Advice needed: Guest couldn't get in

zoexxu · (This post was last modified: 01-11-2026, 03:31 PM by zoexxu.)

We had a late guest show up for a last minute booking. They showed up late at night around midnight. Due to the late booking the door lock did not get updated. Completely our fault. Because of the late check in, we could not fix it and the booking was canceled and refunded when they showed up and could not get in. What now? I messaged the guest profusely apologizing and offering to pay for expenses, free stay in the future, etc. I now know to prepare for these scenarios by setting a minimum advance notice.

Any other recommendations to help make up for this mistake?

ChrisFromTheOC · 01-11-2026, 07:53 PM

You've already apoligized to the guest profusely and offered a free stay, at this point the guest has their money back just wait and see if they leave any sort of a review. Even though stay was cancelled, it was cancelled day of so the system "should" still give them that option. Nothing else you can really do and if you keep messaging them it might rub them the wrong way. Hope that their backup location was so good that they forget about this experience.