I disagree. Over the years countless guests have told me that they rarely look at the Airbnb messages once the reservation is accepted and wish I had simply texted.
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What? I do that and many other here have posted that they also do it. I have a couple of regulars whose codes I donāt delete, but everyone else I have to program into the app.
You probably wouldnāt have- it was a request, not an IB, and she has pages full of great reviews. She also sent a really nice, informative message along with the request. Thereās probably a reasonable explanation, which Iām going to ask her about when sheās here, as to why thereās no phone number on her account.
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I do! Our keypad deadbolt has 30 memory slots to hold codes. So I program them about a month in advance and each code has assigned āactiveā dates that coincide with their stay. 30 min after the checkout time it deactivates. (I give a little grace period to allow for "Oh SH]T! I left my phone charging on the nightstand!) I can also unlock and lock remotely, as well as program and delete codes and dates remotely. Kwikset Smartcode 914. The lock still functions with existing codes if the power/internet is outāI just canāt remotely manage it in those instances. It is a royal pain managing it manually, though. Batteries (4 AA) are still reporting at 60% after over 9.5 months. It also can be operated by a physical master key that only my wife an I have copies of. Itās a game changer.
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Wow! I have never recād anything like this and I text guests, I try to use the app mostly though, but this is not ok. This guest sucks 100%. It probably hurt your feelings when you were scolded that way when you had such a lovely offer of free baking. Keep on bing awesome!
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I agree with the guest wanting to stick with the app, but they shouldāve responded in a nicer way. If I had been the guest and you had texted me directly, I wouldāve just copied your text, went into the airbnb app, pasted your text into a message and responded back to you through the app. In this way, I would be telling you that this is how I prefer to communicate.
As a host, I always text through the app with guests. It creates a ācommunications historyā or record that can protect both host and guestsāshould an issue or dispute later arise. It eliminates any āwe said, they saidā because Airbnb can just view the record of the communications. Itās just a few extra taps to get to the app and inbox. Why distribute oneās personal number widely if there isnāt a strong reason to share it? Plus, the app keeps all the guest communications in one organized space. When I have a returning guest, I like to look back at the previous conversations to see if anything came up in the previous visit that I need to consider for their next visit. If I had to look back through all my personal text messages for that information though, I donāt think Iād be able to find it.
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Phone numbers of hosts and guests are given by Airbnb as soon as a booking is confirmed, so Iām not sure what you mean by this.
While I agree that anything that could possibly be contentious should be conveyed via Airbnb messaging, there are lots of reasons why texting, phoning, or using whatsapp is useful and appropriate.
For instance, most of my guests arrive by air to the airport an hour from my place, then take the bus. I offer to pick them up at the bus station here, as my house is hard to find the first time. I ask them to call or text me when they are ready to board the bus, so I have a heads-up on their approx. arrival time here. Just knowing when their flight gets in would not do any good, as it can take varying amounts of time to clear customs and immigration, retreive luggage, etc.
Then they phone or text me again when they get to the bus station here and I jump in the car and make the 7 minute drive to get them.
Itās much easier and faster for these coms to be done via phone call or text than through Airbnb messaging. Not to mention, Airbnb message alerts are not dependable, in my experience. There is often a lag, sometimes of hours.
If I was the OP here, generously offering my guests some fresh baking, I would have phoned or texted as well.
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That is great news, but as we know, the hosts on this forum are way above average.
My experience as a guest has been that the keypad door code is always the house number if the house number is 4 digits. You can just assume this as a guest.
If the house number is not 4 digits, then itās easy to guess, like ā1111ā or ā1234,ā that kind of thing, and you can assume the host is not changing it regularly or ever.
Iāve never had a host give me a unique door code just for me.
Exactly. I have done this both as host and guest. If a guest texts me to say theyāre on their way and just want to know where to stop for food before they get to the cottage, I will return their text with info about where to stop. This has only happened twice in 14 months of hosting.
Guests are taught on social media (see TikTok) and by numerous messages from AirBnB to keep all communication on the message platform.
My experience as a guest has been that most hosts donāt have a smart or digital lock. I strongly prefer not to have a key but not enough to base my booking on it. Iāve been in a couple of places where there was a gate with one code and a door with another code and all the codes were some number assigned by the host that had no connection to me or the address. One of the least pleasant aspects of booking with Airbnb is lack of consistency. But itās worth it for the money saved. I consistently find Airbnb provides far better value than any hotel.
On the OPās topic. I just made a new reservation and at the top of the message thread is a message to the guest that says āTo protect your payment, always communicate and pay through the Airbnb website or app.ā One need not be a host to reply to a text with ākeep all messages on the app.ā
That message is a self-serving one for Airbnb. They donāt want to lose their place as the middleman.
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Of course. And why wouldnāt it be? I expect Airbnb to look after their best interests and Iāll look after mine. I already have enough direct bookings and friends who stay at my Airbnb that dropping them at any time is not going to be that painful.
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Wow thatās wild ā what a risk of break-ins! I ask each guest to nominate the 6-digit code for their stay and suggest that itās the first or last numbers of their phone. Theyāre more likely to remember that when theyāre coming home late at night and this saves me from getting emergency calls at night. I also program the times their code works so it automatically stops working a half hour after their checkout time. If they need to get back in (if they forgot something), theyād have to contact me for help with that.
This was actually what triggered us to break with our previous property manager and manage our Airbnb ourselves ā she was giving every guest and cleaner her master code, even though weād shown her how she could program unique codes for each person. So you couldnāt tell who was accessing the apartment, and any prior guest could waltz back in at any time. And she didnāt see that as problematic. If I were a guest I would have found it really disturbing. As the property owner who uses that place in between guests, I found it disturbing! I thought she was unusually lax about security but maybe sheās the norm and those of us who program unique codes are the exception?
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How about this one- there was a co-host who posted on the CC who was having issues with the homeowner, who was a cheapskate who didnāt āget itā and was ignoring her advice about various things, like coughing up money for things that really needed to be repaired or replaced, not wanting to pay her adequately for her work, etc.
I took a look at the listing, which the owner had written the description for, and saw that he had actually put the door code in the ad!
I alerted the co-host to that, and she said, āOMG! I hadnāt seen that, thank you! This just goes to show how clueless he is.ā
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I have never head of someone with a smart lock that did NOT use it as intended - to give specific codes unique to each person so guest(s) A do not have access when guest(s) B are in the home.
Imagine staying at a hotel and finding out that every lock could be opened by every cardā¦
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Now thatās wild. Who would reserve to stay at such a place? Thereās your real measure of who reads listings or not!
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WTF?? I donāt have cell service or good internet as my farm/glamping accommodation is basically āoff gridā.
My guests have to call me on my landline to arrange check inā¦
I wonder sometime if this next generation will be able to survive, let alone light a fire in the fire pit!
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Disturbing to think that phone numbers are now considered a ā private thing" ā¦ OMG ALL my guests have to call my landline, as my property is basically off grid. If you donāt like it, go stay in a hotelā¦ is my notoā¦
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Sounds like your guest was having a "One night stand "and didnāt want anybody examining their call or text log. I always contacted guests through direct calls or texts and encouraged them to do the same as it is much faster than the app
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Airbnb supplies the host with the guestās phone number and vice versa. It has come in handy for me when guests were unable to find my house. Or when they just needed to get in touch with me when they needed information or suggestions. So yes, it is perfectly OK to text guests.
In any case, your guest was ill-informed and rude. And they missed out on a lovely, lovely gesture. Too bad for them.
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