Lay My Hat

So I'm wondering how you would handle this. We have a booking where the guests were due to arrive today. On the booking confirmation form, it states they can arrive from 4pm. I then email them about a week before and remind them of this and ask them to let us know if they will arrive later than 4pm.

It is now 11:45pm and I'm being told they are still 15 minutes away. I have called them throughout the day as my housekeeper has been on standby all day waiting for them. I am not local, she finally gave up at 10am and left the doors open. These guests seem to think it just doesn't matter what time they arrive as they decided to stop for a long meal on the way knowing we were waiting. They seem to think I'm a Hilton and they can just show up whenever.

I've been doing this for 10 years and the guests just seem to get worse but I've never had one this late. Its not like the flight was late, they were just sightseeing and could care less.

Llanthony wrote: On the booking confirmation form, it states they can arrive from 4pm. I then email them about a week before and remind them of this and ask them to let us know if they will arrive later than 4pm.

Did you make an error in your post or your email with the 4pm?

From 4pm could mean anything to be honest, 4, 6 10pm. Do they know the housekeeper will be sitting waiting for them? If you want them there at 4 then say that.
I've now got a window of 4-6pm, and ask if they are going to arrive outside these times that they contact M well in advance of arrival to arrange it. Then contact her again on the day when they are about an hour away (I give easily recognisable landmarks for this from all directions).

I'm also an off site owner. I don't expect visitors to arrive at a prearranged time. The cleaners leave the key in a key safe so visitors can let themselves in at any time after 3pm. I telephone in the evening to make sure that they are happy with the accomodation and deal with any queries. Do you actually need the housekeeper to let them in?

I do have a local housekeeper/maintenance couple who deal with any emergencies during visitors' stays.

We’re onsite but don’t make a point of meeting guests when they arrive - in fact our experience is that most guests would rather be left to themselves when they first arrive, and met later or even the next day.
We have codelocks on the entrance doors and if guests choose to arrive at midnight that’s fine.

I use a keysafe - in fact I make a virtue of it, telling guests that they can make the journey part of their holiday and stop off if they wish without having to worry about getting to the cottage at a set time.

Cymraes wrote:I use a keysafe - in fact I make a virtue of it, telling guests that they can make the journey part of their holiday and stop off if they wish without having to worry about getting to the cottage at a set time.

+1

Key safe every time. I have never done a meet and greet in 17 years

Cymraes wrote:I use a keysafe - in fact I make a virtue of it, telling guests that they can make the journey part of their holiday and stop off if they wish without having to worry about getting to the cottage at a set time.

If I was a guest, I’d welcome that flexibility. I really wouldn’t want to be worrying about meeting a deadline for arrival.
Okay, it’s not possible to have a keysafe or codelocks on the entrance doors in every property, but if it is possible - do it.

Marks wrote:Key safe every time. I have never done a meet and greet in 17 years

Me neither. We post the keys out 1 week beforehand.

I can't have a key box. I would actually like to, as it might save me some money for a trip up the valley from M. I could one put on on my terrace, as i am ground floor, but it may be inaccessible from the car park in the winter if it snows hard.

We are on site, and do meet and greet, and don't mind late arrivals, which we clearly tell guests. My husband is a late person anyway. We just ask they telephone us (or text) with some indication of when they may be arriving. Not a specific time, just an idea.

If they arrive late, which many do, we just say "I am sure you are tired after your journey. I will pop down some time tomorrow to deal with any questions you may have. You can always reach us using the internal phone if you have any problems"

Keysafe for the front doors of both my properties, but I post a key to the pedestrian gate for the villa as there is an electric gate with the clicker fob on front door keys.

I'd wouldn't want to arrive at a specific time to access a self catering property.

Marks wrote:Key safe every time. I have never done a meet and greet in 17 years

We've done around 500 'meet and greets' over the last 12 years. This started out as a compulsory tour of the rental for guests, as requested by agencies here in the NL. As we started out with all our bookings via these agencies, it was often a bi-weekly occurrence for us. After gradually replacing the agency bookings with bookings from other sites, we decided not to drop the tours, as we found it was a good moment to answer questions, offer advice and check whether guests were interested in renting bikes, etc.

Depending on how keen guests are on receiving a tour of the property, it will either be a quick 10 minutes showing them the facilities of the farmhouse, or up to several hours if they are interested in a walking tour of the village and surrounding areas. The extended tour is something we normally do if the weather is good (Americans especially appreciate this and are very good tippers although we enjoy showing guests the history of our village tip or no tip).

Llanthony wrote:So I'm wondering how you would handle this. We have a booking where the guests were due to arrive today. On the booking confirmation form, it states they can arrive from 4pm. I then email them about a week before and remind them of this and ask them to let us know if they will arrive later than 4pm.
....... They seem to think I'm a Hilton and they can just show up whenever.

I've been doing this for 10 years and the guests just seem to get worse but I've never had one this late. Its not like the flight was late, they were just sightseeing and could care less.

Llanthony, yes, we agree that this seems to be happening on a more regular basis. We recently had a last minute via ABB and even though arrival/departure times clearly stated on our listing there, we also email the arrival details separately, the same arrival details which are also sent by ABB to the guests as well in the confirmation.

In our arrival details we specifically ask to be informed if the guests intend to arrive after 6 p.m. as we are on site. Well, we heard nothing from these guests and couldn't get through to them via phone either when they failed to show by 7 p.m.
At 10 p.m. they called to say, 'We're not coming today, we'll be there tomorrow.' I asked them what time they would be arriving tomorrow. 'Around 4 p.m.', they replied.
They actually arrived the next day at 6.30 p.m. But they did text us to let us know that they were running late for the second time - at 6.30 p.m. - 'We're in the village now', came by text. Sheer discourtesy and arrogance