Do you all give a key?

[Simon2362]

Hi,

I'm about to host my first guest this evening. It occurs to me only now that many people expect to have a key, but I'm really not comfortable giving a key to guests at all. This is my home and I'm certain giving out keys to people will invalidate my insurance policy, not to mention makes me very uncomfortable.

I work from home so will be here most of the time and can ensure I'm here after a certain time, say 5pm to let guests come back.

So my question is, is it standard and expected to provide keys to guests?

I'd like to hear from people who are letting a room in their own home, not places dedicated to renting.

Thanks,

Simon

[Mark116]

@Simon2362   You are going to have to give guests a way to enter the unit on their own, otherwise you are inviting huge problems of miscommunication and upset guests who can't get in, and who possibly don't want to have to communicate in this level of detail to make sure you are always home.  So, your options are either give them keys, get an electronic door where you give them a code, or maybe think hard about whether you really want people in your house and if hosting is the right choice for you.  I can say I would never rent a place where I had to depend on someone else to get in the unit at all times.

[Sarah977]

@Simon2362  I also rent a private room/bath in my home and work from home, so am mostly here. But I do give my guests a key and have never had any issues with it- all have returned the key, none have lost it. My doors are hand-wrought metal and it wouldn't be possible to have an electronic door lock, only a key lock box, but I haven't found that necessary. And the lock-box isn't really any different than giving  guest a key, it just means they could initially check-in even if you weren't home. 

We aren't traditional BnBs or hostels, so you can't compare it to that. Most guests would be quite upset to find that they had to co-ordinate their comings and goings with when the host would be home, or be required to vacate the premises for certain hours of the day. Guests have a right to use the accommodation they paid for on their own schedule, apart from honoring check-in and out windows.

[Simon2362]

It's good to hear you haven't had issues.

I'm generally a very trusting person, but have recently been a victim of two thefts. My tool box was taken from the front garden and cost £300 to replace, and someone broke in my car for a few coins. 

[Sarah977]

@Simon2362  It's hard when you're a trusting person to have that trust shattered. But having something stolen that was out in the yard, or having your car broken into is different than being wary that your guests will copy keys and come back to steal. If it was an entire house rental, that would be different, but since you live on the premises and guests are aware that you are there almost all day, it doesn't seem to me to be a situation where guests would just chance the fact that you might be out. In other words, there are much easier situations for someone with thievery on their agenda, to target. Just as thieves will take a pass on a house with a large, threatening looking dog in the yard, and go for the house with none.

[Simon2362]

You make a good point.

It is worth considering though, there is a reason the insurance company (who have extensive statistics to base risk assessment on) will not cover this situation.

[Simon2362]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I realise I'm in the minority if I don't provide a key, but until I decide that I want to continue AirBNB and splash money on a new lock (are there any that would work with my existing multi-point mechanism?) I have added a clear notice on my listing that I will not provide a key.

I have also informed my currently booked 6 guests and 4 have already replied to say they understand and are okay about it. Luckily I do work from home, so I am here almost 24/7 and will not have much issue being flexible for my guests.

For the moment, I've secured a key to the inside of the front door, so guests can let themselves out and just shoot me a text when they leave so I can lock up (yeah, my door doesn't even lock itself on closing). This way I hope they won't feel uncomfortable coming to find me to say they are going out, if I'm busy or asleep or something.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/39218872?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1&sharer_id=300...

I think my door key might actually be one of the difficult to copy types (nothing is impossible), it looks like this, anyone know about it?

Well, wish me luck!

[Sarah977]

@Simon2362  Those can be copied by a professional locksmith, of course, but require more than the basic key-cutting equipment and are also quite expensive to have copies made. 

[Dimitar27]

How expensive can be one key, compared to the loot behind the door?

I think that every key, no matter how expensive it is for copying, becomes relatively cheap in this case...

[Helen350]

@Dimitar27 There is NOTHING worth stealing behind MY door!!!

[Dimitar27]

A month ago, someone stole my garbage bag.
I got out in the morning, left the bag near the outside door, and went to the car to pick up some old packs of croissants and bottles of water. When I returned, my garbage bag was gone. Someone has decided, that there is something valuable inside and took it. It happens at 5 in the morning. I live in a place where anything can be stolen, at any time, by anyone.

[Sarah977]

@Dimitar27  I was once gardening and set my brand new pair of gardening gloves and my brand new pair of pruning shears down, inside my yard, but close to the road, went inside for 5 minutes to get a drink or water and have a smoke, and when I came back out, they were gone. I must have spent an hour looking for them, thinking I must have set them down elsewhere.

I wish someone would steal my garbage. No garbage pick-up where I live, I have to haul it away myself.

[Dimitar27]

I know at least 5 "professional" thieves here. One is in the jail- he was arrested while trying to steal copper cables from a street shaft. Some people, especially from some Europe countries, can't believe how many things can be stolen and sold on the black market. Almost everything!

I have two neighbors, who travel every month to England, France, sometimes Germany. They always come back with a van, full of bicycles and building tools-Bosch, Hilti, etc.. No one can convince me, that they are buying all that stuff legally.

[Gordon0]

From my own POV, I wouldn't give your place a second glance after seeing the 'no key' notice. Hugely inconvenient for guests. Humiliating having to knock on the door every time they return. And at 2am in the morning after a night out?

Good luck with your listing, @Simon2362.

[Simon2362]

Hi Gordon,

Clearly many people feel the same way you do, in fact I'm probably in the minority of users on AirBNB. Nonetheless, it's my home and I've got to run it my way, or face being unhappy in my own home.

I wonder if the area has a lot to do with expectations. London where you are based will obviously get many tourists and younger people visiting for any mix of reasons and probably a few late nights. Where I live is really not really like that, it's just a town in Kent. So far my guests have mostly been visiting friends who also live in the area. They go out in the morning to meet them and return in the evening after a good dinner.

I've got to say, from my POV your writing shows a great sense of over-entitlement considering you would be paying a very low charge* to make use of a room in someone else's home. I would personally think it absolutely normal to ring a door-bell to enter another person's property, not humiliating in the slightest. I would feel humiliated about returning drunk at 2am and disturbing the family who lives there. In fact your comment makes me think I will set a curfew for check-in by 10pm and daily return by 12pm.

*(I was charging £15/night but just increased it to £20. The nearest hotel charges £50-70/night)

[Helen350]

@Simon2362  Yes, the vast majority of my guests don't stay out late, being on the edge of the Lake District means I get many walkers & car tourers who want an early night for the next days activities. And when someone arrives for 1 night, having eaten, I don't give a key, but check with them first that they don't need one. I tell them where a key is kept, so they don't feel trapped, or so they can let themselves out  before I'm up, if they wish.... (More than 1 night = key. Sometimes I serve breakfast, then let them out, sometimes I let them serve themselves, then let themselves out.... I try to gauge each guest; whether  I think they'd appreciate the personal touch, or whether they'd rather I didn't fuss over them, & would prefer being left to do their own thing! I introduced my midnight curfew during the August silly season - when several couples drove from London & the south after work on a Friday night, arriving after 11pm. They'd then  go into town to eat, or order take away, or prepare their own food & sit around my dining table past midnight....

The curfew was to avoid disturbing the early  to bed early to rise hikers - & for my own sanity!

- If you want Gordon to see your message, you need to tag him using the @..... then find him on the drop down list, or type in the name+ correct number if it does not show on the list.