Home Automation for Airbnb hosts (Home Assist, custom solutions) #Domotics #HomeAutomation

[Damir0]

Hello, everyone!

Are you using technology to help you automate some parts of hosting on Airbnb? Can you share your experiences, best practices? What works and what doesn't?

I'm all ears! 😉

What is Home Automation?

[Stuart4]

Hi @Damir0,

I spoke to a Golmar supplier in the UK and they said it should be fairly easy to fit a keypad alongside the external intercom unit. I got a quote of around £143 for the parts required. However you would need to confirm the external unit and obviously get permission from the building owner and find a local installer.   It would offer benefits to the owner also.

kind regards,

Stuart

[Mary31]

maybe not in the Netherlands, but in the US, all of the liturature says they support August Lock.

[Eric469]

Hey Noah.

Regarding SmartHome technology, I work with a French startup whose product is Hydrao the world’s first smart shower.

I just installed it in my AirBnB with the thought that it will help reduce the amount of water my guests use...

Cheers.

Eric

[Tina1]

I'm looking at buying this lock from Kwikset - which says "coming soon" in the Airbnb Host Assist section for my home in San Francisco.

My questions are:

1. What exactly does "coming soon" mean?    I can buy it online now.
2. Will there be tighter integration for this lock with Airbnb's reservation/scheduling systems?   If so, what?  when?   If not, how can we request it be explored?
3. Will I be able to generate "guest" ekeys with Kwikset which are longer than 24 hours & are tied to an Airbnb reservation?   Or do I have to buy additional eKeys, and reuse them with guests, doing all of the set up work manually?

I volunteer to be a "beta" customer - for helping Airbnb & Kwikset improve how their products work together,

Tina

[Tina1]

I just picked up a Leeo Smart Alert (cnet review) for $50, since I have a number of things I need to upgrade before I can move into the Nest realm (I have a 1906 Edwardian in San Francisco).  Now that I'm renting my place out a lot, I wanted additional peace of mind on the safety/fire side.

Curious to know if anyone else is using one?   

Tina

[Damir0]

@Tina1 @Maria-Lurdes0 @Noah0 @Lizzie

Maybe this belongs in another discussion, however, I want to share it with you as well. To make checkin and preparation for a guests booking easier, recently I started sending my guests a link to pre-checkin themselves. Have a look and please feel free to suggest improvements or make use of my form to make your own as well. 

Here or https://airbnbcheckin.typeform.com/to/G1p49z

Typeform is a tool where you can make all kinds of forms, for surveys, feedback, etc. 

Go, have fun and make being an Airbnb host somewhat easier.

[Rachel18]

Hi there Damir and others discussing airbnb automation.  I am currently living in Los Angeles with my two young children for the school year, while renting our family home in Atlanta.  So far, I'm making enough off of our Atlanta home to be able to afford the crazy expensive rents out here!  (But I shouldn't complain too much.  I may be paying three times my mortgage in rent, but it's currently 28% in Atlanta and currently a balmy 72.)

Anyway, I clicked on the link for your typeform check in and it looks just beautiful!  I couldn't get very far though, because it asked me for my confirmation code.  I was wondering if you could perhaps give us a dummy code so that we could walk through the entire thing to see how it works.  I am very interested in any and every way that I can automate parts of the process while still not losing that "human" touch.

Even if there is not a way for us to see a full preview of what your check-in process looks like, would you be wiling to perhaps share here what things you include in the check-in process?  Is it primarily for gathering information from the guests to prepare for their visit?  Or to give them information that they will need to know?

Thank you again for jumping in.  So far I am really enjoying every aspect of our experience being airbnb hosts, and this community is a part of that!

[Lizzie]

Hello @Rachel18,

This sounds great. There is such a range of home automated products out there now, it is great that we can discuss this together here. 🙂

I am just going to tag the other hosts in this thread to make sure they get notified of your post: @Damir0, @Ed-and-Hugh0, @Tina1, @Maria-Lurdes0, @Noah0 

[Maria-Lurdes0]

I love this topic.

Damir, thanks for the forms link, I'll check it out.

I also just started using Ring Doorbell, and it's so awesome.  Another host somewhere (maybe reddit) had posted about it paying for itself in two guest visits, as it allowed him to see the guests and make sure the correct number of guests was staying.   I've installed the Ring doorbell in one location, and I've used it with three sets of guests, and they love that they rang the doorbell and I was able to communicate with them directly.  So now instead of letting them know the door code ahead of time, I answer the doorbell, then text them the door code while I'm watching to make sure they use the keypad correctly.

I also used it for contractors that I didn't want to wait for - I could let them in to fix the windows and then go by 5 minutes later to check up on them.

The last thing I use is an wifi enabled exterior camera in two locations where I have not yet installed the Ring.

[Stuart4]

Hi Milu,

did you know that the Ring doorbell integrates with the Remotelock range of wifi enabled smart locks?

thanks, Stuart  smartlock.co.uk

[Damir0]

Hi @Rachel18, @Mary31, @Stuart4, @Maria-Lurdes0, @Lizzie,

@Rachel18 You can still try the Typeform check-in, use a random code and it will let you through. I use the form mainly for gathering information and confirming check-in etc. Guests get an email with a link to the form aside a PDF document of several pages providing all info for their prospective trip. However I am testing several services for online home manuals, documentation, e-signature etc. I will post here on the tools I love to use, for example, custom Google Maps for guests with local tips like pharmacy etc which they can access directly, open the links in Google Maps on mobile, get directions and find the actual shop or pharmacy.

Stay tuned for more.

Below, the Typeform link:

https://airbnbcheckin.typeform.com/to/G1p49z

So, you still need to verify the info provided, I would do that anyway, I do want to figure out how to further improve this form and the field types and it's requirements.

The data provided in Typeform is saved into a database of Airtable, which adds the new entry to the dedicated email automation of ActiveCampaign.

For this integration, I use Zapier (my favorite!) and for many more. To connect all separate apps to work together, you will need something like Zapier.

[Marko7]

Hey Damir, I'm new around here but fairly experienced with email automation.

You're saying you're using the typeform -> cloud spreadsheet solution -+ zapier > Activecampaign solution.

Why would you not use this

Typeform + Mailchimp. There's a integration ready made without having to use Zapier.

No matter what you use, I wonder how you handle this situation.

Say someone books your appartement today but they would arrive in 6 weeks from now.

How do you set the Day Before Email, Checkout emails to go out automatically because they would have to be set dynamically in line with the specific date?

Marko

P.S. I've found the solution from Guestly to offer such dedicated autoresponder system to manage the Airbnb listing but the overall price of their solution is quite steep 3% of the revenues.

[Brittany1]

Your check in form is really cool!  You would think Airbnb would have a way to check in and out on their app. We tell our guests to let us know when they arrive and when they leave but often they forget to.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

We use Nest thermostats, Cameras, and Smoke Detectors. All work well together (for example, if there is a fire, it will shut down the air conditioner and turn on the cameras) and can all be controled from the phone.

Next purchase will likely be a Yale Linus lock (available later this year). It's supposed to work with Nest and Airbnb (so that it will automatically generate codes for your guests to use for each booking...nice!).

[Damir0]

@Ed-and-Hugh0 sounds like you're big fans of Nest. Do you have the supplemental subscription as well? For the cameras and cloud hosting of videos, I mean.

I have heard many positive stories about Nest, likely to replace my current smart thermostat, which offers limited support for other brands than their partners. Strange, because it supports OpenTherm. 

Most likely, I'll get the entire line of devices from Nest. 

For hosts who want to smarten up their smoke/CO detectors, without the high costs associated normally, I can recommend Roost, www.getroost.com. Basically, they're batteries with wifi connectivity and a smartphone app. Brilliant!