Post by High Priestess on Oct 13, 2015 20:59:47 GMT
Stephen and Branden shared on Oct 13 2015
Guest wants to check in early - what do I do?
Hello everyone, I have a guest checking on on Friday who would like to check in early. I explained to her that if we had no one staying the night before there was a possibility she could check in early. Otherwise our check in time is 3pm. The guest asked if either way she could arrive early and just wait in our living room for the room to be cleaned. I can't help but be a little annoyed about this.. Should I be? Or am I rude for not allowing her to come early. Thanks for the help. I'm just not sure what to say to her.
Kim:
I don't allow early check in. You can't get back that first impression, and even if they say they are fine waiting in the living room, it's not the best first few hours with your guests. You need to clean up their room, but don't want to ignore your guets right off the bat. She can go to a coffee shop or do a tourist activity before she checks in.
Raymond & Elaine (elaine)
How early is early ? You could charge an early check-in fee and let her wait in your lounge. You could accept that she dropped off her luggage for a fee or free.You could offer her the room for the night before at full price or reduced price. You could stick to your guns and say no sorry but out check-in time is 3pm. You could give her the address of nearby restaurants or cafés open early in the morning. globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/455/red-flags-hosts
Ed & Hugh
We have no problem if they wait in the living room or on the deck while we finish making the room. But if it makes you uncomfortable, you can let her know that you need some time to focus on preparing for the next guest, and let them know a nearby coffee shop or other suitable location where they can wait.
Beautiful place you have!
Evelyn
What I have done in the past is allow the guest to drop off their bags. Send them off and finish cleaning. Let them know when the space is ready. I don't want guests in my house while I clean their space.
nathalie
Good idea.
Andrew (andrew)
I would give the guest a recommendation for a cozy nearby cafe where she can hang out until her check-in time. Any adult traveler who can't figure out how to look after themselves in a city for a few hours in the afternoon shouldn't even have a passport.
It's not so much that her request is way out of line it itself - rather, it's one of the most common early signs that you have a problematic guest coming in who's going to test your boundaries and demand more of you than your listing offers. Sticking to your guns early on helps you communicate that your rules and boundaries are not negotiable. Yielding to requests that are an obvious inconvenience to you tends to prompt a string of increasingly unreasonable demands.
That said, there is a completely reasonable way for her to have asked for an early check-in: "I will be arriving in your city a few hours before check-in time. Please let me know if an earlier arrival is possible; otherwise, I'll see you at 3 PM." I'm flexible with guests who approach it this way, as I can tell that they respect my time and the parameters of my listing. I take a harder line with the others and have never regretted it.
Deborah (High Priestess)
There was a post a long while back, about a host who had a guest ask if she could come early. The host said, "well, you could, but please know that the room will not be cleaned yet, and I have to do the laundry, etc etc...." The guest dismissed these concerns readily, stating that she really didn't care, she just wanted to be able to put down her bags.
Well wouldn't you know, the host decides to be generous and allow the guest to arrive much earlier than check in time,and after having given the warning about the room not being ready...and the result?
Yes, most of you already know what the result was!!
The guest wrote a bad review for the host, stating that when she checked in, the room was not ready and was not cleaned.
Lessons learned:
(1) No good deed goes unpunished ( a too common theme in the hosting world, I fear)
(2) Guests often do not really mean it when they say that they dont' care if the room is ready, they just want to put down their bags. No, what they really mean is, "I am arriving early, and so you SHOULD be able to accomodate me, because I'm paying you to stay there, after all."
(3) I have noticed that a heck of a lot of irrational criticisms by guests kind of boil down to this general theme -- guests dont listen to what you say, they dont read the information they are provided, they come with expectations, and when they don't get what they expected, they mindlessly argue that they are paying to stay at your place so that they "should" get X, Y and Z...especially if "the other guy I stayed with/hotel I stayed at had that!!!"
Guest wants to check in early - what do I do?
Hello everyone, I have a guest checking on on Friday who would like to check in early. I explained to her that if we had no one staying the night before there was a possibility she could check in early. Otherwise our check in time is 3pm. The guest asked if either way she could arrive early and just wait in our living room for the room to be cleaned. I can't help but be a little annoyed about this.. Should I be? Or am I rude for not allowing her to come early. Thanks for the help. I'm just not sure what to say to her.
Kim:
I don't allow early check in. You can't get back that first impression, and even if they say they are fine waiting in the living room, it's not the best first few hours with your guests. You need to clean up their room, but don't want to ignore your guets right off the bat. She can go to a coffee shop or do a tourist activity before she checks in.
Raymond & Elaine (elaine)
How early is early ? You could charge an early check-in fee and let her wait in your lounge. You could accept that she dropped off her luggage for a fee or free.You could offer her the room for the night before at full price or reduced price. You could stick to your guns and say no sorry but out check-in time is 3pm. You could give her the address of nearby restaurants or cafés open early in the morning. globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/455/red-flags-hosts
Ed & Hugh
We have no problem if they wait in the living room or on the deck while we finish making the room. But if it makes you uncomfortable, you can let her know that you need some time to focus on preparing for the next guest, and let them know a nearby coffee shop or other suitable location where they can wait.
Beautiful place you have!
Evelyn
What I have done in the past is allow the guest to drop off their bags. Send them off and finish cleaning. Let them know when the space is ready. I don't want guests in my house while I clean their space.
nathalie
Good idea.
Andrew (andrew)
I would give the guest a recommendation for a cozy nearby cafe where she can hang out until her check-in time. Any adult traveler who can't figure out how to look after themselves in a city for a few hours in the afternoon shouldn't even have a passport.
It's not so much that her request is way out of line it itself - rather, it's one of the most common early signs that you have a problematic guest coming in who's going to test your boundaries and demand more of you than your listing offers. Sticking to your guns early on helps you communicate that your rules and boundaries are not negotiable. Yielding to requests that are an obvious inconvenience to you tends to prompt a string of increasingly unreasonable demands.
That said, there is a completely reasonable way for her to have asked for an early check-in: "I will be arriving in your city a few hours before check-in time. Please let me know if an earlier arrival is possible; otherwise, I'll see you at 3 PM." I'm flexible with guests who approach it this way, as I can tell that they respect my time and the parameters of my listing. I take a harder line with the others and have never regretted it.
Deborah (High Priestess)
There was a post a long while back, about a host who had a guest ask if she could come early. The host said, "well, you could, but please know that the room will not be cleaned yet, and I have to do the laundry, etc etc...." The guest dismissed these concerns readily, stating that she really didn't care, she just wanted to be able to put down her bags.
Well wouldn't you know, the host decides to be generous and allow the guest to arrive much earlier than check in time,and after having given the warning about the room not being ready...and the result?
Yes, most of you already know what the result was!!
The guest wrote a bad review for the host, stating that when she checked in, the room was not ready and was not cleaned.
Lessons learned:
(1) No good deed goes unpunished ( a too common theme in the hosting world, I fear)
(2) Guests often do not really mean it when they say that they dont' care if the room is ready, they just want to put down their bags. No, what they really mean is, "I am arriving early, and so you SHOULD be able to accomodate me, because I'm paying you to stay there, after all."
(3) I have noticed that a heck of a lot of irrational criticisms by guests kind of boil down to this general theme -- guests dont listen to what you say, they dont read the information they are provided, they come with expectations, and when they don't get what they expected, they mindlessly argue that they are paying to stay at your place so that they "should" get X, Y and Z...especially if "the other guy I stayed with/hotel I stayed at had that!!!"