At this rate I might never have to check any guests in!

[JBloggs]

It used to be one off who arrived late, now we have 50/50. Two rooms check in, one is 930pm, one is 5pm.
This is how it is now, and I am not sure if it is because we now have made it clear on our online rez that they can have a self check-in if after hours...used to be I thought they were no-shows.
So like everything else, in the day to day operations of the inn I should chill out, relax and not fret when guests don't call or show when they say they will be here. Seems to be standard drill now...
Are you noticing later arrivals moreso this year than ever before?

 

[Proud Texan]

We get a lot of late arrivals on Friday. We're 2 hours from Dallas and about 3 hours from Houston and Austin. We find that people leave right after they get off work at 5 p.m. If they stop for dinner on the way, that puts them behind even further.
We make it very firm in their confirmation and in the follow message they get 3 days before arrival that if they are going to be arriving later than the time they originally indicated to please call because their cabin will be locked and they won't be able to get in. We don't actually lock them, but this has curbed bad arrival behavior.

 

[Copperhead]

More and more often JB. As you say I need to just chill but it still raises an eyebrow with me since I have had 2 that brought in extra people in a room and another that brought in a dog.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

What I've noticed this year is that we have had very few early arrivals, which is great! The rest still string themselves out all over the check-in time. We've had a few that said they would be late (6pm-9pm) and show up at 3:00. They're usually from out of state and had chosen late arrival because they didn't know what they would stop and do along the way. Of course they never called on check-in day to say their plans had changed. Good thing I was here...sometimes we do get out for a couple hours in the afternoon if we're not expecting a check-in.
The hanging wait time is one of the most difficult parts of the job to me. Having to always be 'on' is tough.

 

[Madeleine]

More and more often JB. As you say I need to just chill but it still raises an eyebrow with me since I have had 2 that brought in extra people in a room and another that brought in a dog..

And because of your experiences I always wonder when we get one of those 'can we check in late' requests.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

More and more often JB. As you say I need to just chill but it still raises an eyebrow with me since I have had 2 that brought in extra people in a room and another that brought in a dog..

And because of your experiences I always wonder when we get one of those 'can we check in late' requests.
.

I just had one of those call this morning at 7:00am (I was still sleeping). Wanted a Sat night only and would not arrive until midnight. NOOOOOOO!

 

[JBloggs]

Mother Murphy's law of innkeeping - I said all this and then had people banging on the door with the "Check in begins at..." hanger there under their fists, at 1pm! Their room is not even vacuumed, it is not ready, full stop. They called and I didn't answer the phone. What the heck! You can't check in now, and that is that.

 

[Silverspoon]

Mother Murphy's law of innkeeping - I said all this and then had people banging on the door with the "Check in begins at..." hanger there under their fists, at 1pm! Their room is not even vacuumed, it is not ready, full stop. They called and I didn't answer the phone. What the heck! You can't check in now, and that is that..

And as soon as you tell them they can check in early, break your butt to get the room ready, or even worse, skip lunch, that's when they decide to stop along the way and don't get to you until 6 pm. There is no figuring. Guests today wanted to check in at 2:30pm. DH stuck to his guns and told them no earlier than 3:00pm... period.
Can't say that we have had more late check-ins than usual. Like PT we are 2-6 hours from some major metropolitan areas so folks leaving work at 5pm sometimes don't get to us until 11 PM. Fortunately, DH waits up for them. I'm done (or done in

) by 8:00 pm.

 

[Generic]

Mother Murphy's law of innkeeping - I said all this and then had people banging on the door with the "Check in begins at..." hanger there under their fists, at 1pm! Their room is not even vacuumed, it is not ready, full stop. They called and I didn't answer the phone. What the heck! You can't check in now, and that is that..

And as soon as you tell them they can check in early, break your butt to get the room ready, or even worse, skip lunch, that's when they decide to stop along the way and don't get to you until 6 pm. There is no figuring. Guests today wanted to check in at 2:30pm. DH stuck to his guns and told them no earlier than 3:00pm... period.
Can't say that we have had more late check-ins than usual. Like PT we are 2-6 hours from some major metropolitan areas so folks leaving work at 5pm sometimes don't get to us until 11 PM. Fortunately, DH waits up for them. I'm done (or done in

) by 8:00 pm.
.

Ever since someone on here suggested it, we have an early check-in at 12 noon for $25 option on our website. Refundable if we can't have the room ready for check-in at that time.
We have actually had a few takers (and some extra money in our pocket). And I will tell you, the number of people requesting to check-in early has dwindled.
We tell them that self-checkin starts after 5:59 PM instead of 6PM and that has more switching to self-checkin. They figure if you write 6PM that means until 6:59, but if you write 5:59PM they get your point.

 

[Copperhead]

Today is the same, all late arrivals! Fridays are the worst for this but better late arrival than just booking for Sat and want an early check in. Still thinking about adding that early check in fee, that could entice more to coming in on Friday.