If you haven’t had to deal with unexpected early arrivals or late departures from your Airbnb guests, consider yourself lucky. Often, due to no fault of their own, Airbnb guests could find themselves in these situations.
Maybe they were expecting to meet with friends before checking in but found themselves stood up. So instead of wandering around town lugging their suitcases around, they call you to check in early. But you’re not done cleaning the place yet. What do you do?
Or maybe they were expecting to check out but their flight was delayed and now have extra time to kill. They’d rather stay than show up 6 hours early to the airport. But you need to clean and get the space ready for the next guest. What do you do?
As you can see, early arrivals or late departures can be stressful for both the guest and host. Follow these tips to make sure you are prepared for these situations.
Minimize Unnecessary Early Arrivals
It’s tough enough to deal with the unexpected early arrivals so don’t volunteer to take on unnecessary early arrivals.
Do not offer early arrivals directly on your listing. This is the surest way to create insanity for yourself as a host. Just imagine dealing with check-in requests that range from 12-4pm on any given day.
Coordinating and keeping track will be painful even for just one or two listings, a nightmare with more.
So in your listing, be specific and direct with your check-in language, something along the lines of: “Check in is anytime after 4pm.”
There is no ambiguity there. Of course, if you’re doing physical check-ins, you may want to put a time range (e.g. 4pm-9pm) so you don’t risk frequently having to do late night check-ins.
Better yet, be among the growing number of happy hosts utilizing smart locks and keypad locks for remote check-ins. So whether the guest arrives at 4pm or 4am, as long as they’re not an early arrival, they can let themselves in on their own.
[su_box title=”Top Recommended Locks for Remote Check-Ins”]1) SoHoMill Keyless Keypad Lock
3) Schlage Connect BE459NX Touchscreen
4) Schlage Z-Wave Connect Works with Alexa
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We recommend that hosts use the lowest technology locks that get the job done before considering high tech gadgets–keypad locks with fewer moving parts are less likely to break down, requires less frequent battery replacement, and often less explanation than their “smart” counterparts (esp if with less tech-savvy guests).
Handle the Luggage for Both Early Arrivals and Late Departures
Your guests will have luggage. And if they’ve traveled far to stay with you, chances are good they’ll have plenty of it.
Whether they’re arriving early or leaving late, your guests will show you immediate gratitude if you can unburden them of their luggage, even for a few hours.
It’s bad enough that they don’t have a place to check in to yet or have no place to go after checking out. Add to that loads of heavy luggage they have to take with them?
But it doesn’t have to be that way! As a host, you can have an easy fix–provide a way for them to stash their luggage while they wait.
How? Keep a large storage bin outside the house. In the backyard. On the patio. Somewhere safe and accessible. But make sure to use a combination padlock for added security. This simple solution will earn you grateful and happy guests.
Have Recommendations for Your Guests
Now that you’ve lightened their load by storing their luggage, go the extra mile by having fun recommendations for your guests to kill time while they wait.
Recommend things to do, foods to eat, places to see, things to do, where to get some work done, etc…
By doing so, you’re either making a great first impression with an early arrival or a great last impression with a late departure.
What are your hosting tips for dealing with early arrivals or late departures?
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Look for services that store luggage. We have in Hawaii
Wonderful and very useful suggestions…Thanks so much!
I’m going to buy one of those storage chests… I love it! Guests can walk to restaurants and bars close by while the cleaning crew does their thing. Also, if I get big storage, they can store skis and strollers without dragging them into my house and damaging floors. Love it!
We use a a key lockbox with the code changed for each guest (set to last 4 digits of their phone number).
Normal check-in is clearly stated as 7pm as we have day jobs and do housekeeping 5-7pm.
Knowing 7pm sounds late and in order to accommodate guest that arrive early, we allow them to enter premises and drop off luggage with the understanding that they leave and return after 7pm.
Been doing this for 2 years and it works well. Guests appreciate the option as would I if I were in their shoes. For late checkout or guests leaving for the weekend and coming back for separate booking, we have stored excess luggage in our half basement for free.
I am very thankful for learning from a girlfriend when I first started renting out. That when people arrive early tell them they can enjoy the outside of the cottage but no one was coming in till the cottage was clean .
Thank you for your suggestions!!!
I enjoy meeting my guests on arrival, so I begin texting them ahead of time with check-in details and ask that they reply with an ETA. Nearly every guest has been close to the ETA or alerted if they were running late. Our Airbnb is on property, so it works out well as long as I don’t have an appointment, however, in those cases they can check-in on the keypad with the last four digits of their cell number and I’ll arrange to meet them later. And you guys who clean in two hours: who does that?! I have an 1800sf apartment that takes 4-6 hours to clean. My hats off to you. That’s definitely some sweat equity!
I found the best way to discourage unwanted early/late check in/out is by being up front that there is a charge and must be prearranged. People seem to pay attention when it affects their bottom-line. It doesn’t have to be much, $10 usually does the trick.
Great recommendation Ashley!
We also use keypads to lock and unlock doors. Guest staying less than 3 days tend not to bring that many luggages.
I use the guest’s check in date as their key code to enter the house eg arrive on July 4 , code is 0704. This way I don’t have to look up their number to remember what the code is to remove it when they depart. Super easy for both host and guest.