Do guests ever arrive on time?

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
LotBoy47
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:40 pm
Location: SW France

Do guests ever arrive on time?

Post by LotBoy47 »

Has anyone ever had guests that arrived when they said they would?

I’ll settle for tales of guests letting hosts know that they’re going to be late and actually showing up at the later advised time?
Sandra J
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire

Post by Sandra J »

Current guests informed me last week they would be arriving at 11am. Our check in time is 4pm. Sent a polite email reminding them of the booking terms and arrival time.

We changed to a Key Safe a few years ago after wasting so much time waiting for guests to arrive. Our regulars gave very positive feed back that it allows them the freedom to go shopping or sightseeing without having to worry about getting there on the time for keys.
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

Ours generally do arrive when they say. But they also tend to give me an hour's range. Most of the time I know what flight they are coming in on, so I can check whether it's landed on time. They'll also tell me if they are stopping on the way to shop, so that gives me an extra hour.
In the email I send them a couple of weeks before their arrival date I ask them (among other things like finalising directions and what they would like in their welcome pack) to let me know if their arrival time is going to be different from what we're all expecting "so we can make sure the dogs are in and properly introduced later and that I'm at the cottage to greet you". Seems to work. Maybe we've just been lucky.
User avatar
greenbarn
Posts: 6146
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 6:41 pm
Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Post by greenbarn »

Our guests can arrive when they want, including very late, let themselves in and get on with their holiday; we’ll meet them at some point the day of arrival or next day.

As a guest I’d hate the idea and unnecessary stress of being tied to an arrival time, along with being met on arrival when all I want is to get in, have a pee and a coffee and unwind from the journey.
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

greenbarn wrote: As a guest I’d hate the idea and unnecessary stress of being tied to an arrival time, along with being met on arrival when all I want is to get in, have a pee and a coffee and unwind from the journey.
Interesting thought. I'm there (briefly) to point out the key aspects of the cottage, so they don't have to worry about anything and then I get out of their hair. Most of them - having read our reviews - first thing they want to do is to meet our two dogs!
AndrewH
Posts: 1499
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:17 pm
Location: Kefalonia, Greece
Contact:

Post by AndrewH »

greenbarn wrote:Our guests can arrive when they want, including very late, let themselves in and get on with their holiday; we’ll meet them at some point the day of arrival or next day.

As a guest I’d hate the idea and unnecessary stress of being tied to an arrival time, along with being met on arrival when all I want is to get in, have a pee and a coffee and unwind from the journey.
That's the way we do it and out of necessity really. Guests themselves can't predict with accuracy when they will arrive because of possible flight delays and how long it takes to get out of the airport. We email guests, in advance of their holiday, an information sheet with all the basic villa info. which you wouldn't write in your listing, like road directions and the code to the key box.

On a later day I will try to catch up with guests to welcome them.
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

Good luck to anyone in the U.K. trying to predict arrival times if it involves some of our major motorways :shock:
Mike&Chrissy
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:27 pm
Location: Selsey, West Sussex

Early, not late

Post by Mike&Chrissy »

We're on the Sussex coast and most of our guests arrive early. Having a knock on the door 30 minutes early, when you're running final checks / panic hoovering, is a real nuisance. We pull the front curtains an hour before and ignore them until handover time!

Late arrivals are welcome - we get the chance to sit down and have a drink!
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

zebedee wrote:Good luck to anyone in the U.K. trying to predict arrival times if it involves some of our major motorways :shock:
Joys of travel in this part of France. Put the route into google and the chances are you'll arrive 5 minutes either way of the time stated. Sorry to be smug! :D
LotBoy47
Posts: 104
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:40 pm
Location: SW France

Post by LotBoy47 »

SPJ wrote:
zebedee wrote:Good luck to anyone in the U.K. trying to predict arrival times if it involves some of our major motorways :shock:
Joys of travel in this part of France. Put the route into google and the chances are you'll arrive 5 minutes either way of the time stated. Sorry to be smug! :D
Unless your guests don’t check the post code and department options offered when they enter your address into Google or their satnav.

There’s 5-6 different towns and villages with the same name as ours in France and some of them are very far away...
User avatar
CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

SPJ wrote:
zebedee wrote:Good luck to anyone in the U.K. trying to predict arrival times if it involves some of our major motorways :shock:
Joys of travel in this part of France. Put the route into google and the chances are you'll arrive 5 minutes either way of the time stated. Sorry to be smug! :D
Really?
Image
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

:D Fair point CSE. Well of course the French are on holiday, so this is just the moment to do roadworks.
Fortunately most of our guests fly into Bergerac.
User avatar
CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

French on holiday does not explain why the roads around Bordeaux, or a number of other locations, are to be found with queues.
Even the yellow jackets can make a mess of any scheduling. :wink:
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
User avatar
bornintheuk
Posts: 538
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:18 am
Location: Southern Charente

Post by bornintheuk »

SPJ wrote::D Fair point CSE. Well of course the French are on holiday, so this is just the moment to do roadworks.
Fortunately most of our guests fly into Bergerac.
There speaks someone who has never tried the Bordeaux rocade !
What would Plato do ?
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

bornintheuk wrote:
SPJ wrote::D Fair point CSE. Well of course the French are on holiday, so this is just the moment to do roadworks.
Fortunately most of our guests fly into Bergerac.
There speaks someone who has never tried the Bordeaux rocade !
Far from it! Just that it's not my daily experience, but many's the trip to Ikea and the airport and it's the way I go when I'm off to Lacanau. It was a pain while they were doing the roadworks up to Merignac but now, most of the time, seems to me it works pretty well. Compared with the M25 it's a joy. :D
Post Reply