Air BNB Check out times.

[Fusedspur]

So much moaning about checkout times! We have several Air BNBs and the checkout unless arranged otherwise is 10am, because check in (again unless arranged otherwise) is 3pm.

We get more requests for early checkin than we do for late check out and always try and accommodate, but if we have a fast turn around and the housekeeper is booked and ready to go we can’t really be flexible all the time.

So today’s weekend guests should have been out at 10. We have a ring doorbell, and there were still no signs of life at 11:30 so I messaged and said that as we didn’t have any guests immediately they are welcome to stay till later and enjoy the property for an additional fee of £100. (Property is £450 a night.)

They eventually left at 12:30. 😡 It’s cheeky.

I agree that the 10am checkout as standard was Covid change to allow for extra cleaning that, for many, never seemed to change back. 11am definitely used to be much more standard. We use Airbnb less now as a result, as we like to run in the mornings and need to walk the dog too, so a 10am checkout basically means getting up at work time. It makes the last day much less relaxing for us as it doesn’t really feel like a holiday. I’m personally happier with a later check-in and later check-out.

Although a personal favourite of mine was the property we stopped in that marketed itself as "for families". Their entire listing was "this house is for family groups only, no adults only parties". 3 bed house, 1 double room, 1 twin room, 1 room bunk beds. Cot, high chair and bed guards provided. Obviously set up for families with children. Every flat surface not in the kitchen - table top/ book case/ shelf/ windowsill is covered in glass and pot ornaments, vases and knicknacks. In the cleaning requests - all ornaments and decor to be returned to original places and clean of fingerprints, all breakages to be reported. WHY???? WHY cover your "for family use only" Airbnb in breakable ornaments??? The mind boggled.

I'm often bemused at these type of threads because
a) I think 10am has been pretty standard for decades and
b) in any other sort of thread most of MN are falling over themselves to say how efficient they are and they get up with the birds, and achieve all manner of tasks before being at their desk at 8.30am, but in a holiday thread it's a huge imposition and the height of unreasonableness to strip a few beds, empty a bin and vacate a property by 10am
(Obviously long lists of cleaning chores are unreasonable but for the most part - and we s/c often - it's usually emptying bins, making sure washing up is done and sometimes stripping beds, none of which are especially onerous)

Exactly - I like to get up, maybe have a run, walk the dog, relaxing breakfast. I hate rushing around in the morning. It did used to be 11 as standard and it’s a shame it’s changed as it just makes hotels more appealing. I want to make to most of my final holiday morning. Not be stripping beds at 9am and hoovering….

It’s not really about being efficient in the morning. We’re all very efficient the rest of the time. Holidays are supposed to be fun and relaxing. I don’t want to spend the last morning cleaning to a deadline.

I’m an Airbnb host (an annexe on the garden before anyone starts about it taking up housing stock). We have 11am check out and 3pm check in which seems to work well for our guests. We are occasionally asked for an earlier check in which we do our best to accommodate if we can. We do not ask our guests to do any cleaning or tidying and haven’t had any over stayers.

Some Airbnb hosts are lovely - as demonstrated on here. It really does make a difference and we are far more likely to rebook. Hopefully people vote with their feet against those with the laminated sheets with loads of demands. I tend to check very thoroughly before I book.

10am is not too early IMO

I am currently in a holiday rental with a checkout time of 10am.

Before we leave I will strip the bed, make sure all crockery etc. is clean and put away, sweep and hoover the floors, wipe down surfaces, put rubbish and recycling in the appropriate places outside. Not listed as required but it’s just what we always do.

We will be in the car and away by 10am very easily.

I also have never heard of all of this cleaning required by hosts. It’s almost like a game of Chinese whispers where each person gets worse..

At ours we have no cleaning fees and don’t require cleaning from guests at all.

We live an an area full of hotels and holiday rentals. 10am is standard check out every where, I I can’t think of anyone who has intense cleaning required.

I wouldn’t rely on any guests cleaning anyway, so a standard sweep the kitchen side of crumbs and load dishwasher is perfectly fine (5 mins max, not hours of cleaning. No beds stripped)

I don’t think people are making it up! It varies massively from place to place. But yes lots of hosts do have ridiculous demands. Many don’t - I try and stay with those.

OP, you say your property is near a wedding venue and wedding guests use it.
If it is not going to be occupied the next day, have you considered offering people a much later check out for a fee. If someone has been to a wedding it is not surprising they get up late the next day.

I've never heard of cleaning, the most is emptying the bins into the main bin which is fair enough if it might be empty for several days. Maybe some amateurs might try it but I've never heard of that

I tend to say a message and say the cleaner is arriving soon.

Common examples?? I suspect not.

I don't ask my guests to do a single thing, they're on holiday, I do it all.

I offer late checkout and don't charge a penny extra, fancy that...

I don't think 10am checkout is too early. Me and DH manage to get up, shower, dress, have breakfast, wash the dishes, clean round the kitchen, give the bathroom a quick wipe round and, if requested, strip the bed and be away long before 10am.

When I worked as a cleaner for holiday cottages I hated the people who never left on time (and it wasn't just a few people). I wanted to get in and start cleaning and they would be faffing about. It wasn't that unusual for people to leave an hour or more later than checkout time.

Of course I also then had the arrival people turning up early and demanding to be allowed in!

You asserted that cleaners were unlikely to be coming at 10, I gave an example of where I know they did. I can't give lots of examples as I am normally out by the checkout time.

I am not sure on what you base your assertion that they are unlikely to come at or soon after check out time when others on the thread have mentioned how long cleaning takes. I would also assume that in any holiday town, a firm of cleaners will be juggling their work such that one week they might clean a property at 1pm and another week at 10am, by grouping properties or teams in given streets.

I am sure most owners don't want to be 'petty' - after all, they want happy guests! - but do know the damage that a review which mentions unfinished cleaning or broken items that weren't spotted could do to their business.

Agree, I have never seen a list like that - lists I have seen tend to be 'please start the dishwasher if you have time, push back any furniture that you have moved and leave rubbish in X location'

We often leave early in the morning and get to our destination around 11.30 or mid day if s/c in the UK. We often check out where the caravan/property is beforehand and occassionally have been let in slightly early. Similarly we let owners know if we've vacated a bit earlier by eg 8.30 so they know it's ready to clean or could put that first, if they had several properties to get turned around in a short space of time.

One time though we stayed in a very basic caravan in France. They provided no cleaning materials at all, no washing up liquid, not even a toilet roll. I think there was a dustpan and brush. The holiday rep asked if we would mind doing a thorough clean because she had a busy changeover day. We were leaving at 6am for a ferry and I didn't do any more than the very basics since they had not provided a thing!

Interestingly, when I let my property out privately (not through the agent) then 100% of the time I offer late checkout (midday) by negotiating with my housekeeper, as I consider my private guests to be my VIPs.

100% of the time they decline the offer because they want to get on the road to beat the traffic. I’m often texted that they have set off at 7am!

Can you charge for a late check out at the time of booking?

I'd much rather have a later check out then vases of hand picked flowers if there was a choice.

A late checkout only really works if the property doesn't have a guest arriving later that day. I often check the airbnb calendar and ask if I can see no-one has booked, but a late checkout won't earn as much as a full night booking, so I wouldn't expect a yes otherwise.

We do, when we can. But sometimes it isn’t possible. We don’t do one night hire and generally they stay the weekend so no getting up early either sore heads.

We had a tight changeover recently and cleaners arrived to discover the outgoing guests had pulled down a blind which then needed redrilling, and a huge stain on the carpet which needed cleaning. We are prepared for most things but my DP had to go over and do the repair and take the carpet cleaning machine. The incoming guests then asked could they drop off their frozen shopping before checkin. I said yes fine but the place won’t be ready. They were reasonable people, dropped their shopping and headed off. They were happy we could be flexible and we got a good review.

Conversely we had guests who requested an easily check in and I said ok but the cleaners will still be here so bear with them and they reviewed us at 4* (which is crap) because the kitchen floor was still wet!