maybe they have a solution for you?
And being a single woman, living alone, I rent out rooms in my residence - I cannot allow people just to check in on their own the first time - something could happen as what happened to the host on here who said the gal who made the reservation NEVER even showed up with the guy that checked in! I would be horrified!
Thanks for the suggestions. A blinking light might help. I could put it on the railing of the upstairs deck I suppose? It’s mostly the foreign people who have problems finding my place. They may not have a data connection and haven’t gotten my instructions. Although it’s all clearly and briefly spelled out in the listing. Luckily I have really nice neighbors!
The guest is changing the term of the contract to something that is outside your posted acceptable times of arrival so you have every right to ask them to cancel the booking so that it isn’t a mark against you. Then again, if Airbnb is your main source of income you might want to put up with it if the lack of money would be a hardship.
Problem is… they booked it weeks ago and who knows how many potential bookings have passed by because yours “wasn’t available” because of these guests. For that reason I believe you should be compensated if your cancellation policy is “strict”.
I agree with @Cinderelle that Airbnb needs to be involved. You need to know where you stand, and them knowing these kind of things help to shape their policies.
I really think guests need to be more aware of where they are staying and reserve accordingly. If they want to stay in someones’ home and asks the host to make an exception for them is their “late” arrival firm, or might they push it further because they haven’t planned for those inevitable slow-downs? Better to add in that extra padding when planning and ask (in @Cinderelle’s case) if she would accept a 12:30am arrival, and then arrive 15 minutes early, for instance. Her answer might have been different.
If their already-later-time cannot be a firm one, I think a hotel is a better choice for them. Less headaches all-around.
(And the onus for making the appropriate decision should be on the guest.)
Thanks very much for your advice. Well, Airbnb isn’t my main source of income, and I would get along without it, somehow. However, with about US$ 4,000 a year (equivalent) in income through Airbnb, it isn’t an income source to be totally neglected, either.
I am sure a few potential bookings have passed since mine “wasn’t available” because of this guest (only one person). Certainly, I could be making an exception and stay up late to make him happy, but I don’t think this really is fair to others who were honest enough not to make a booking in the first place, if they knew they wouldn’t make it to my place before midnight.
I have the same issue with foreign guests, Chinese in particular, being unable to find our house or know where to park even though we state in our listing that guests may park in our driveway which is to the left as you face the house. We recently had a Chinese couple who speak English well, so we asked them. They said that to Chinese all the names for streets and passageways (street, boulevard, avenue, driveway, sidewalk) are confusing. They don’t have as many different names for the same thing and as they usually live in multifamily dwellings, they are unfamiliar with driveways. We have added a picture of our driveway with arrows showing where to park. Hopefully it will help. In the foreigners defense, I have been confused about addresses when I’ve been in foreign countries, Australia in particular.
There’s some frankly ridiculous language on this thread. Calling a guests 45 minute delay ‘disgusting’ is completely over the top.
A 45 minute delay should not result in a cancellation, no matter what time of day or night and I cannot see how Airbnb would agree to this. If the host accepts a guest arriving at 11.30 pm, The host should also expect that something may go wrong causing a delay. And if a host doesnt want to deal with check ins that go into the early morning, don’t accept a check in at 11.30pm!
The other day I travelled by coach to Paris and arrived a full 50 minutes later at my destination than planned, through no fault of my own as I wasn’t even the one driving. I would have been horrified if the host, despite my contacting them to update them then decided to cancel my booking leaving me on the streets.
This is a topic change. I’m too lazy to reread all this ranting about being sued over not accepting kids. I thought it was OK for short term rentals by hosts living at the site. We are both in this category I believe. We can state our preferences, huh?
I know that if you host or rent and you live on site and common areas such as the kitchen and the bathroom are shared you are permitted by law to rent only to a specific gender. I’ve looked, but I haven’t seen anything addressing California laws regarding short term rentals and children. If we have any attorneys who post, please weigh in.
Well, it depends. If the delay wasn’t your fault, then I totally agree with you. On the other hand, if guest is disregarding a 10 pm last-check-in deadline by planning to take a train that will, even it is bang on time, result in him arriving at midnight, then this is not an acceptable delay, but a disregard of my stated house rules done on purpose.
Anyway, all this doesn’t apply to me. I gave Airbnb a call today, as advised by @Cinderelle and @CanadianHost and was told that since I offer instant booking, I am entitled to three “free” cancellations if I don’t feel comfortable with a booking, for whatever reason. So I will probably simply cancel this late-night booking. Problem solved.
Cinderelle has already apologized and refunded that night because of it.