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I’ve been coming here once in a while to read up on tips and tricks and so far it’s helped me be a better host and be vigilant on things that might occur, so to that, thank you everyone.
That said, I really havent had any -real- bad guest yet, but I have had people stretch the rules a little. The most noticeable one is where people doesn’t seem to be punctual, staying sometimes an hour or an hour and a half after their check-out time or requesting to come an hour and sometimes even three hours earlier…
For the check-in, if it’s empty and i’ve elready made up the place I might be forgiving and let them in (there’s a huge bias here on my part depending where people are from or how they ask)
As for the ‘late’ check-out. One one person thus far (I’ve hosted maybe around a 100 groups so far) has asked me, in which if it’s possibly, I comply, but the largest majority of them don’t mention it and just overstay they’re welcome. It’s not as bad where I would be barging in and expecting them to leave as this time discrepancy might eventually leave me with a bad review (yes people can be that petty so I would rather choose to avoid it)
My check-in is at 15:00 - 22:00 and my checkout is at 12:00.
Does everyone else have this experience? How do you handle it?
I’m pretty fortunate that most people confirm when they want to check-out. For example, we had someone check-in today. She said she was going to check out at 9am on Friday, go to class, etc. As she’s over from the east coast for a course, we offered for her to check-out after her class (e.g. 5pm) so she didn’t have to lug her suit case around.
We also meet all of our guests on check-out so we confirm the time they plan to depart. This forces them to ask for a late check-out if they need one.
I am flexible when I can be but if I have another guest arriving then I text the guest the day before departure confirming that I will meet them at 10 am (my departure time) the next day and I always turn up at that time. That normally works but even if they are running late, me hovering outside gets them to pick up the pace!
The same way as any other house rule - discuss travel plans with your guests in advance, be firm yet friendly and stick to your guns. Suggest places where they can wait, coffee shops, sights to see etc. and if you can, offer to store their luggage.
You might also want to increase your preparation window. For example, I like 11 am checkout and 4 pm check in. I don’t really need five hours to turn over the rental (three hours usually) but it gives me more wriggle room to accommodate an extra half hour or so each way.
I’m with Jacquo – tell them the day before, certainly the day of check-out, that they need to be gone by 11 AM (little white lie, sometimes) “because I have new guests checking in this afternoon and need the time to clean and ready the place for them.”
I’ve never had anyone try to force the issue; but if so I would tell them “no exceptions, I have work to do” and give them the locations of parks and coffee shops where they can kill some time.
I do the same as others. I text them the afternoon before and remind them of the checkout time and ask them to send me a text or message when they leave. I’ve only had one person check out late that overslept, and one other that left 5 minutes late. Most have actually left early. We had checkout at noon and check in by 3, but recently changed it to 11am to give us an extra hour.
We try to keep an open communication, and we try to accommodate guests needs the best way possible. If guests chose not to communicate with us about check-in or check-out the official timetable stands.
