Late check ins vs too-early check ins

[JBloggs]

It is nearly 1030pm, have been up since 6am and two rooms are yet to show. One called an hour ago will be here shortly. I put notes on the door for both of them. This is why we are weary innkeepers... I am convinced I prefer too-early check ins better.

A guest asked me this morning, what do you do if you are sick and you have guests? I said, the same thing I do when I am not sick, continue to work.

 

[scrambled_eggs]

I hear you. I was waiting around yesterday for some check ins that put down they would arrive at 3pm. Well they didn't get here till 7:15pm so my whole evening was shot. I wanted to go to the the evening farmers market to get some fruit but I wasn't able to.

 

[rrh]

Why is it that the "locals", within 1.5 hours are always the latest?

 

[Don Draper]

Ugh, you are a saint. You need to just paste the note up at 7 pm and then go have your family time. PITA's!

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

I refuse to do it. I leave a self check in letter for anyone arriving after 6 PM. I refuse to allow my business to rule my life. You need to set some boundaries before you burn yourself out.

 

[Don Draper]

I refuse to do it. I leave a self check in letter for anyone arriving after 6 PM. I refuse to allow my business to rule my life. You need to set some boundaries before you burn yourself out..

 

[JBloggs]

I say I will be firm, they called and said they would be here at a certain time, then called again and then again. So I eventually did put them up - one room arrived after midnight.
It wears you down that is for sure.

 

[Baygirl]

I refuse to do it. I leave a self check in letter for anyone arriving after 6 PM. I refuse to allow my business to rule my life. You need to set some boundaries before you burn yourself out..

I agree...We do the same thing. Arrivals after 6 get a note. There are books in each of the rooms with any information they need regarding the house, restaurants, things to do, etc...I think the 3-6 is the worst part of my day... Waiting for people to show up!!

 

[Don Draper]

I refuse to do it. I leave a self check in letter for anyone arriving after 6 PM. I refuse to allow my business to rule my life. You need to set some boundaries before you burn yourself out..

I agree...We do the same thing. Arrivals after 6 get a note. There are books in each of the rooms with any information they need regarding the house, restaurants, things to do, etc...I think the 3-6 is the worst part of my day... Waiting for people to show up!!
.

I think it is the worst part too...until it's time to serve breakfast, then that is the worst part! It's all about being at the whim of other people's schedules day after day...wears you down. Plus by 3 pm you're ready to sit down for a minute because you've already put in a full days' work, and now it's time to look pretty and put on a smile

 

[EmptyNest]

I refuse to do it. I leave a self check in letter for anyone arriving after 6 PM. I refuse to allow my business to rule my life. You need to set some boundaries before you burn yourself out..

I usually didn't mind late ones up until about 9 pm. And around here that was usual because folks getting off work in D.C. had to fight the traffic out of town on weekends....but after that...forget it.
We also told them..if they were going to be late...they may as well stop and eat on their way because there would be nothing open for them when they got here.
My first year I waited up until 2:30 am for someone and vowed..never again!

 

[wendydk]

I much prefer early checkins. While I don't usually leave the house in the evenings, I do feel more at peace and comfortable once every one has checked in.

 

[Samster]

Yep, wears you out. We had some VIP guests last week and one room was supposed to arrive at 10PM. Everyone else was in by 3:30PM and went out to dinner together. After I turned the other rooms down around 6pm. I went and "rested". That guest finally got in around 11:30 PM and was very grateful that I waited for him to arrive. I'm learning to survive by catching some micro rests.
Generally sucks if you are just waiting, waiting, waiting and how no clue when or if they'll get there though.

 

[Somewhere in Paradise]

Early check ins are ok as long as the room is ready and its not TOO early.
I leave the door to the room unlocked with the key inside and a note. When I hear them arrive I will say HELLO!! I am so glad you made it ! - we will take care of the paperwork in the morning. GOODNIGHT!!

I am sure if it is that late they are just as tired as I am and don't want to deal with it either.

 

[Morticia]

I mentioned this to a couple of you, but we had an 11:15 AM arrival on Sunday. We had a houseful of guests in town for a memorial service and they were slow getting out the door and I wasn't going to rush them. These other guests rang the bell and I answered as all of the other guests were standing right there and they would have opened the door anyway.
'Can we check-in now? Can we use a bathroom? What time can we come back?' All the while looking at all of the other guests standing there as if implying, 'you let THEM in.'
I had to tell them that no one (and the parking lot was full at that point) had checked out yet. I explained that we guarantee their room will be ready at 3 PM and that is when they can come back.
They said, 'OK, we'll be back around 1, the room should be ready by then,' and they walked away. When did they check in? 6:30 or so. Which would have been wonderful had they not been so belligerent 7 hours prior.

 

[Sunnyside]

Our check in is from 3-6 usally. If they are running late we have a electronic combination lock which we program with the last 4 digits of their phone number and we send them a comfirmation e-mail with instructions along with a floorplan so they can guide their way around. 3-6 works great because the kids are doing their homework and if their not here I have no problem leaving and catching up with them later.
Scot