I’ve been on the Airbnb platform as a host for several years now. During this time the below tips have made my life so much easier. I’ve listed them below and the reasons why. You’ve likely got them or used these tips already so be sure to let me know if any of these were useful to you. Here’s the 5 things every Airbnb host needs!
A Ring Doorbell/Video Doorbell
It goes without saying that property security will be the number one concern of yours as a short-term rental host. This is even more important when you are renting out a spare property or full home location.
Remote video doorbells or exterior security cameras can help you monitor and keep your property secure even when it’s vacant.
Giving many strangers access to your home or rental can leave you open to all kinds of issues. You have a responsibility as a host to make sure your property is being used responsibly. That goes for your neighbours and communities benefit to prevent crime or nuisance bookings too.
Ring doorbells for example have reduced in price since they first released and can now be purchased cheaply. You can even buy second hand, refurbished devices to save further. The Ring Protect plans (which you’ll definitely want to have) are cheap too at only around £34.99 a year.
Why video doorbells?
One of the benefits of a video doorbell over a camera is that guests can call you via the doorbell.
For example, if a guest gets locked out without a phone, they can press the doorbell and speak to you directly for help.
You can also speak to guests remotely on arrival if you need to. This allows you to verify that they are who they say they are in the event unexpected people turn up.
I was renting on the Airbnb platform for a few months before I installed the doorbell. I can’t prove it but I’d had previous issues where I had to visit the property to assist a guest. The issue was an electricity issue that could be fixed with the fuse box outside. This meant I had no reason to enter the property itself.
When I knocked to let them know it was done, they refused to answer the door. All the blinds were closed and the property was silent. Based on this as well as the volume of rubbish left over when they left, I’m more inclined to believe the ‘2 person’ booking was actually a full family.
Having a video doorbell installed will put people off chancing a booking like this.
Pre-written saved messages
Airbnb allows you to pre-save messages which acts as a huge time saver. You’ll receive many of the same sort of messages and questions over and over again from different guests.
These quick responses will enable you to provide a perfect, consistent friendly and professional response (even when you don’t feel particularly perfect, consistently friendly or professional yourself!)
As a host, if you have an iPhone you’ll want to download the Airbnb app. You can respond to new bookings or current guests that you’re hosting quickly. Being able to fire messages through the App save so much time.
Smart Lock or Deadlock
Smart locks are electronic locks you can control remotely from a smart phone. You can set, adjust or change the access code to the property. This is a great way to ensure guests can’t gain access back into the property when they have left. It also ensures security for unwanted access outside of bookings.
Smart Locks won’t be suitable for everyone. As a minimum, I’d recommend having an additional lock fitted which is just for you. This can be a regular deadlock of which the keys are not used by guests. This secure key can be only for your use, or provided to cleaning staff to use.
This ensures that the general keys your guests use can’t be used when the deadlock has been locked. The deadlock then acts as a master lock to make sure the property is properly secured.
A second set of towels/Laundry
When I first started hosting on Airbnb I wasn’t sure how popular my listing would be. I started with a single set of double bed linen and a small set of white towels.
My rental on Airbnb ended up busier than I expected and grew substantially in my first few months. For the first 5 months, I used this single set of bed linen and towels for each and every booking.
This meant a great deal of effort washing, tumble drying and ironing was required during turnovers. This was even worse if the turnovers were back to back and within 24 hours of each other. To make matters worse, this was in between working a full time job.
Looking back now, I don’t know why I didn’t just buy another set sooner. The pressure to complete everything in a 24 hour turnaround was gone instantly. Also the wear and tear from near daily washing has been spread out across more sets of laundry. This meant that all sets of linens and towels would last longer.
If you have a vacation/holiday rental and have tight turnaround times, this can be an expensive outlay. Particularly if you have several bedrooms or sleeping areas but the time savings will be huge. I’ve stayed in several holiday rentals that ask the guests to launder the bed linen before the 11am checkout which can be roughly tough to do so this will also ease the burden on your guests.
An emergency lock box key safe
It’s happened to me twice now where a guest has locked themselves out. On those occasions I haven’t been able to get to them within 20 minutes. As a host I find this really stressful (even though it’s not been my fault).
When I rent my property, I’m often staying nearby so can assist a guest in person. This is usually within 10-15 minutes in most cases. On these two occasions, I was at work – an hour away. Sometimes I’m not always able to leave to go and let them in.
I’ve been lucky enough that my boss has always been accommodating. And on days when It’s not practical for me to leave due to work commitments, I’m lucky that I have reliable family members nearby to step in and help.
Key safes can be life saving for your time when hosting
But there will come a time when I won’t be able to help a guest who is locked out. I have the main lock box which guests use to get access to the main guest keys. As well as this I have a Ring doorbell so as explained above. The guests can contact me if they get locked out without a phone.
But secondly to this, I’ve now installed a second lock box. This is hidden at the (almost inaccessible) back of my apartment building as an emergency lock box. It’s a little out of the way and has a separate access code. I rest easy now knowing that there is a spare key that as of yet, nobody knows about and will likely never find it unless told of its whereabouts.
Where possible I’ll keep letting guests in myself. However, knowing there is a solution that won’t impact my day job (and annoying my boss!) is priceless.
Lock boxes are cheap, can be installed easily, and provide your guests with an extra level of convenience.
Summary
These are just a few of the things that have helped me in saving time. I’m confident they’ll help all hosts whether that be full home rentals or spare room rentals wherever you are in the world.
As with anything, I find prevention and preparation is the best way to host. This way you can make sure your guests bookings run smoothly and that your guests stays are perfect.