1. What is the smart lock for Airbnb?
Compared to traditional hotels, more and more young people are increasingly choosing to stay in personalized and cost-effective homestays, hotels, guesthouses, etc. Using smart locks on Airbnb, guests can enter the hotel room through the mobile E-key or the password, and the landlord just needs to manage the smart door lock remotely through the mobile APP. The smart locks for Airbnb make you escape a lot of troubles, including the hassle of key exchanges, early check-ins, late check-outs, unauthorized access, etc. Both the hotels and guests can save a lot of time and get huge convenience from the smart lock for Airbnb.
Airbnb is a world-famous short-term rental apartment booking platform, it features 7 million featured homestays, short-term rentals, hotels, apartments, and inns worldwide, covering short-term rental homes in 191 countries and regions.
If you have a spare house, you can put it on Airbnb and earn some income, but the risk is that the guests might bring some damage to it. To solve this problem, Airbnb suggests the host install a smart lock to improve the experience of check-ins and check-outs, it can benefit both the host and guests. That’s why more and more smart lock manufacturers develop Airbnb-compatible smart locks.
A smart lock for Airbnb allows the landlord to manage the smart door lock remotely through the mobile APP. Without a software or OS access system request, the host can directly issue the e-key or password to the guest, and the guest can enter the designated area through the mobile E-key or the password.
Some brand smart locks can be directly integrated with Airbnb accounts, and the guests will be sent unique access codes as soon as they finish the booking on Airbnb. Besides, there are also some smart locks that can support several 3rd party systems, such as HomeKit, Z-Wave, and TTlock App. When choosing a smart lock for their property, people often consider multi factors, such as price, support system, quality, etc.
2. How do you use smart locks on Airbnb?
When receiving an order from Airbnb, the owner or hotel staff sends the guest electronic keys or numerical codes to access the designated area, such as a hotel, room, garage, or any other place equipped with Airbnb smart lock.
You will get a notification when the guest opens any smart lock. After the guests check out, the hotel can cancel and delete E-keys or numeric codes with their administration’s permission. Anyway, smart locks for Airbnb can bring the hotel a security and control experience.
For guests, after using a smart lock for Airbnb, your arrival time and unexpected delays no longer matter. Before starting their trip, guests receive the following information on their Smartphone:
Electronic key and/or access codes for locks,
Access control for the main hotel entrance, as well as their room, garage, and any other area equipped with an access control system.
With an Airbnb smart lock, guests can get a very convenient living experience.
3. Why smart locks and keyless entry systems are the future
Sign-in is easy to manage as long as you have a rental room. Once you start to develop your short-term rental business and add more units to your portfolio, you will have no time. It can be challenging to handle all the check-ins yourself, and you may not have the resources to hire other people.
This is the reason for the emergence of smart locks. They are convenient little devices that can be connected to or replace your existing locks. Guests can use them to open the door, you generate a password and send it to them. This is a simple solution, but it can save you so much time-moreover, it makes your lease a million times safer than you distribute keys.
However, the convenience of the host and home security are not the only reasons why smart locks have become the norm.
In the world after the new crown pneumonia epidemic, health and safety will continue to play an important role. Guests will hope that Airbnb hosts will do their best to provide a rental experience that does not breed bacteria. With the implementation of indefinite social distancing measures, the less personal contact involved in renting, the better.
This is one of the main reasons why self-registration and keyless entry are replacing traditional key handover. Hosts need to ensure that guests feel safe and comfortable at all times. Minimizing personal contact is a good way. In addition, we have to admit that physical keys are not the most hygienic thing in the world. Who knows how many times they exchanged hands?
Therefore, if you want to make your vacation rental business forward-looking, you can consider investing in smart lock solutions.
Features of smart lock
When buying a smart lock for your vacation rental, ask yourself which features will benefit you the most.
The main reasons for using keyless and installing digital locks are:
- Enhanced security
- Provide convenience for you and your guests
- Connection with smart home devices
- Reliability
The following are some of the most useful features of smart locks:
Unique temporary access code. This is essential for safety: every guest has a key code, which will become invalid once their stay is over. In this way, you don’t have to worry about guests opening your door outside the scheduled time.
Wi-Fi connection. If your smart lock is connected to your rented wifi network, you can monitor the activity of your lock via your smartphone anywhere in the world. This is very useful because it allows you to keep track of who is in and out of your house at any time, whether it is a guest, a cleaner, or a maintenance worker.
Integrate with the home automation platform. Although this feature is not necessary, it is good to have it, especially if you use other smart home technologies, such as smart thermostats or noise control devices. Using a home automation platform, you can manage and monitor the activities of all devices in one place. In addition, if your smart lock is connected to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, you can control it with your voice which is very cool.
Integration with messaging automation tools. This is a feature that is often overlooked and property management companies can benefit from it. The smart lock activity can be used as a trigger to send automatic messages to guests or cleaning staff when someone locks or unlocks the door if it’s integrated with an information system.
4. What smart locks work with Airbnb?
As there are so many Airbnb-compatible smart locks, iLockey doesn’t tell you which brand smart lock you can choose, here are some suggestions to tell you what smart locks work with Airbnb.
1) Direct Airbnb booking integration
By integrating your listing’s calendar into the Airbnb API, you can send them access code information via email or text, so that they can get your personal timed access code for the rental lock. When someone makes a booking on Airbnb, they will be received automated correspondences with access code information.
If Airbnb is the main rent platform for your house, choosing a smart lock with direct Airbnb booking integration is the most efficient way.
2) Self-check-in
The main function of Airbnb-compatible smart locks is self-check-in. To guarantee this function, your lock should be first a keyless lock. Although there are several ways for accessing, such as fingerprint, RFID card, password, and mobile app, only 3 typical ways are provided by Airbnb compatible smart locks for guests to access the door:
The guests are required to download the lock app, and the lock app will give them access and check-in information.
Built-in or touchscreen keypad controls
3) By an add-on keypad
When receiving the booking order from Airbnb, you need a manual to send the access information to your guests. It seems a bit more trouble than the smart lock with direct Airbnb booking integration, but it is also the simplest and cheapest smart lock solution for Airbnb.
For some simple smart locks, you can’t change the password remotely, so you need to change the password once the guests leave your house. This solution is suitable for personal homestay, and short-term apartments.
4) Smart lock with customer integration
For some chain homestay apartments, they hope the smart lock can help them to manage their rooms well. Here are some common functions they require for smart locks:
- Monitor the hotel status in real-time
- Self Check-in & Check-out
- One-to-one customer communication
- Opening alerts
- Remote management
The smart lock with customer integration is not a simple Airbnb smart lock anymore, but a whole set of hotel lock systems. You will not only pay for the smart locks but also need to pay for the management system. It is suitable for chain hotels, and apartments.
5. Which smart lock is most suitable for your Airbnb?
The comprehensive list of top Airbnb smart locks on the market can help property managers easily facilitate the check-in and check-out process of guests, and track access through a simple keyless security code.
Airbnb gives millions of landlords around the world the opportunity to earn income through short-term vacation rentals. Like all other enterprises, managing Airbnb requires specific costs and requirements. You can solve many security challenges with the carefully designed Airbnb smart lock.
The property manager can easily facilitate the process of guests’ check-in and check-out, and track the people and time staying in your property. All these are simplified through security code access of smart locks.
The intelligent security lock can save the owner’s time and energy and provide your customers with simplified services. What would you choose from the hundreds of choices available on the market?
Here is a comprehensive list of smart locks available on the market. All of them aim to improve property management. In addition to enabling remote door openings and closures, Akiles allows users to register, make reservations, assign schedules, and assign keys. These devices also allow access with one person’s password, which can be used at any time after wifi or their phone call is completed.
1) AurMur
It uses this system to automatically execute the entire guest check-in process, which provides temporary access codes, alarms, and guest movement notifications. Once your guests check out, it will automatically notify the cleaning and maintenance personnel.
2) Brivo
This is a cloud-based security platform with 20 years of experience in protecting smart locks from physical and network threats. They cooperate with many of the most popular smart lock suppliers to provide luxury smart locks that meet the aesthetic and technical requirements of their property.
This is a complete hotel and vacation rental room automation solution. Providing intelligent lock keyless solutions for apartment buildings and multi-unit complexes, their QR/RFID readers are specially designed for rooms, elevators, public areas, and parking barriers.
3) DACK
DACK can be integrated with almost any lock or cloud provider in the market today. With DACK, when a guest’s reservation is paired with a unit with a digital connection smart lock, the guest will automatically assign a unique digital key and key code, and can remotely manage employee access from the DACK operator portal.
4) Enso Connect
This is a dynamic guest experience platform for vacation rentals, which can help landlords personalize interaction and profit from guests’ travel. It supports most of the best Airbnb smart locks. If your current Airbnb door lock has no function, it can accept integration requests.
5) iLOCKEY
iLOCKEY makes it easy to integrate remote access and automation functions into your property management services safely and cheaply. Guests, cleaning companies, friends, and family can easily access your garage door using iLockey products.
6) Loopkey
Loopkey provides Airbnb with a simple and modern smart lock, providing tenants with a variety of ways to access the environment, from mobile phones and Apple watches to codes, tags, and biometric technology. Their mobile applications and software solutions improve the security ecosystem of property managers.
7) Lynx
A range of smart locks available from Lynx includes keyless locks, home automation software, and smart devices that can be used with any lock or smart device. Provide guests and employees with automatic, time-sensitive access and audit trail, which can provide valuable information for your entire property operation. Any smart lock device can be used with Lynx smart lock software.
8) Nuki
It is a leading European supplier of adaptable intelligent access control solutions. Nuki Smart Lock is an electronic modified door lock that can be installed inside the door in a few minutes without drilling or changing the lock. It turns the smartphone into a smart key, allowing the owner to control the access of guests, cleaners, employees, and anyone who needs it to the property.
9) Operto
It provides a wide range of intelligent locks as property automation solutions. It includes the necessary software that is fully integrated with your PMS to achieve keyless visitor access. It also provides a comprehensive activity log of property visits.
10) PointCentral
PointCentral is an enterprise-level platform for property managers. Their industry-leading solution monitors and controls the smart home technology of all properties in their inventory through the first-class safe and reliable network, which can operate without Wi-Fi to increase robustness. In addition to managing access to the property, saving energy, and managing security measures, PointCentral’s mobile applications and enterprise dashboards allow its customers to manage employees and coordinate energy usage.
11) RemoteLock
RemoteLock is a cloud-based solution managed through a single dashboard. The RemoteLock application allows you to manage and monitor locks for all connections. It is applicable to existing WiFi properties. Property managers can manage all operations through their mobile phones or laptops, where they can control the access of guests and employees.
6. Things to consider before choosing your Airbnb-compatible smart locks
Before you start to choose your Airbnb-compatible smart locks, some things you should consider in advance.
1) Unique temporary access codes
Your smart lock for Airbnb should provide unique temporary access codes, it directly affects your house security. When the guest finishes the booking, he will be sent an e-key that expires once their stay is over. In this way, you don’t need to worry about your guests can open your door outside the time of their reservation.
2) Connective ways
There are 2 connective ways for a smart lock, WIFI, and Bluetooth. If you chose Bluetooth, we suggest you take a gateway as well since Bluetooth smart locks are not suitable for long-distance connection, so the best solution is Bluetooth lock+gateway, what’s more, direct WIFI Airbnb smart lock is a good option.
After connecting your smart lock to your rental WIFI network, you can monitor the lock activity on your mobile phone from anywhere in the world. It is a very convenient and useful function because it allows you to keep track of who comes in and out of your house at any time, whether it’s guests, cleaning staff, or maintenance staff.
3) Integration with home automation platforms
If you want the Airbnb smart lock to work with your other smart home device, this function will attract you very much. By using a home automation platform, you can manage and monitor activities across all devices in one App. For example, when your smart lock connects to Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant, you can control it with your voice.
4) Integration with a messaging automation tool
By integrating the smart lock with the information system, you can use the smart lock activity as a trigger. When someone locks or opens the door, you can send automatic messages to guests or cleaning staff. This function will benefit a lot for hotel management, and it is still be developing by the smart lock supplier.
7. Teach your Airbnb tenants how to use smart locks
After selecting the self-service check-in option, please remember to add this convenience to your room list. Airbnb also allows landlords to update the occupancy instructions of the listings in the listings section of their accounts.
However, guests can’t see the detailed check-in instructions until three days before the reservation. The tenant can filter the search results by the convenience facilities in the list, so it is very important to include everything you provide.
Most importantly, please remember that self-service check-in can help you save time – and provide warm hospitality within a safe distance. Therefore, please be sure to communicate all important information with the tenants and provide detailed check-in instructions and lists to ensure that your tenants have an amazing vacation rental experience.
8. FAQ about Airbnb smart locks
Here are some common questions for Airbnb Smart Lock Integration:
1) What if my guest does not want to use the smart lock?
When the guest finishes the booking, there is an email to remind them to contact you to make alternate arrangements.
2) What If the Customer’s Phone is Dead?
All smart locks can still be opened with traditional keys. For guests, you can open the door remotely.
3) What if WiFi fails?
Most smart locks operate via Bluetooth, so they are not affected by wifi interruption. Similarly, all models can be opened with an old-fashioned key.
4) How safe is the Airbnb smart lock?
Basically, it’s very safe. It uses the same level of encryption as online banking when it communicates with a smartphone (sending or receiving digital passwords).
5) What is the typical battery life of an Airbnb-compatible smart lock?
Most Airbnb smart locks give a range of 8-12 months with typical usage. Generally, a smart lock with multi-function will consume more power, for example, a smart lock with face recognition consumes much more power than the common smart lock.
6) What if Airbnb smart lock battery is dead?
According to the lock brand, connectivity, and battery type, the smart lock battery can be used for months or even years. Alkaline batteries need to be changed every few months or years, while lithium batteries are often used in smart locks.
7) What is a wired access control system?
The door system is hardwired to your property power supply by professional installation personnel and requires its own panel and wiring to operate. A wired access control system is a very safe and reliable solution, which is suitable for busy doors that will soon run out of batteries.
8) What is universal access control?
Universal access control is defined as a software platform to manage all leading brands of smart locks and wired access control systems. The flexible design of open APIs enables our customers to manage different hardware brands and integrate with much different software on a single system and across asset portfolios. Through the universal access control host, you can centrally manage all types of doors and easily conduct remote management.
9) Can I use different locks in the same place?
An easy-to-use dashboard enables customers to flexibly use different smart locks and wired access control systems using smart locks. Our software also has unlimited scalability, allowing customers to expand the system from 10 to thousands of doors.
10) How difficult are Airbnb smart locks to install?
The installation for most Airbnb smart locks includes the installation of the lock itself and the lock mobile app and integrated system. Most installation of the lock itself will take 15-25 minutes, but the lock mobile app and integrated system may be the most time-consuming part of the process for you. But don’t worry, your smart lock manufacturers will provide you the excellent installation instructions and videos to help you on the way.
11) Do Airbnb smart locks have apps?
Most Airbnb smart locks dedicated apps for their device, you can add and control access passwords and see a history of the lock usage. Some smart locks support unlocking the door via proximity or “tap to unlock” features.
12) Does the Airbnb smart lock improve security?
The smart lock matched with the access control software does not depend on the physical key. These traditional keys can easily be copied, passed on to others, or lost and fall into the wrong hands. In addition, the visibility of traditional keys and mechanical locks is zero. The smart lock allows you to see who has entered your property and when. You can also set alerts for failed access attempts.
Most importantly, compared with the old method of tracking physical keys, you can easily revoke access rights with just a few clicks on the dashboard. In the end, the security of smart locks on Airbnb is equal to that of traditional locks – but for landlords and property managers, automation is absolutely beneficial.
The product can help you automatically perform tasks and reduce workload in the following ways:
- Manage multiple accounts and lists on major vacation rental platforms
- Use a unified inbox to organize your messages into a feed and automated template, and trigger message delivery to improve guest communication
- Automate the creation and sending of guest comments
- Manage direct subscriptions using the Direct Subscription Management Kit
- Use dashboard functions to create basic reports on business results and tracking indicators
- Share your daily schedule with your team and automatically assign tasks.
9. Conclusion
Smart Lock for Airbnb is a keyless smart lock solution for personalized and cost-effective homestays, hotels, and guesthouses. With the increase in demand from young people, more and more chain hotels choose smart locks to improve their competitiveness. Smart lock for Airbnb is another successful application for smart locks.
