Back from a 2 month break

Zacharias0
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

Back from a 2 month break

I took a self imposed 2 month break from AirBnB because the house was broken in to and I was mentally picking up the pieces. The break from guests was enjoyable because there was a downward trend in the types I was receiving that made me enjoy hosting less and less. I did learn a few things during this hiatus:

 

cancelling last minute reservations will kill your ranking in AirBnB regardless if you've been stellar from day 1 and it doesnt make any difference if its an extenuating circumstance. My ranking was the least of my worries during this hiatus, but I thought eventually things would turn back to normal and Id be getting one or two bookings a week like last year. NOPE! I just carry on with life and take what I can get.

 

guests still havent changed. I managed to get two bookings over NYE and the first one told me they are arriving early which was fine. They informed me theyd like a 1pm checkin which was doable as the room would be clean by 12. Well, they showed up at noon. No call, no text. Just arrived to my courtyard space looking in the windows. whatever happened to communication? There stay went okay after that, but it felt like the longest 2 days when they dont leave the house, order in and just hang out in the room with the tv blasting.

 

The next guests arrive thefollowing day while I was at work without so much as a "hello, we arrived to your place." I text them around check in time and they said they made it in. Whew! Crisis averted until the next evening where they are calling me non-stop at 3am saying they lost the house keys. They took the keys off of the keychain and were just walking around the city and lost them somewhere so some unknown person has a copy of my house keys or perhaps they still have them and wanted to pass them off to a friend. I'm not sure but they are being charged for re-keying all doors to the tune of $130.

 

Its so good to be hosting again. Has anyone tried RFID keyfobs for their house doors?

3 Replies 3

@Zacharias0, I have not tried any RFID keyfobs, but a large number of hosts are using Smart Locks.

It seems to solve the problem of lost keys.

(And couldn't someone lose a RFID keyfob just like they lose a key?)

 

@Zacharias0

Welcome back from your break - Henry and I have actually just started our planned 2 month break from hosting. Our most recent guest left just before Christmas and we have a long term guest coming end of Feb and will be enjoying having the house to ourselves for a couple weeks 🙂

 

I'm currently using an RFID key fob, mainly because changing or setting/deleting entry codes for each guest is a bother, and they already need one entry code to get into the building so I didn't want guests to have to remember 2 different codes - I barely can. If a guest were to loose an RFID key fob, I can just call CS and ask for a factory reset and re-register new/existing key fobs as needed so the old one doesn't work - and of course, the guest is expected to pay for this. It's much easier and faster than getting new locks. 

I provide the key fob on a key chain and specifically say (with a smile) "please don't take it off the key chain - if you do, you probably WILL end up loosing it (haha~)"

Madison17
Level 2
Charleston, SC

I'd say ditch the keys and get a good lock with a keypad. That will eliminate the need to keep up with keys and always having to ensure guests return them and don't lose them or take them with them, etc. 

 

I'd highly reccommend this new lock we recently got! It syncs with your AirBNB calendar so each time a guest books a stay with you, it automatically sends them an email confirmation with their key code. It auto updates itself and auto switches codes for you when guests check in and check out! Saves me a whole world of time and makes hosting not only super easy on me, but easy and convenient for our guests! 

 

Here's a link to it for you to check out: 

https://www.amazon.com/AirLocking-Smart-Lock-for-AirBNB/dp/B0759NPC5Y/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=airloc...