Can we arrive at 1pm?
It is a common message. The guest has a long drive, children, a dog. Your reservations team checks the calendar: there is a departure that morning. Then they text the cleaner to ask if they could do this one first. The cleaner replies an hour later, maybe. The guest is told 'probably'. On the day, the cleaner is running late at another property, and the guest waits in the car.
Late checkout requests are the mirror image, with the next guests arriving and the cleaner needing time.
Why simple requests are hard to answer
The answer depends on three things held in different places: the booking calendar for the property, the cleaning schedule for that day, and your policy on early and late times and fees. Checking all three by hand for each request takes time, and the cleaner's view is usually a text conversation.
Once a request is agreed, it also has to reach everyone who needs to know: the cleaner, the arrival instructions and sometimes the owner.
What the back and forth costs
Guests who get a vague answer, or a yes that turns out to be wrong, start their stay unhappy. Cleaners find their day rearranged by messages. Your team spends time on each request. And if you charge for early or late times, fees are often forgotten.
How we handle requests
We build request handling that works out what is possible and handles the admin when a request is accepted, within your rules.
- Request intake: requests from any channel or the guest's pre-arrival form are recognised and linked to the booking.
- Availability check: the property's calendar is checked for a stay the night before or after, and the cleaning schedule for that day shows whether the clean can be moved earlier or later.
- Options offered: the guest is offered the times that actually work, with any fee from your policy, rather than a yes or no.
- Payment: fees are taken by card link through your payment provider or added to the booking.
- Updates: when a request is accepted, the cleaner's job order changes, the arrival instructions update and the access code times are adjusted where locks allow it.
- Day-of changes: if the day's schedule slips, guests with early arrivals are told in advance rather than on the doorstep.
| Situation | What can be offered |
|---|---|
| No departure that day | Early check-in, subject to your policy |
| Departure that day, clean can go first | Early check-in at a later time than asked |
| No arrival the next day | Late checkout, subject to your policy |
| Arrival the same day | Late checkout only if the clean still fits |
After the change
Guests get a definite answer quickly, with a time that will work. Cleaners see their job order change in their app rather than by text. Fees are collected. And the reservations team handles only requests the rules cannot settle.
Owners who want to offer early and late times as a paid extra can see how often they are requested and taken up, which helps them decide whether to promote it.
Signs this is your situation
- Early check-in and late checkout requests are answered by texting cleaners.
- Guests are told 'probably' and then wait on arrival.
- Cleaners' schedules change by message on the day.
- Fees for early or late times are not consistently charged.
- Arrival instructions are not updated when times change.