Guests left the front door wide open AGAIN !!!!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Guys, I need your advice and experience because I am not smart enough to beat the holiday brains.

We are off-site hosts and we rent one apartment divided into 2 smaller apartments in a residential building in the center of the Croatian capital. So it is not a little house on the prairie. A lot of neighbors, workers, postmen, etc... enter our building on a daily bases and all of them pass by our apartment's door.

So, from the building staircase, you have to go through our front door with a digital lock to enter in our apartment's HALL ( with large closets full of our linens, towels, and stuff) and from there you have 2 doors to our 2 smaller apartments.

Basically, our guests have to open and close 2 doors behind them (our front door to the hall and then their apartment's door ) and it's obviously too much.

At first, we had an ordinary old school lock on our front door. Guests had to unlock and lock it with a key.
They often forgot to lock it and just closed the door.
So we invested in smart, a digital lock which locks itself automatically. But of course, the door still has to be closed manually.

Now we have an even bigger problem - guests do not CLOSE the door at all. It happened 3x in 3 months already and my neighbor called me when he saw the door is open for hours.

To prevent it from happened again we:

- check-in our guests personally and tell them at least 3x (three times!) to always close the door behind them. We even show them how to close the door, like they are preschool kids.

- we printed 3 notes in A4 paper format and put them on both sides of the door and on the wall. Notes are written in 5 languages and have a picture of a thief on it. In color! We point the finger on the note and tell them they should close the door.

But no avail 😞

Now all I can think of are two solutions:

- install the door pump to close the door automatically. But it will need an adjustment at least 2x / year depending on the outside temperature. And, of course, if something blocks the door (a small rock, the carpet, etc..) it will not close properly. We have it on the building entrance and it is not reliable at all. So I don't like the idea.

- to install the surveillance camera in our hallway and monitor our door 24/7. Of course, it doesn't help if I am sleeping or if my guests are unreachable have their phones switched off or are out or asleep.

I called my locksmith and he said our door lock doesn't have an alarm and can't send us notifications if the door is left open. The only application available is the one where I can lock the door remotely via WIFI. But of course, I can't close the door from the distance.

Do you have any other solution or advice to offer?

[Мария15]

@Branka-and-Silvia0The very first solution that came to my mind is an old fashioned spring that will slam shut the door.

[Dana282]

Is it possible to enlist these same neighbors who are notifying you of open doors to check the doors after guests leave? I have a neighbor who acts as my "caretaker" for issues  with other neighbors keeping watch for anything amiss so it can be addressed immediately.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Dana282 

He is also a host but at another location, he lives in the house where my listing is. So he is aware of the guest's behavior and understands the problem.  But he works and has a family and 2 babies etc... and he is also a building manager so it is not like he will take another responsibility and will go and check my door every day at 11 AM. He doesn't have time for it.

Of course, I've asked him to always close the door if he sees it's open. He said he will.

[Dimitar27]

Just install automatic door closers on all doors. In my case, to enter the apartment, guest must pass through 3 doors-1 from the street to enter the inner courtyard, one common door, that all neighbors use, and next is the apartment door. First two doors have automatic door closers installed and they work fine for years.

[Jeremy100]

I assume you take a security deposit for each booking.  As this is a security issue make it clear on your house rules that if doors are left open or left unlocked the guest will forfeit the deposit.  Even if you don’t or can’t collect on it, it may focus the mind.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jeremy100 Airbnb do not actually take a deposit and a claim will most likely fail unless damage/loss is caused by the door being left open

[Anna1632]

Tell them that an alarm will be sent to a security company if the door is not closed and the security company automatically will send someone out at a cost of 500 USD which you then will charge the person who forgot to close the door.

[Kendra17]

I wonder if a charge in advance like a damage deposit would work?  Have a battery game camera installed in the Hall (only records when there is motion).  If they leave the door open it is a 250$ fee or whatever is reasonable in your area...nothing stolen but door left open you keep fee.  Make it clear if something is stolen despite being told it is important to lock both doors and the door locking deposit....you keep the fee and charges of negligence will be included in police report (put it in your house rules with stars beside it****.  Scare them in advance to be careful with your property and items...then refund it when you have excellent guests and thank them profusely for being so caring of your property during their stay.  Thoughts?

[Sarah977]

@Kendra17  The security deposit on Airbnb isn't actually charged-it's only threatened to be charged and then the host has to request the guest to pay and most often the guest refuses. And a host can't ask for a security deposit in cash to refund afterwards.

[Sarah977]

@Kendra17  The security deposit on Airbnb isn't actually charged-it's only threatened to be charged and then the host has to request the guest to pay and most often the guest refuses. And a host can't ask for a security deposit in cash to refund afterwards.

[Kendra17]

Oh dear....seems to be in the guests favor and leaves less protection for hosts 😞

[Ben755]

When I was a kid my mom put pulley systems on all the doors after I'd run around and open them all. Very effective, all you need is:

3 or 4 meters of fishing line
2 Screw loops
1 Something heavy

Fix Screw loops to the upper left and upper right corner of the door frame. Attach one end of the string to the door, thread through the two screw loops ending behind behind where the open door would cover. Attach to something heavy (like a bag of pebbles so you can adjust the weight). If you use good quality materials it'll look nice, although most of it is hidden anyway.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ben755  Could you please attach a picture or a drawing of your mum's system?  I am not sure I understand where and how to attach the string. Tnx 😉

[Michelle2475]

I’ve been reading all of the comments but haven’t found anything I haven’t tried. Our Airbnb is in Vermont - critters up to bears in the warm months and very cold in the winter. I have a Yale lock with a sensor that tells me when the door has been left open for more than 4 minutes. Then I check the Ring camera and yell (in my head) shut the door, shut the door, shut the door!  I tell them before they check in and it’s in the email I send with the house manual. I have a sign next to the door. I have tried everything but doing an IQ test before I accept a reservation!  Living in New England I am 100% sure they don’t leave their own doors open. I’m at a complete loss as to what else I can do except shrug my shoulders and pay the $400 propane bill. Let’s not talk about the excessive amount of firewood used!  Yup, leaving the door wide open when they go out to get wood. 

[Ann72]

@Michelle2475  Uugghhh!!   I tell guests at my Maine Airbnb they don't want to wake up at 3 am with a bat in the bedroom.  But I don't have a doorbell camera so I don't know if this actually works or not 🙂