Does anyone provide a safety box for guests in their Airbnb (similar to the ones in hotels)?
We require long term stays to have our trusted cleaners go in biweekly to refresh the airbnb for them - this also allows us to check that state of the Airbnb. I’m wondering if we should have a safe box for our guests who may want to keep their private/sensitive belongings for their own peace of mind and for us to protect our cleaners from false stealing accusations.
It’s a good idea. I don’t have one, but I just have a homeshare listing and no one goes into the guest room while they are in residence. I’ve certainly read posts about guests claiming the cleaner or host must have stolen their jewelry or money. (With no actual evidence, of course)
Many, if not most Airbnb hosts in my touristy beach town, where petty thievery is common, do provide safes in their entire place rentals.
One host friend I know cautioned her guests to use the safe, but they were hanging on the rooftop seating area and one of them had left her bag on the kitchen table, right in front of an open window, and someone cut the screen and took it.
Because my friend has the info about using the safe in her listing, and reiterates in messages, the guests didn’t blame her, or try to make a stink about it- they told her about the theft, but said it was their fault for not heeding her advice.
You can program the safe for two codes- one for you (but don’t tell them that) and one the guests program themselves, leaving them instructions on how to do that.
Thanks Muddy! I didn’t know that you could have 2 safe codes but that’s good to know.
I think I’ll research some different safe box options and think about it more before deciding whether I’ll do it or not. I’ll follow up if I end up getting a safe box for the Airbnb and see how it goes.
I’m not sure how it works, as I’ve never had a safe, but I’m sure the safe seller can explain it. If you didn’t have the ability to have a “master code”, no one would be able to open the safe if the guests left it closed without them telling you the code they programmed. And the master code should allow you to delete the guests’s code when they leave, so the next guests can program a new one.
You will want to put battery replacement on a set schedule. If the baterries go dead, you can open with the provided key but if you are not close by, it could be a problem for the guests.
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We have one in each bedroom closet, bolted to the wall. Fortunately, there haven’t been any issues in the ten years we’ve been hosting, other than the battery dying and our housekeeper having to hustle to the villa to open the safe with the key.
I wanted to mention that also hotels do have a second code to open their safe in case guests don’t remember theirs. So this would be the same for an STR and I wonder to what extent this would really provide peace of mind to guests, as I’m sure many know that a hotel has a backup-code which in an STR case would be the property owner…
Thank you @muddy @cleobeach @PitonView & @Hosterer !
I appreciate everyone’s insight. After researching and reading everyone’s response, I decided that it wouldn’t be in our best interest to provide a safe. Maybe if I was closer and/or still had a housekeeper nearby/onsite for the potential dead battery/key solution then I would’ve leaned towards providing a safe.
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This one’s too good not to share.
Under pressure from BDC, I installed the cheapest wall-mounted safe I could find for the bedroom — a tiny one, obviously. Just one code and a key.
One of my guests — an artist — picked my place specifically because it was the cheapest accommodation with a safe box. I figured it’d be useful for a passport, some cards, keys, maybe a necklace or two.
Then he called me, sounding serious, and insisted I come over.
I walked in… and the kitchen table was covered in stacks of banknotes. He was genuinely upset that the safe couldn’t hold all his cash.
I told him, ‘Look, I’ve never seen a hotel safe big enough for that. Next time you come to sing in Romania, maybe just rent the National Bank.’
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An"artist", huh? Sounds like he had a lucrative sideline business.
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I can’t imagine what he did for a living, but he had a genuine social media profile, like an recognized foreign artist. Maybe he only accepted cash projects 
Or maybe he was at a wedding — those can be a good source of cash around here.
Guess you’ll need to specify your safe dimensions 
I also received some feedback about the slipper sizes. I usually provide sizes 40 and 45 for couples. But one day, a couple with feet over size 40 showed up… I was unable to be helpful that day. So I rolled back my property description to promise “no slippers” and I have only happy guests., even when the slippers don’t fit perfectly.
Just my point of view - several years ago I moved into the place where I now live. There was a safe left by the previous owners.
I have never once used it.
I’ve stayed in a few STRs that have had safes and I’ve never used them either. I don’t travel with my diamond jewelry (ha!) so my only ‘valuable’ is paperwork - passport and ID that I keep with me at all times.
I have one, but it’s not the traditional one you’d find in most hotels, and I don’t think it’s particularly secure, although it does lock. It’s a full length mirror, that hangs on the closet door, and it’s a jewelry armoire that locks. There are also similar models that sit on the floor and ones that rotate. The nice thing about them is they provide several things in one item that are useful in an AirBnB: a full length mirror, a jewelry organizer, and a place to lock up valuables.
Although it’s not very secure it is better than nothing at all. Anything really secure would be a lot more money and would require permanent installation.
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