So, about a month ago our next guests booked for one night, Wednesday 11th to Thursday 12th December. No details about what they’re coming here for and when they’ll be arriving. After two messages from me, they reply this afternoon (Tuesday 10th) - they’re arriving at 11.30pm - our check-in time is 2pm to 10pm. I message back pointing this out, but say I’m willing to make an exception. They message back - “many thanks - see you tonight”. What?? I message back to confirm their booking for tomorrow - they reply - “we’ve made a mistake in the date, it’s today”. OMG! Fortunately we’re ready for them, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this stay already! Guests - can’t live with them, can’t live without them!
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I’d so be tempted to say “sorry, not available tonight.” I know you were worried about a lack of bookings a few weeks ago and probably too nice to do that anyway.
Now watch, they are going to be charming and some of your favorite guests ever. 
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I had guests like these who made a mistake booking, so I had to modify the reservations. I wouldn’t say they were the worse, based on what? I routinely show up at late hours when traveling because if I drive, I start after work. We have so little vacation in this country that I can’t afford to miss a day of work and waste it on driving. For what’s worth I always check with the host, before even booking if it’s OK to arrive late. Or I simply pick a place where the host does not live and I can arrive at whatever time.
Me as a host, also made mistakes, mixing up people’s arrivals and having double booked a room for at least a couple of times. I gave my own bedroom to guests when I did that.
I like to think that everybody makes mistakes, hosts and guests and I personally wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that some people are the worse guests just because they booked the wrong day. I for example never know what day of the week or what date is today if you ask me quick. Some days feel like saturday, some like monday etc… Thank God for phones and Alexa! And yes, I am prone to errors and I have to triple check the dates when I make a reservation because it is so easy to put the wrong date in.
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Definitely submit a change to the reservation dates through Airbnb. In the message that goes with it to the guest, tell them (nicely) to accept the change. I would stop them at the door if they don’t accept it before arrival.
If you end up with any problems, and they stay with you on a night that they’re not booked for, Airbnb may disavow all knowledge.
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Please make sure you get Airbnb to change the date on the booking confirmation so you are covered if there is a problem with these guests in terms of behaviour/damage @southendbootboy
Personally I only accept guests who provide check in times and a reason for their stay. If they ignore my booking conditions and my follow up messages, I get Airbnb to contact them and ask them to confirm or their booking gets cancelled.
It helps avoid this sort of last minute confusion and if a guest wants to check in outside of my check in frame it means I can ask Airbnb to cancel.
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I hope you get the reservation changed before you let them in.
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I hope they aren’t trying to cheat you out of a day’s rent…they are arriving so close to midnight and if they’re a bit later than 11:30 they may try to say it’s technically the 11th and try to get 2 nights out of you for the price of one.
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So @southendbootboy what happened? Did you get the reservation changed? Are they really the worst ever?
RR
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Ok, they managed to change the reservation. I went to pick them up at the station when they arrived at the station at 11.45pm. She was very pleasant, he was a bit full of himself - to use a UK expression, if he was a chocolate drop he would have eaten himself. Obviously they were exhausted after a three-and-a-half hour rail trip, so I made them a cup of tea and they went to bed. They asked for breakfast at 8.30am (I actually serve a bit of breakfast for our guests - it’s nice to chat and see if they need anything).
Anyway, breakfast was ready at 8.30 as requested - and they came downstairs for it at 10.15am. Not that I’ve got anything else to do today, of course, just wait on guests.
They left about an hour after check out time.
So - how to review? - nice people but not the best communicators? If I hadn’t messaged her about their arrival time, they would have been knocking on our door at nearly midnight last night expecting a room - when they were actually booked for tonight.
You couldn’t make it up!
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booked for wrong day, didn’t communicate about check in as requested, didn’t honor check in or check out times. Disrespectful of the host’s time.
I know we say better suited for a hotel is an empty thing to say but these guests truly should stay in a hotel or a self catering Airbnb. That sort of self absorbed behavior is ill suited to your wonderful hospitality.
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And I hope this is snark on your part because being “exhausted” by a rail trip is ridiculous.
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Especially a 3 1/2 hour trip! We do day-trips that long. These people were a piece of work. Might have been better to block off the night once they revealed the actual night they were arriving. Ah, hindsight. Definitely note all of the issues in the review. I like @kkc’s straight forward and simple. I especially like
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I thought the same thing…
I do too. I will have to remember to use that one next time I have guests that do that.
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Review as written but not yet posted:
Guests were friendly and tidy, but they did not communicate well. We enquired about their anticipated check-in time – eventually, the day before their expected arrival, they said they were arriving at 11.30pm, much later than our stated 10pm limit. It also turned out that they were intending to arrive that day – they had booked for the wrong day. Upon arrival they said they’d like breakfast served at about 8.30 to 9am – we provided breakfast as requested but they didn’t appear until 10.15am - disrespectful of the host’s time. Guests might be better suited in a hotel or a self-catering Airbnb rather than staying in host’s home.
I intend to rate then as 1* for communication, 5* for cleanliness (they were very tidy) and 4* for observance of house rules (check-in time).
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I’d probably leave this judgment statement about respect out and let the next host decide how to evaluate them not coming down for breakfast. Instead I’d mention that they checked out late. For a host like me that can be a major problem.
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I had bad vibes from a guests that had not yet arrived and was staying only one night. He stated that he would be arriving around 5 pm and leaving the next day around 2 pm, 3 hours after my standard checkout time and then the day before his visit he messaged to “confirm that he and his girlfriend”. Well he had requested my place for only 1 guest. One you request a late checkout if you need one to see if it is available. I let him know that it would be a cost if he needed to stay more than one hour past regular check out and that he needed to adjust his request for two people. Needless to say, until his stay, I only had one guest that I would not invite back. Now after his stay, I have two. I hate to say it, but he left his dirty underwear in the covers.
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I had some lovely panties left behind but they ended up under the bed. It doesn’t seem to me that underwear getting left in a bed is a big deal at all. I’ve also had many wonderful guests who booked for one but there were two of them. They weren’t lying about it, they simply didn’t adjust the drop down menu when they booked.
Honestly, if this is your worst guest, and the one you don’t know how to review as posted on another thread, you are either a new host or have had exceptionally good guests.
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We get lots of underwear and socks left in the beds. I never thought anything of it.
Now, the disposable contact lenses stuck on things…that’s freaks me out everytime I find one.
I have had wonderful guest that make hosting a great experience. I shared my honey jack with one guest and they left me a 1.75 liter. Another guests left me a beautiful scented candle and chocolates. So maybe I am used to just great guest.
When it’s your own bed it’s OK to leave your panties or underwear for you or your partner to retrieve. When you leave your dirty underwear for a stranger to pick up, it is not OK to me. It is not respectful or a show of cleanliness.
In one of his reviews, it said that more people stayed then were on the request. In the request, he specifically stated that he would be in town to visit a friend and for work at a govt. building; nothing about a girlfriend was ever mentioned until the day before when he wrote to confirm his booking.
I may not be the right fit for some guest and they can tell from my listing. I come from an era of respect and consideration.
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