Six o'clock, seven o'clock, eight o'clock
Your last guests of the day booked through Booking.com, with an estimated arrival of 'between 4pm and 5pm'. At five, you are ready. At six, nothing. You try the phone number on the booking, which goes to voicemail. You send a message through the Booking.com app. At seven, you cancel going to your friend's birthday. At quarter to nine they ring the doorbell, cheerful and apologetic: the traffic was terrible and they did not think to let you know.
The next evening, the couple who said they would arrive at seven turn up at half three, while you are out at the cash and carry, and ring you from the doorstep.
Why arrival times are so vague
Most B&Bs do not have a reception desk or staff on the door, so somebody has to be there when guests arrive. Guests rarely realise this, because they are used to hotels.
- OTAs ask for an estimated arrival time as a wide band, and many guests skip it.
- Guests plan the journey on the day and do not think to update you.
- Phone numbers on OTA bookings can be hard to reach, or not given.
- Messages through OTA apps may not be seen by guests who are driving.
- Nobody asks again on the morning of arrival.
What waiting in costs you
Evenings, plans, and sometimes sleep. You cannot go out, cannot start on the next day's jobs properly, and cannot relax. Guests who arrive early find nobody in and ring you, and you rush back. For an owner-operator, it is one of the most tiring parts of the job.
Some owners respond by offering self check-in with a key safe. That works for some guests and not others, and it gives up the welcome that many B&B guests value. Either way you still need to know roughly when people will turn up.
The welcome matters more in a B&B than anywhere else. Showing guests their room, explaining breakfast, pointing out the walk to the pub: that first conversation is a large part of why people choose a B&B over a hotel. Rushing it because you have been waiting three hours and are tired is a poor start for both of you.
How we build arrival time requests and updates
- A few days before arrival, every guest gets a message asking for an arrival time, explaining briefly that the B&B does not have a 24-hour desk. For OTA bookings, it goes through the OTA messaging.
- The link offers time slots that suit you and asks for a mobile number to reach them on the day.
- On the morning of arrival, a short message asks them to confirm or update their time.
- Guests can update their time with one tap from the link on the road, and you get a notification.
- Your phone shows the day's arrivals in order, with their confirmed times.
- If a guest will arrive after a time you set, the message can offer your late arrival arrangement, such as a key safe code sent on the day, if you use one.
| Guest | First answer | On the day | What you see |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking.com couple | 4 to 5pm | Updated to 8.30pm at 2pm | Notification, evening free until 8 |
| Direct booking | 7pm | Confirmed | 7pm on your list |
| Airbnb guest | No reply | Reminder sent, replied 3pm | 3pm on your list |
A day you can plan around
By lunchtime you know your first guests will come at three and the second pair at half eight. You go to the cash and carry at four, have dinner with your family, and are ready at quarter past eight. When the traffic makes them later still, they tap the link and you see '9.15pm' on your phone.
Guests arrive to a welcome rather than a locked door, and you get your evenings back more often than not.
Do evenings disappear waiting for guests?
- You regularly wait in for guests who arrive much later than they said.
- Guests turn up early while you are out.
- OTA arrival time bands are too vague to plan around.
- Guests do not update you when they are delayed.
- You have cancelled plans because you did not know when guests would arrive.