In the vacation rental and Airbnb industries, smart homes are here to stay. Future Airbnb hosts will integrate smart devices into every part of their houses to automate property management, provide first-rate guest service, and monitor properties from a distance.
High-speed WIFI and keyless entry may have formerly been considered luxuries, but in the eyes of Airbnb visitors, they have now become necessities. The visitor of 2022 is technologically adept, does remote work, and seeks out technological conveniences. Airbnb management need to integrate technology into every facet of the visitor experience if they want to appeal to this expanding tourist demographic. Fortunately, both visitors and hosts profit from this trend. Visitors get greater value and quality, and hosts can now more easily maintain and keep an eye on their properties from a distance.
What smart devices should you buy for an Airbnb?
There’s lots of smart devices you can use in your Airbnb to enhance your visitor’s experience. From smart thermostats to smart security cameras, this list features the best devices you can buy to make your Airbnb a true smart rental.
Smart Thermostats
The ideal Airbnb smart home must have a smart thermostat. When the guests aren’t in the listing, a smart thermostat can detect that and change the temperature accordingly. Additionally, we can establish a passcode for some settings that we don’t want visitors to tamper with. In order to prevent visitors from overworking our air conditioning, we may also set a minimum and maximum temperature for our listings.
When compared to the energy savings they offer, smart thermostats are reasonably priced. Additionally, your utility company can provide you a rebate for upgrading your old thermostat, making the upgrade either cheap or free!
It would be a good idea to check the brand website before you buy a smart thermostat to be sure it will work with your existing heating and cooling system.
You can program your smart thermostat to turn on when a visitor opens the smart lock on your front door, or you can combine it with vacation rental management software to track check-in times and adjust the temperature accordingly. If your property is situated in the desert in the height of summer, the integration with your management software can be essential. When visitors enter the room, they will appreciate the cold air.
The Google Nest Learning Thermostat is an extremely well-liked alternative. Although the Nest is Alexa compatible, it does not come equipped with an Alexa microphone; nevertheless, it does offer Google Assistant functionality.
Google Nest Thermostat
The Google Nest has the most minimalistic design of the current smart thermostats so as not to detract from the aesthetic of your Airbnb. You, as the owner, can lock the Google Nest as well. The highest and lowest temperatures at which your appliance may function can be restricted. With this function, you can stop visitors from cranking up the heat or air conditioning.
Smart Locks
When it comes to managing a rental home, smart locks are important. Our go-to smart lock can link to Airbnb and handle guest invitations and listing access automatically! We adore the fact that we are no longer concerned with key exchanges, key loss, or, even worse, guest key duplication!
Remote hosts frequently wish to guarantee the safety of their short-term rental. Lockboxes are a cheap and effective way to deal with problems that arise during check-in key transfers. Without having to worry about running out of batteries or having their Wi-Fi go out, you give the guests the code, and they can unlock the box to get the keys. What happens, though, if the visitor forgets to lock the door or, even worse, fails to put the keys back in the lockbox?
August Smart Lock
Due to its adaptability and simplicity of installation, the August Smart Lock Pro is a particularly well-liked smart lock for Airbnb properties. It effortlessly integrates with Airbnb and fits over the majority of deadbolts. A request to download and install the app will be sent to prospective visitors automatically, granting them access to your listing only during the periods of their stay.
Using the app, you can also keep an eye on the lock’s condition and ensure that no one is improperly accessing your listing.
The August smart lock has a sensor to make sure the door is fully closed. This means that you won’t have to worry about remotely locking an open door. It features an automatic lock mechanism that closes the door after a predetermined length of time after the door has been unlocked. When visitors enter the building, it will automatically unlock. The deadbolt may still be opened with a key, which is a useful feature to ensure you have a backup plan in place.
Read more about smart locks that are compatible with Airbnb: 5 Best Smart Locks for Airbnb (2022)
Smart Security Cameras
A wonderful approach to make sure your listing is secure and your house rules are being followed is using security cameras. We can receive notifications on our phones from our preferred Airbnb security camera anytime motion is detected, letting us know when visitors arrive.
Unfortunately, security cameras may provide visitors an excuse to decline or cancel their reservation for your listing. Therefore, it’s crucial to pick a system that meets your needs without violating their privacy.
Just make sure to let your visitors know about any additional home rules and that there are cameras present. The greatest Airbnb security cameras improve the experience of a guest rather than watching them at all times. And please don’t be weird by bringing cameras inside.
Blink Outdoor Camera
Blink is a smart security camera company owned by Amazon. With no wires to worry about, installation can be completed quickly and on almost any surface. There is a Sync Module that stays indoors and connects into an outlet that is included with the Blink. It works in tandem with the Blink Camera to detect and record events.
Blink Outdoor Camera Features
- Infrared night vision.
- Runs for up to two years on two AA batteries.
- Creates cloud-based event storage using a Blink Subscription Plan.
- Locally saves events to the Blink Sync Module.
- Weather-resistant.
- Get motion notifications on your phone.
- Use a two-way speaker to communicate with guests.
TV and Streaming
Even though many guests will have their own streaming devices, it is a great touch to provide a system that includes the newest streaming apps. Guests are likely to want to unwind when they stay at your Airbnb home.
Even the most basic TVs may be made smart thanks to the many streaming devices that are being offered at incredibly low prices. Due to the fact that many streaming sticks and boxes support Chromecast streaming from smartphones and tablets, visitors won’t even need to log in to their accounts.
Roku TV
One of the best options for Airbnb guests is without a doubt Roku. There are several options for streaming services, and certain Hisense TVs already have one built in. They all have a “Guest mode” that your guests can use. If you enable it, new visitors will be asked to sign in as soon as they arrive. You can even write a unique welcome message for them.
They can log into all of their streaming services and their login information will deleted in preparation for the following group of visitors when they depart (or you manually log them out). Your default settings are reinstated when you sign out of guest mode. This will allow you to utilize all of your channels and apps as usual.
Conclusion
Smart devices have become really helpful tools that make life easier. Using them in your Airbnb rental is a great way to make your guests happy, thus increasing the chance that more people will choose your rental over others.