Early Check in

Caller ID: Travel Company
Caller: Do you allow early check ins?
Me: At times, it depends on time of arrival and my availability
Caller: 7AM
Me: no problem as long as they are paying for the previous night
Caller: Oh!

Travel Company is crazy.

Good answer!

Grin! No earlier than check out time! (11am)

Smart answer. Quite touch of diplomacy rather.

• 3 reel pokies

The nexttime I agree to an early check in,I wwant someone to shoot me! guests called late in the week fora room for tonight and asked if they could come at 11am. Since I had no other check ins today and needed some time to run errands with my daughter, I thought it would be a good idea to get them all checked in and settled. WRONG! It's 1:30 and here I sit.....

Aussie Innkeeper said:

The nexttime I agree to an early check in,I wwant someone to shoot me! guests called late in the week fora room for tonight and asked if they could come at 11am. Since I had no other check ins today and needed some time to run errands with my daughter, I thought it would be a good idea to get them all checked in and settled. WRONG! It's 1:30 and here I sit.....

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Aussie Innkeeper said:

The nexttime I agree to an early check in,I wwant someone to shoot me! guests called late in the week fora room for tonight and asked if they could come at 11am. Since I had no other check ins today and needed some time to run errands with my daughter, I thought it would be a good idea to get them all checked in and settled. WRONG! It's 1:30 and here I sit.....

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Always and forever... we can sing that song together.
You are there with nothing else to do, so it shouldn't be a problem having you wait on them. This is what has happened to me 75% of the time when I bend when they plead and beg for an early check in.
Charge them, money talks. If you charge them they will be there when they say. If not, leave them a self check in note. I have done this and gone about my outside bidness...

I do have a cell number. I sent them a text about 30 minutes before they were supposed to be here (about parking ). One would think that if they were going to be this late, they would have said something when they replied.

that is terrible, aussie.

Aussie Innkeeper said:

I do have a cell number. I sent them a text about 30 minutes before they were supposed to be here (about parking ). One would think that if they were going to be this late, they would have said something when they replied..

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People simply aren't aware when they are on vacation in the same way. We have learned to ask or share our situation so they get why we need to know. We try to get a cell phone they will be traveling with and have no problem just calling them to find out when they will be arriving ( if we have a errand) or if they are joining us for dinner (Check-ins that may not have responded to our email inquiry) Folks are pretty good once you wake them from their dreaming vacation state.

We have the same problem, people want to come in the morning and seem surprised that we need to clean after the last nights guests, they think they are the only guests!
We just do 1/2 an hr early it is a gesture of good will and I accompany this with the explanation of needing to do a really good clean and mow lawns, empty main bins, add firewood etc.
It works well. BUT people just front up early we even had one lot arrive at 9 am that's the last 'record' time of arrival!

Three hours late!

Aussie Innkeeper said:

Three hours late!.

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Aussie Innkeeper said:

Three hours late!

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Sorry.
I'm wondering what anyone here thinks of contacting guests who have requested a specific 'out of ordinary' check in if they are not there within, say 15 minutes of that time?
Not regular time guests but those pita's who 'absolutely need' and then don't show.
We have 4 separate arrivals who are coming via train. The train gets in at noon. I know they aren't going to wheel their suitcases around until check in even tho not a single one has mentioned checking in early. Asked if it is ok. How we might accommodate them.
four separate reservations. No one asked. This is not on the guest's radar. Of course there will be someone here to accept them and show them the rooms.

i think you've hit on it --- hello, guest. i am here awaiting your early check - in. it's now 1/2 hour past your agreed upon arrival time. we'll see you between 3 and 7 pm, our regular checkin hours. or SOMETHING.
when you agree to do an early checkin - i don't recommend you do - then you must tell the guest you've got a busy day planned and will be there for their arrival give or take 15 minutes or whatever you're comfortable saying.
case in point - today, a repair person was coming by to pick up a computer tablet to repair it. free pickup and delivery? awesome! he was due between 11:30 and noon. his suggested time. at 10:50 i stepped outside to clear the snow that had drifted into the front walkway - i didn't bring my cell phone outside with me. a truck pulled up just after 11, it was him. i went and got the tablet and he left. when i went inside, there was a voicemail message from him from 10:57 am saying that there was no place to park where i live and since i wasn't answering the phone and he wasn't going to park on the street, he was leaving and we'd have to reschedule. no apologies. just, that's that.
he just happened to see me outside shoveling and stopped. he was 1/2 hour early but clearly that didn't matter.
my point is, he was doing me a service by doing the pickup - and he clearly had his own schedule in mind. you need a little of his attitude. come to think of it, so do i!

JB's 2 cents
I personally can't see this as a win win. If you call them they will feel like little children and it will irritate them. I realize they agreed to a time and it is ridiculous that we have to "parent" them in this way. But, for me, I am not going to call. I don't want anyone calling me and following up on me, so that is how I would be with them. I would put a note on the door and go about my business as usual, or I would not accept an early check in, or if I did it would be charged, so they know and would be there on time.

Joey Bloggs said:

JB's 2 cents
I personally can't see this as a win win. If you call them they will feel like little children and it will irritate them. I realize they agreed to a time and it is ridiculous that we have to "parent" them in this way. But, for me, I am not going to call. I don't want anyone calling me and following up on me, so that is how I would be with them. I would put a note on the door and go about my business as usual, or I would not accept an early check in, or if I did it would be charged, so they know and would be there on time..

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All of these work.
One thing about calling is that it needs to be to the guests advantage. This makes it a win win. Plus, that conversation, if done well, can create a sense of caring just prior to arrival. It's not for everyone.
There is no doubt that if we exited the full service concept we have and went with a more limited interaction, many of the strategies used here would be the ones we copy.

Joey Bloggs said:

JB's 2 cents
I personally can't see this as a win win. If you call them they will feel like little children and it will irritate them. I realize they agreed to a time and it is ridiculous that we have to "parent" them in this way. But, for me, I am not going to call. I don't want anyone calling me and following up on me, so that is how I would be with them. I would put a note on the door and go about my business as usual, or I would not accept an early check in, or if I did it would be charged, so they know and would be there on time..

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Many moons ago we had guests call to tell us they were in another town about 2 hours away. They were busy. They would be along when they were done.
I replied peevishly because they were the last check in and it was after time. We weren't doing self check inns then because the gang on the other forum convinced me I was being inhospitable by not greeting every guest at the door, no matter the time, with a happy face.
So, instead, I was peevish because they obviously knew hours ago they weren't going to be on time!
We went out for dinner. I must have scared them so much, they dropped what they were doing and buzzed over here. Of course, we weren't here. Someone else let them in and they called our cell demanding to know where we were.
That relationship did not flourish. We never did anything right after that even tho the guest returned many times. Which is why I don't call guests. But, it's also why we have lunatics calling demanding to know why we charged their cc when they didn't show up. Why didn't we call?
Can't win.

It's impossible for guests to get to us using public transportation, so fortunately I don't have to deal with that type of early arrivals. So, I have learned to just say no, I'm sorry, it's not possible. A couple times I've gotten an e-mail from a guest saying the 'need' an early check-in. When I respond back telling them there would be a $35 charge, all of a sudden it's not a 'need'.
On the other hand, I'm amazingly flexible on late check-ins. You just can't do both.