Im surprised its considered ‘creepy’.
I don’t meet my guests on arrival every time, but i try to see them sometime during their stay. I definitely message them. It also depends on where they’re traveling from. If it’s been a long haul, i say hello a day or two later, after they have rested.
This.
Why we do not do self checkin.
Any issues are dealt with very promptly.
Our space is unique, though, and people have no idea what it is. They often comment positively about the welcome tour in their reviews. Maybe that is why we are not booked solid? Potential guests not wanting human contact, can stay elsewhere, far away and miss out. I don’t bother guests after arrival except by brief private text twice, confirming they are happy and comfortable and a third time to ask if they want to say bye. I think they love it that I’m available if needed to answer questions in person or by text rapidly, and they say so! A good part of hospitality is showing that you care.
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Yes - I think that guests who do not want ‘the tour’ might be happy to know that it is not mandatory in an airbnb, and might chose the location for this reason.
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I highly doubt that gypsy’s place or mine aren’t booked solid due to the kind of guests who would be attracted to our off-beat places in the first place, being put off by not having self-check-in. Following that logic, all listings with self-check-in and good reviews would be booked solid, which obviously isn’t the case. There’s a whole lot of reasons why places aren’t booked solid.
Different types of listings attract different demographics of guests. A place that attracts business travelers or large groups, or that are entire houses with off-site hosts, or guests who are travelling internationally and feel uncomfortable trying to communicate with a host who may not be fluent in their language, may indeed attract guests who prefer self-check-in.
Seems like guests who want no interaction with the hosts, or to never even see them would stay away from places where the host lives onsite.
I have never gotten the vibe from any of my guests that they were antsy for me to shut up and bugger off during the 5 minute orientation, even that they were politely trying not to show it, and after homesharing since 2016, I’m pretty sensitive to whether guests are the chatty types who like to interact with the host, or more private types who I will see and hear little from during their stay. Neither type has appeared to resent the host check-in process.
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When I first started my AirBnB I thought it would be nice to meet the guests and show the around That got tired pretty quickly since it meant I had to arrange to meet them at a time that suited them and played havoc with my schedule for very little benefit. I then installed a smart lock on the apartment door and send the code to the guest a few hours before arrival. I have never looked back.
Self check-in wins every time!
Just today I had an Airbnb experience as a guest where the host had to greet me on arrival, and also had to check me out the next morning … what an absolute pain!
Having to get to the property on time so the host wasn’t waiting around, getting the “grand tour” as if we’d never locked a door, used a shower, set up wifi access or turned on the aircon before, having to provide a departure time then waiting around for the host to show up the next morning so we could hand back the keys, the little talk before we left about giving a positive review … you get the idea.
In general, as someone who travels a lot, my first choice is a hotel (booked directly if possible, otherwise using booking dot com), then an apartment/holiday rental via booking dot com (almost always cheaper than Airbnb when a place is listed on both, and always self check-in in my experience).
An Airbnb without self check-in is at the very bottom of my list.
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You do realize that your host-check-in experience is not the way all non-self-check-ins work?
Mine certainly doesn’t, because I live on-site. No guest has to check-in at a specific time, the Wifi code is on a card in the guest space, it takes no more than 5 minutes for me to point out things that aren’t self-evident, and I don’t have to be present when the guest checks out- they can just leave the key in the room or hide it somewhere on the balcony, no “little talk” about reviews.
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As an airbnb with only self check in, thank you for your service! Hosts like you mention drive bookings to our airbnb, and the comments upon leaving are always positive (“felt taken care of and left alone”).
Please, from a host using airbnb income to survive, host with instant book turned off, no smart lock entry, and the ‘tour’, keep it up! My income depends on you…
I think that is a fantasy, but one you are entitled to. I have never gotten less than a 5 star review, with 5 stars for check-in. Not one guest has complained or seemed in the least bit annoyed about my host check-in process, that there is a physical key, or that I don’t have IB. And I get steady bookings and consistently great guests.
We all have specific experiences. Mine, like yours, is accurate and meaningful.
“Felt taken care of and left alone” is essentially what many of my guests have said in their reviews, despite not having self-check-in.
Unless you have had multiple guests tell you they specifically booked your place because you use IB and self-check-in, you really have no basis on which to assume that the host-check-in, Request to book listings in your area are driving bookings to your listing.
Of course, I agree that if guests have had experiences like @alby’s, with overly chatty or controlling or invasive hosts, whose practices inconvenience the guest, they would be inclined to look for self-check-in listings in the future.
My point was that there isn’t some standard, to-be-expected, host-check-in process that guests find annoying.
It’s like property-manager listings vs. host-managed. Some property managers do a fine job, and others do poorly. If a guest has had a bad experience with property-manager listings, they may look for host-managed listings in the future. If their experience was unproblematic, they would have no reason to feel they should avoid those listings.
Every host is different.
I make it plain in my listings - for those guests who read it - that I live in an apartment within the small complex. So I’m right there on the spot.
In other words 'if you’re up to no good, if you plan to sneak extra people in, or have a party or anything at all I might object to, then don’t book here. Ever."
This, of course, is couched as being for the guests’ convenience - ‘an on-the-spot concierge to help you with anything you may need’.
And I meet and greet all guests unless they are arriving at bizarre hours. The guests have to arrange their arrival to suit me, not the other way around.
I am not patronising to my guests so I don’t explain to them how the showers work, how to lock the doors, how to set the thermostat and so on - my guests tend to be civilised human beings.
But I see nothing wrong, in fact it’s helpful, to show them where the beach towels are, that the fresh fruit in the bowl is intended for them, that tourist info, restaurant menus and a useful selection of local money-off coupons are in the drawer. Etc.
A five minute meet and greet is an essential part of the sales procedure for me. It’s part of my job, done at my convenience for my benefit.
Other hosts prefer the convenience of self-check in because ‘guests prefer it’. I do, when I’m a guest, but I want to keep my apartments booked year-round and the meet and greet is an essential part of that.
To each his own.
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I mostly received less than 5 stars only when I used self-check-in for my guests. I conclude that it’s harder to criticize someone you know, like, or understand than an imaginary host or owner. On the other hand, as a guest, I enjoy being left alone for check-in. However, having only this feature does not make me give 5 stars to the host.
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We have a guesthouse overlooking our pool, and is less than 15’ from the main house where we live. It has been our policy to meet and give our guests a brief “orientation” upon arrival - no matter what time they arrive. We do mention that we “greet all of our guests” in the introduction to our listing, and i believe that gives opportunity to those who don’t want any human interaction to not book with us. We just received review # 1,100, and our average rating is 4.99. If you look at our reviews it is a bit surprising that it almost seems they are reviewing us as much as the listing itself. I also believe that when a guest meets you face-to-face and realizes that actual humans are associated with the listing, they tend to take much better care of your home/rental. Additionally, and something we did not expect, we have made many friends through meeting our guests. Seriously, we have Airbnb guests who randomly contact us to see how we’re doing, send us photo’s of their kids, and we’ve even received Christmas cards! For us, this is yet another way we can distinguish ourselves from checking in at one of the many hotels in our area, and so far it has worked well for us.
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And this is why listings are non-transferrable. Even if guests review the listing more than the host, you could have the most beautiful, luxurious place in town, but if the hosting is poor, it’s going to get bad reviews. Or vice-versa- a simple, no frills listing can get consistent 5 star reviews if the host takes good care of their guests.
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