Community : Discussion List - Checking In and Out

Experience with smartphone access control

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:02:48 GMT

Hi,

does anyone of you guys have thought about getting a smartphone access control system such as

Lockitron

KISI

and the like?

Does any of you guys use this yet?

How do you tell a guest you aren't happy with the checkout?

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:06:49 GMT

We have four condos and have so far had pretty good guests - very lucky. I make sure I speak with all my guests before taking their booking, so far this has worked well. This past 2 months I've had three bad check-outs of (in all three cases I had made an exception, allowing an extra child). All of them left trash in the condo, one allowed a two year old to smear food stuff all around the house (at the two year old level), one left a fridge full of leftovers (all in dishes), another had popcorn all over the living room and left a baby monitor (I suspect the kids watched movies at our condo while the parents visited with relatives in another condo!)... (these are just the highlights of the check-outs, I won't bore you with all the details). In two of the cases my cleaner charged extra ($90, $30) and with the third, hubby and I went over and helped clean to avoid extra costs.

All three of these families 'loved' the condo and want to come back next year (I think not!), one of them left a glowing review, all three left wonderful guest book entries.

I did not confront any of them about their bad check-out, and, though in two cases I had an invoice I could have put against their security deposit, hesitated to do so. In the $90 case, I should have. However, you can bet I won't be renting to any of them again.

So my question for this forum is, how do you tell a guest you aren't happy with the way their checkout went? It's one thing to rant on a forum, but how do you actually do it in a professional and polite way?

what constitutes a week or a month

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:00:43 GMT

Should I consider a weekly rental 7 days and 6 nights or 7 nights leaving the morning of the 8th day? Also, should a monthy renter leave the last day of the month. We now have check out at 10am and check in at 4pm. Some guests see it the first way and others the second. I feel as if I need the time to clean for our next guest. We want to be fair.

Monthly rentals - what is your last day of the rental?

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:29:22 GMT

My guests think it should be the morning of the 1st day of the next month. BUT I need time to clean for new renters coming in the same day. What is the norm? My guests did abide by the contract but I wonder if everyone else lets the guests stay the last night of the month and then leave on the 1st?

Meeting and Greeting

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:41:41 GMT

I own and manage one apartment, and am able to both welcome guests and see them off at departure. We enjoy finally meeting each other, after many lengthy emails and phone calls. I generally spend 30 minutes or more with them, especially if it is a first visit to Paris and their first time renting a European apartment. Even with a detailed house manual, lots of maps and tourist info etc, there are still many questions to be answered. Plus, as we all know, guests like to "cut to the chase" and get the high points from the local expert.

Occasionally, I handle the "meet and greet" for a neighbor's property while she is out of town. The latest guests (4 adults) were very nice, had enjoyed a restful flight, and it was their first time in Europe. As usual, I helped them with their luggage - 6 trips in the antique elevator! When I offered to give them the usual quick tour of the apartment (this one has a complicated water heater and some finicky locked windows) they simply took the keys, said "No, thanks", and politely rushed me out the door. Now my neighbor's phone has been ringing off the hook with endless questions from these people, most (if not all) of which could have been avoided at arrival. My neighbor and I are still good friends, having laughed about it over a bottle of wine, but I have been feeling bad about this. I have never experienced this in my own rental property.

My question to other owners is this: How much time do you allow for getting your guests settled in your property? What procedure do you follow? I realize all rental properties are different, and suppose that will have an influence on the approach. Thanks for any input!

Keyless entry experience?

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:20:05 GMT

I'm interested in hearing from anyone with experience with the "ResortLock" keyless entry system that uses batteries and has all date//time combinations already programmed, specifically their heavy duty RL4000 model with a weatherproof keypad. I have a beach property with mostly weekly rentals.

Help Tenants stayed an extra night!

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 01:21:55 GMT

Hello, Has anyone had this situation- I own a place in Hawaii but live on the mainland and rely on a property Manager for check in and check out. The tentants changed the out in document from 11/27 to 11/28. My Manager simply thought that the family had extended their stay by one night with me. After staying an additional night I think I should charge them for the night but know I will have a fight on my hands. Has anyone conme across this issue? How do you handle it? HELP

Do You Ask For An Arrival Phone Call?

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:58:24 GMT

Do you ask your guests to contact you when they arrive? Phone call? E:mail? Or do you simply believe that no news is good news, that they made it safe and sound and all is well with the property?

Signed,

About To Rent Our Property For The First Time

As we take a damage deposit we need to check the place.

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:02:54 GMT

We had a French family on holiday in our property when we had to leave to return to the uk for a medical consultancy. When our clients leave we want to check the for any damage for example television, electronic piano, showers etc.however having to leave early we had to ask friends to check the place. They were not able to check the tv, or elec piano . We are about to return the 300 Euro damage deposit just hoping that the mentioned items are not damaged. What are the comments that other owners do in a situation like this?

Overcrowding of my home

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 07:33:17 GMT

How can you prevent overcrowding of your home. Do you stand at the door during check in and count heads. Inquiry states 12 people. All emails refer to 12 people. You ask about the kids. Well maybe there will be two or three. During the rental you find there are 12 adults, 10 kids in the 12-17 age range and 6 kids in the 6 - 12 age range. There are 28 in total. What would you do?

Late check outs?

community-no-reply@homeaway.com — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:35:45 GMT

I have had several folks who just don't seem to check out on time. some days I have back to back travelers and so my cleaning lady may only have 5 hours to get everything done. As you all know that sounds like a long time, but not in an 1800 sq ft home.

I have had to put IN the contract that if folks are late checking out that there will be a $20.00 fee for every 15 minutes that they are late? I hate this...does anyone else have this problem and how did YOU deal with it.

thank you