Key points
- A guest arriving after midnight wants two things: certainty that they can get in without anyone being awake, and certainty that someone will answer if they cannot.
- Settle these once per building. Night arrivals are where unwritten rules break.
- The codes and the fee above are examples. Use your own, and never promise a night contact you have not confirmed that evening.
On this page
Bangkok, Bali and Kuala Lumpur receive a large share of their guests on flights that land between 11 PM and 3 AM. The guest clears immigration at 1 AM, finds a Grab, and reaches your building at 2 AM with a tired child and a phone on 4 percent. Whether that night ends on the sofa or in a phone call depends on what you sent before they took off. This page covers the questions to settle, the messages to send, and the mistakes that make late arrivals hard.
What the guest actually wants
A guest arriving after midnight wants two things: certainty that they can get in without anyone being awake, and certainty that someone will answer if they cannot. The first is about your access setup. The second is about your night cover. If either is missing the guest will message you from the airport "just to check", again from the taxi, and again from the lobby.
They also want the small things that only matter at night: is the gate closed after midnight, does the guard need to be woken, does the lift stop running, is the 7-Eleven on the corner open.
Questions to answer for yourself first
Settle these once per building. Night arrivals are where unwritten rules break.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can a guest enter the building after midnight without staff? | Some condos lock the side gate and only the main entrance with a guard works. Say which door. |
| Does the guard need anything? | Booking name, a passport, a call to you. If the guard calls you at 2 AM, the guard must have your number, not the guest. |
| Does the lift or key card work at night? | In some buildings the car-park lift stops at midnight. Name the lift that works. |
| Is the key handover self-service? | Lockbox, smart lock, key at a 24 hour reception. If it is a person, confirm that person is really there at 2 AM. |
| Who answers the phone at night? | You, a co-host, a night contact. Decide, and give that number in the message. |
| Is there a cut-off? | Some hosts charge for arrivals after midnight when a person has to be present. Decide and state it in the listing and the message. |
Many Thai condo buildings have a rule that short stays are not allowed, and a late-night arrival at a security desk is the moment that rule surfaces. Know your building's position before a guest tests it at 2 AM; check with the juristic office and a local lawyer if you are unsure.
Three messages you can paste
Thanks for letting me know. Arriving at 1 AM is no problem, the apartment is self check-in and the building is open all night. Two things for the night: use the main entrance on the soi side (the side gate is locked after midnight) and show the guard your booking name. The lockbox is by the mailboxes, code sent the morning of your arrival. Lift 2 runs all night and needs the key card from the lockbox. I will be reachable here if anything is unclear.
For tonight: main entrance only, guard will ask your booking name. Lockbox by the mailboxes, code 4821 then hash. Lift 2, floor 14, apartment 14B. Hot water switch above the bathroom sink. There is a 7-Eleven at the corner open all night. Message me here when you are in, or if anything does not work.
Check-in after midnight is possible with our night contact meeting you at the building, and there is a 500 THB late arrival fee for arrivals after 12 AM, which I will add to your booking. Could you send me your flight number so I can track the landing and have them there at the right time?
The codes and the fee above are examples. Use your own, and never promise a night contact you have not confirmed that evening.
Mistakes hosts make
Treating it like a daytime arrival. The daytime message says "ask reception for the key". At 2 AM reception is a sleeping guard who does not know about you. Write a night version.
Sending the code too late. Guests lose data and battery on the way. Send the access details before they board, and the short reminder the evening before, so the message is in their chat history when the phone is on 4 percent.
Switching your phone to silent. If your message says "contact me if anything goes wrong", a silent phone turns a minor problem into a guest sleeping in the lobby. If you cannot cover nights, name someone who can.
Not warning the guard. A guard who has been told "a guest named Lukas arrives around 2 AM" opens the door. A guard who has not may refuse. One LINE message to the building in the afternoon prevents it.
No fallback. A lockbox that jams, a smart lock whose battery died, a key card the last guest took. Have a second way in (a spare key with the guard, a second lockbox) and say in the message what it is.
How Tokay handles it
Tokay is an AI front desk, and night arrivals are where it earns its keep. Pam, the front desk agent, answers at 1 AM the same way it answers at 1 PM, in the guest's own language, from the facts you gave on setup: which entrance works at night, what the guard needs, which lift runs, where the lockbox is. A guest writing from the taxi in Mandarin gets the night entrance note back in Mandarin.
The knowledge base has three levels, general, building and apartment, so the night entrance for a building is written once and applies to every unit there. If a guest asks something that is not on file, Pam asks you rather than guessing.
Anything that sounds like a guest who cannot get in goes to you first, every time. After the first two weeks of approving every reply, you choose which kinds of questions Pam may send alone; night arrival logistics is usually an early one because the facts are fixed. Smart locks are coming soon. For now Pam works with the access method you describe.
Questions hosts ask
Should I charge for check-in after midnight?
Charge if a person has to be there. If the apartment is fully self check-in, most hosts do not charge, because a late arrival costs nothing and the guest has had a long day. Whatever you decide, put it in the listing and repeat it in the message so it is never a surprise.
What if the guest's flight is delayed and they arrive at 4 AM?
If check-in is self-service, nothing changes; send a short "no problem, the details are the same". If a person is meeting them, ask for the flight number, track it, and agree a plan for a delay past a certain hour (for example, key with the guard after 3 AM). See overnight flights and early check-in for the morning after.
The guest says the code does not work at 2 AM. What now?
Reply with the exact steps again, slowly: which lockbox, the code, the hash, turn the dial. Most "does not work" is a missed step. If it still fails, send the fallback. Keep the tone calm and keep answering until they are in. See a guest is locked out at 2 AM.