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Just to ad a slight turnaround that I had to deal with. I had a grandmother who booked our place with her teenage granddaughter.
We have a sliding door between our living room and a one-bedroom, one-bath area with a living room, kitchen and sliding door outside to the pool area. There is also a door to the parking area outside the kitchen.
The grandmother inspected their space and objected to the fact there was only one lock on our side of the kitchen and none on her side. She said she did not feel her daughter would approve of them staying there unless there was a lock on their side of the door. The grandmother came straight out and said she would not feel her grand-daughter would be safe in a house in which they were not locked in.
They made a reservation at a nearby luxury hotel and called ABNB to cancel their reservation. That is the only time anyone has moved out. After that I considered putting a lock on the other side of the door, but that was the only complaint I ever had.
While I find it weird for a guest who books an in-home suite or private room to feel they need to lock themselves off from the host in anything other than the bathroom or bedroom for privacy, it is a safety hazard to have a lock on the guest side that the host cannot unlock from their side in case of emergency.
I am pretty certain that a ‘one sided’ lock would be considered a safety hazard in any situation. However, allowing a guest to lock their door when they are in the room or when they leave the room seems like something that would be a minimal requirement for a stay…?
Most bathroom and bedroom doors have the type of door knobs that can be locked from the inside, but can be opened by sticking a small screwdriver or tool in a slot or hole on the other side in case of emergency. That would seem the best set-up for an Airbnb in-home private room or suite.
As far as a lock on the outside between the guest space and the rest of the house, if the guest is only sharing with the host, a lock on the outside is just privacy theatre, because it would be foolish of a host not to have keys to all the doors in a house.
However, if there are multiple private rooms rented to unrelated guests, a lock on the outside of the bedroom door certainly seems like it should be provided, both for the guests’ peace of mind and to avoid scenarios where a guest might claim something was missing from their room with accusations on other guests.
As both my guest bedroom and my bedroom open onto the upstairs balcony, with an outdoor staircase, kinda like the second floor of a motel, both those doors have outside locks.
