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What is your opinion on 10AM check out times? It seems this is becoming the standard check out time for many Airbnb’s.
As a host, I get why this time is convenient. But I honestly think it’s too early, especially when many of these same places have a 4PM check in time.
I have an 11AM check out time and a 3PM check in time. I would prefer to have a 12PM check out and 4PM check in but it doesn’t work with school pick up schedules.
What’s your schedule and what factors went into your decision?
If I were a guest, I would find a 10am check-out time to be earlier than I would like on vacation, not being an early riser and a slow starter. I’m usually on my second cup of coffee at 10 
My check out time wouldn’t be relevant for you, as I leave a night between bookings, so my stated check-out time is 4pm. In actuality, the majority of my guests check out earlier than that, as they have flights to catch.
And as I only host one guest at a time in a private room, it only takes me about an hour and a half-2 hrs to clean and reset the bedroom and guest bathroom.
6+ years hosting, check out has always been 11 & check in 4. Seems standard in the AirBnBs that I’ve stayed in. There have been a cpl that had 10 check out, & I’m w/ @ Muddy on that. I’m not wild about scrambling around the night before, especially if there are chores to be done (a pet peeve of mine). My suite takes me 2-2 1/2 hours to clean, & as most of my guests are out early, I’ve had no problems, knock on wood!
Although, as this year’s slower than most, I rarely have a same day turn around, which is good & bad…
Here in Australia, 10 am is a pretty standard check out and my check in is from 2 Pm.
I always ask guests their approximate check in time and ensure they have my number so they can give me a 20 heads up as I do a meet and greet. That also gives me time to do a last minute walk through to make sure everything is ready
I use 11 and 4. Those seem to be the standard in our area. And they are somewhat aligned with flight schedules (we’re a fly-to location) for the majority of our guests.
But we’re pretty flexible even on same-day turnovers with late check-out (an hour or two) as long as the guests allow the housekeeper in and are mostly packed up by 11 AM. She assigns them one bedroom/bathroom (of three) they can use for their stuff and changing clothes, and they usually just hang out at our pool or in our gazebo until it’s time to leave for their flight.
I too offer check out at 11 AM and check in at 3 PM. I think 10 AM is too early. I block 24 hours in between so I have plenty of time to clean and can accommodate an early check in, if requested.
If I did same day turn arounds then I wluld offer 10 AM check out and 4 PM check in which would give me 6 hours to clean, even then I would feel rushed since it’s a whole house rental and many times small little things have to be repaired or replaced. Plus there’s the outdoor space that also needs attention.
You should keep the check in and check out time you currently have since it’s working for you.
I have 3 pm check in and 10 am check out. I do one night back to back bookings. If I didn’t I’d have 11 am check out. If I had a vacation rental I’d probably at least try a noon check out time. I’m also pretty liberal with allowing people in early if the room is ready or letting them stay longer if they need to. Often I will proactively message a guest if they arrive extremely late and tell them they have an extra hour.
The factors that contributed to the change (I used to have 11 check out) were the pandemic and my own desire to quit working so hard. The factor that contributed to keeping it was that I greatly preferred it and a don’t think it has negatively effected bookings.
You can always allow more time on a case by case basis but you can’t claw back the time if you need it for some reason. It’s an easy way to underpromise and overdeliver.
I do an 4 pm check-in and 11 am check-out. We did a 10am check-out last summer when we were cleaning ourselves, just to make sure we got up and going, but with a cleaner this summer, it’s back to 11am.
I’ve also added a $25 late check-out/early check-in fee. I’d never used one before but in my brief fling with a property management company, they charged a few and people didn’t seem to have a problem paying it.
11 and 4 here.
But I’d suggest that a host does what works for them - there’s no point being stressed about it.
I usually have back-to-back bookings in both apartments and 11/4 gives me time to prepare both (small) apartments if both have turnovers on the same day if I skip a few cleaning tasks that I’d normally do such as windows etc.
We have 10am checkout, 3pm checkin. I think a 4pm checkin cuts into happy hour here, and with early evenings we tend to have early mornings.
As a guest, I only look for properties that offer 12 PM check out as the earliest.
Well, you won’t find many of those, I suspect.
There are, and I only select those. 
As a host, how would you manage to adequately turn over one property (or two) without having a pre-noon check out?
I always need at least three hours absolute minimum and then with a 4pm check in I can almost always offer an early arrivals a free hour or so.
I didn’t say there aren’t any, just that there aren’t many.
You do realize that check in/check out times are directly related to whether hosts take back-to-back bookings or leave a night free between bookings, and how long it takes to clean the property?
If I saw a 3 bedroom place that took back-to-back bookings and had a check out time of noon and a check in time of 3, I would be wary of how clean it actually was.
They also depend on location and / or the hosts’ experience.
As mentioned above, when you’re in a location where most guests travel by air, you can be pretty sure what time your guests are going to arrive. And given time, I check the local airport website to see which flights, if any, are not on schedule.
If a host knows that the only flight coming in from Paris that day arrives at 9 am, then the host can give the guests information about where to go and what to do in the meantime.
I tend to tell the guests that I’ll text them when the rental is ready. Sometimes that can be a few hours before check-in time if the previous guests have left early.
So, if you know that the only flight of the day to Ankara is at 10 am for your departing guests and the only arrival from Dubai is at 2 pm for your incoming guests, it’s pretty easy to juggle.
Larger homes in tourism areas or beach areas operate in and out the same days. The cleaning staffs are busy and need the time to handle the homes without too much pressure. In these areas 10 out a 4 in is probably the best choice.
Also related is whether the host does all the cleaning themselves, or has a cleaner, or has a team of cleaners. Obviously 2 people can get the cleaning done in half the amount of time as 1, or at least should be able to.
Then there is the factor of the host’s own lifestyle. There are hosts who homeshare and work full time at another job, and may have a check-in window of 6pm-11pm , because they don’t get home until 5:30 and need half an hour to shower and take breath. And I think the majority of homeshare hosts don’t want guests doing self-check-in, because having a stranger you haven’t even met yet traipsing through your home with access to everything would just feel weird.
Sure, that host might get more bookings if they had a check-in time of 3, but it doesn’t fit their life circumstances or the nature of their listing, and also isn’t their main source of income, so whether they lose out on some bookings because of the check-in time isn’t something that weighs heavily for them.
As you can tell from the answers, there are many options. We’re a vacation/holiday destination, so most of our guests want to leave as late as possible and still catch their flight home.
I believe @KKC gets a lot of guests passing through that only need a place to sleep and shower, so 10 AM checkout probably works well for most of them.
Choose what works for you and adjust it as you get experience with your market.
We only have two rooms so we have a Noon check out and 2 PM check-in. People usually leave by 11 and come after 4 PM. If we have no one checking in we don’t hurry guests along at all.