Yes, when other hosts cavalierly advise other hosts to arrange self-check-in, they don’t seem to be able to conceive of other hosting situations that don’t lend themselves to self-check-in at all. It’s like they are only relating it to the fact that it’s no big deal for them to offer it. A bush snake outside the guest door would never enter their minds.
My place is hard to find so I pick guests up at the bus station, an 8 minute drive for me. If they were to get a cab, the taxi drivers get lost- there are no street signs, and none of the house numbers go in any discernible order. So if a guest arrived late by taxi and I had gone to bed, I’d probably get woken up by an “I’m lost” phone call anyway.
My doors don’t even have knobs or latch handles. So no way to put a key pad on them. They are hand-wrought metal, with just a key lock. You turn the key and the door pops open. so the guest needs to be given a key and shown how the lock works.
There’s few street lights, and the one across from my house, that I’ve always hated, because it shines in the guest room, necessitating black-out curtains, and is a detriment to seeing the stars, burnt out in the last electrical brown-out. I’m happy about that, but it’s DARK out here for a guest arriving late.
I don’t have bush snakes, or other big dangerous or scary creatures, but there are scorpions. If guests don’t keep their shoes and clothes off the floor or shake them out before putting on, they could get a nasty and painful surprise. if they have food in their room or empty chip bags or cookie wrappers, the ants will move in, quickly.
And there’s a whole bunch of other stuff that makes it not viable for guests to check themselves in. In fact, I think guests would be confused and feel uncomfortable here to do so. I’ve had some guests who’ve travelled extensively in Mexico, and or live in the countryside at home, off grid, and are capable of figuring things out for themselves, but the majority are out of their normal element.
And I imagine most homeshare hosts who share indoor space with guests wouldn’t feel comfortable with some stranger letting themselves in for the first time when the host is asleep or not home. If they have a completely separate studio or guest house, that’s different. And once I’ve checked a guest in, oriented them as to where everything is and how it works, and am confident that they know how to unlock and lock the main door and their bedroom door, they are free to come and go as they please, regardless of whether I’m asleep, or out.
