Late check-out and early check-in: how to decide, what the AI does and how to keep clear of the cleaning
By GuestChat Team ·
Asking to leave later or arrive earlier is one of the most common requests, and one of the trickiest: a careless yes leaves the cleaning team waiting on the doorstep or the next guest standing at the door with their suitcases. The key is to decide your policy once and let the system apply it the same way every time.
The three options in the property profile
In the property profile, in the Services & Policies section, the Guest times block has an Arrival box (“If the guest asks to arrive before…”) and a Departure box (“If the guest asks to leave after…”). In each one you pick one of three options:
- Say no: the AI kindly replies that the time can't change. It doesn't notify you, unless the guest says they feel unwell: then you get a report so you can decide on an exception yourself.
- Ask me: the AI tells the guest it will check and notifies you. You decide.
- Let the AI decide: the AI checks the cleaning and decides without asking you. It needs Turno (the cleaning app) connected; without it, you can't pick it.
Underneath, the property profile shows you an example of what the guest will read with the option you picked.
“Say no” works well for apartments with daily turnovers and no slack. “Ask me” is the usual choice when sometimes you can and sometimes you can't.
Let the AI decide, if you use Turno
With Turno connected, this option does different things at departure and at arrival.
At departure. The AI checks when the cleaner arrives on check-out day and lets the guest stay until a little before. How much before is up to you, in Leave before the cleaner by (min): that's your safety margin, and if you leave it empty it uses 60 minutes. With Never later than (optional) you set a cap: it will never offer anything later than that time, even if the cleaning would allow it. The property profile works out the math for you with an example. If there's no room after the check-out time, it asks you.
At arrival. The AI looks at the cleaning on arrival day:
- If it's already done, it lets the guest in: it activates the virtual key right away and lets the guest know.
- If it isn't yet, it replies kindly and lets them know as soon as the cleaning is finished.
At arrival, no request reaches you. If the AI can't find a cleaning it can use (for example, there's none scheduled that day), it tells the guest to plan for the official time, and it doesn't notify you either.
When you say yes yourself
If you grant a late check-out or an early check-in by hand, don't stop at the chat. Go to Arrivals, open that guest's Custom access and adjust Allow access from or Allow access until. That way:
- The virtual key works on the new schedule.
- The AI uses those times when it replies to them.
- The guest sees them on their access page.
Add a reason if you want to remember it (“late flight”). And if the guest mentions it in a booking note, the system analyzes the note and suggests the time change for you.
Let the cleaner know
A time change affects the cleaning. If you use Turno, check in Cleaning that the cleaning time fits the new check-out, and reorganize the day if needed.
Common mistakes
- Saying yes in the chat and forgetting the virtual key. The guest gets locked out at the standard time even though you told them something else.
- “Say no” on an apartment with gaps. You lose an easy, free way to keep guests happy.
- Setting the margin to zero. A guest who leaves at the same time the cleaner arrives ends up bumping into them at the door.
- A cap in “Never later than” that's too generous. If the next guest tends to arrive early, set the cap where it really works for you.