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I stayed over at an Airbnb once with self check in and the idea struck me as an example of small geniality:
the host had a lock attached to the gate outside.
He sends you the password of the lock, and once you punch in the password the lock doesn’t unlock as most locks, but opens up a small space inside the lock itself where the keys are stored.
Checking is one of my major issues and I’d love to do the same for my own place, but couldn’t find this lock on Internet anywhere.
I had a great lock (before I got my lockstate, which automates and interfaces with air). it only had room for 8 codes, so every day I would reprogram with a new code for each guest.
The, I realized that if I had 6 codes, i could cycle thru them for guests. Guest a gets a code, then leaves, next guest gets another code, 3rd guest gets first code, etc. Simple… and constantly changing codes when guests show up and then leave town the next day is a thankless and useless task.
Hi Rolf - Over half of my guests are visiting friends/family in the neighborhood so there’s a slight security risk when I use old codes (which I actually tend to do anyway since I need to remember them…). I’m sure no one would ever do this but the possibility that someone from the next block could walk over and open the door stresses me out a bit. Right now, we tend to only put the key in the box for a few hours before an arrival and that makes me feel better as the window of opportunity is relatively small.
it can work by itself, of course - you can add a code thru your 'puter or smartphone - but the cool part of the lockstate is that when you get booked, it creates a random code and sends out an email with it and whatever else you want to send out in the email - and it does this by interfacing directly with airbnb. When someone instant books me, for example, a few mins alter I get a cc of what the lock sent to my guest. I tis totally painless and I am free of the need to program standing at my front door.
Can you programmate a code for example: I want a code that will be valid from this date at this time to other date in order to fix fox others plaforms?
I, for one, do not have a door that supports those kind of wifi enabled locks. I have half a French door as my front door because I wanted a large glass door. The latch mechanism does not support these kinds of bolt locks. I have a lockbox mounted near the door with a push button non-wifi enabled code. It hasn’t been a big deal, but wifi would be nice. I change the code every few months.
Well, personally -and I suppose some others are in my situations too- I don’t own the place, so changing the doors’ lock is either too complex or not worth the investment considering I won’t live here for a long long time, so the mechanical/external lock is the only solution.
Thank you everyone for the link and for weighing in, made both my life and my future guests’ life easier!
Hi Gail, I am the European distributor for Lockstate. Our Remotelock 6i comes in a mortise version that is compatible with many European style locks. If you email me some photos of your door I can advise. Stuart at Lockstate dot eu. Thanks
