Key points
- The guest wants to walk around unburdened for a few hours. They are worried about security (will the bags be safe, who has access), about cost (is there a fee, is it a trick to charge an extra night), and about logistics (where exactly, what time, who do I speak to, do they speak English).
- Luggage storage depends on the building more than on you. Find out before a guest asks.
- Be exact. Guests with bags want a location and a time, not a feeling.
On this page
Behind most early check-in and late checkout requests is a simpler problem: two suitcases and nowhere to put them. A guest who lands at 7 AM does not need the bed yet. A guest with an 11 PM flight does not need the shower until evening. What both need is a safe place for bags. Solve the bag question and half of your timing requests disappear. This page is about answering it well.
What the guest actually wants
The guest wants to walk around unburdened for a few hours. They are worried about security (will the bags be safe, who has access), about cost (is there a fee, is it a trick to charge an extra night), and about logistics (where exactly, what time, who do I speak to, do they speak English).
Many guests in Southeast Asia arrive from overnight flights and want to spend the morning at a temple or a mall, not sitting on a suitcase in a condo lobby. Others are leaving for the airport late and want to spend the day at the pool. For both, the detail that matters is exact: where, when, who, and what it costs.
Questions to answer for yourself first
Luggage storage depends on the building more than on you. Find out before a guest asks.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does the building reception hold bags? | In many Bangkok condos the juristic office or security desk will, often for free, sometimes only for registered guests. Ask them and write down the answer. |
| What hours does reception keep? | A guest who arrives at 6 AM needs to know if the desk is staffed. |
| Can bags go inside the apartment while the cleaner works? | Some hosts allow it, some do not. If the cleaner is alone with a stranger's bags, decide whether you are comfortable with that. |
| Is there a locked cupboard or storage room you control? | A locker in a shared area removes the reception question entirely. |
| What is the nearest paid luggage service? | Near BTS stations, airports and big malls there are counters and lockers. Keep one name and a price range on file. |
| Do you charge? | Most hosts do not charge for a few hours. Decide what happens for a whole day or overnight. |
| What is the limit? | Two bags for one afternoon is a favour. Six bags for three days is storage. |
If your building does not allow short stays or has rules about guests in common areas, check with the juristic office before you tell guests to use reception. See condo rules for short-term guests in Thailand.
Three replies you can paste
Be exact. Guests with bags want a location and a time, not a feeling.
Yes, you can leave your bags with the building reception on the ground floor from 8 AM. Tell them the apartment number and your name, they will give you a tag. There is no charge. The room will be ready by 3 PM and I will message you when it is.
The building does not hold bags for guests, sorry. The closest option is the luggage counter at the BTS station two minutes away, open from 6 AM to midnight, around 100 THB per bag for the day. Once the room is ready at 3 PM you can bring everything straight up.
Let me check with the building whether reception can hold your bags that morning. I will confirm here by tonight with the exact place and hours.
For the after-checkout version, swap the times: "You can leave your bags at reception after checkout until your flight. The pool is open until 8 PM if you would like to use it."
Mistakes hosts make
Assuming reception will do it. The security desk that held bags last month may have a new guard with new instructions. Confirm with the building once, then ask again every few months.
Being vague about where. "Ask downstairs" sends a tired guest to three desks. Name the desk, the floor and what to say.
Letting bags into the apartment during cleaning without a rule. Either allow it always, with the cleaner briefed, or never. Case by case puts the cleaner in an awkward spot.
Not telling the cleaner. If bags will be inside while she works, she should know in advance. If bags will be at reception, she should know the guest may come up the moment she leaves.
Mixing bags and late checkout. They are different favours. A guest who gets bag storage plus an hour at the pool is often happier than one who gets a late checkout and a tense message from the cleaner.
Taking responsibility you did not agree to. If the building holds bags, say so plainly, and say that the building's desk is responsible for them. Do not promise security you cannot control.
How Tokay handles it
Luggage storage is one of the questions every guest asks, so it is part of Tokay's setup. During the setup call you say in plain sentences where bags can go, the hours, the cost and the limit. Pam, the front desk agent, then answers that question in the guest's own language, with the exact place and time, at 6 AM or midnight.
Because Tokay's knowledge has three levels, general, building and apartment, the bag rule is written once for the building and applies to every unit in it. If a guest asks something the rule does not cover, for example six bags for a week, Pam asks you rather than guessing.
If bags are going to be inside the apartment during cleaning, or a late checkout is agreed at the same time, Sam, the operations agent, updates the cleaning brief so the cleaner knows. Anything that sounds upset or unusual goes to you first, and Pam never promises what you did not agree to.
Questions hosts ask
Should I charge for luggage storage?
For a few hours on arrival or departure day, most hosts do not. It costs little and guests remember it. For a whole day, overnight or many bags, a small fee or a pointer to a paid service is reasonable. Whatever you choose, say it in the same message as the yes, so no fee appears later.
Can guests leave bags in the apartment during the cleaning?
Only if you have decided so in advance and the cleaner is comfortable with it. Some hosts keep one clear spot by the door and tell the cleaner that morning. Others never allow it, because the cleaner should not be responsible for a stranger's belongings. Pick one rule and apply it to everyone.
What if the building refuses to hold bags?
Keep the name, hours and rough price of the nearest paid luggage service on file and send it with the no. In Bangkok, counters near BTS stations, the airport link and large malls are common. A no with an exact alternative reads as helpful; a bare no reads as unhelpful.