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And that’s pretty crazy, isn’t it? It takes seconds, not even minutes, to change the code. If a host is lazy about something as simple as that, it can be indicative of how lazy they are when it comes to keeping the rental in good nick.
I know a host who, a few years ago, had guests who had checked out that morning but let themselves in that evening - when the new guests were having dinner.
The new guests were pretty spooked by that. The ‘departed’ guests had a few hours to wait before their flight left and didn’t think for a minute that there was such a thing as a same-day turnover so they decided to go back to use the loo, have a shower, watch a bit of telly…
I wouldn’t recommend the last four digits of the phone number either. Once I was still preparing one of the rentals with still an hour or so to go before check-in time. I heard the guests come to the door and the bloke say “we’ll let ourselves in, it’ll be the last digits of my phone number”.
Some people are jerky control freaks. We live upstairs from our Airbnb and I put my number on the fridge saying “if you’d like to text us directly, we’re at …etc”. That gives THEM the option to text you first.
Otherwise, if they haven’t texted us personally and I really need to get ahold of them, ie, “snow emergency tonight, you need to move your car to the other side of the street before 6:00 AM” type of message. I will either text them personally or actually knock on the door.
In the end, it’s still MY house.
The app we use with our lock enables us to set a timeframe during which the code is active. So Even in this case, the code would not have worked until the check-in time. Likewise, at 12:15 pm, it deactivates.
I’ve stayed at 16 different airbnbs as a guest. I dont recall a single one of them giving me a unique door code just for me. Maybe some of them changed the code between every guest and use a random code each time but I highly doubt that.
With my properties each guest is given their own unique door code corresponding to the lash four digits of their phone number. And it only works for the days and times of their scheduled reservation. I’ve got my systems down to a point where no manual steps are required to create the door code. The door code is automatically sent to them after they upload their drivers license and a $500 security deposit. I use ownerrez to manage it.
It kind of blows my mind that out of all the Airbnbs I stayed at, not a single one of them changed the code between each guest. And yet when it comes to hotels they would never operate that way. When you’re given a key card it only works for a certain time frame. Otherwise there would be obvious liability issues if people could use their keycard for unrestricted access. I guess most Airbnb hosts don’t care because they dont treat it as a real business. Plus the odds of someone coming inside the house with an old door code is probably rare.
Unsafe depends a lot on the building, location, other safety measures, etc. I rent a homeshare so in a very safe area so we don’t need to be quite as locked down during the day. We do lock up at night. In twelve years guests have ranged from those who want everything locked to those who don’t even lock their room when they go out and often leave the room door open.
I change our codes randomly, but it’s a manual process so it’s not between every guest. Also we are an international destination with very few in-country guests, so it’s highly unlikely someone from Germany is going to pop back to Costa Rica to rob a single hotel room.
I always change the code after a Tico guest checks out though, because they could theoretically do just that.
I tend to use the app exclusively unless the guest initiates texting via their mobile.
That said, I have saved some numbers where we ended up texting and they were likely to return for a second visit etc.
Also, agree that some people don’t have notifications turned on and miss important messages whereas who doesn’t have notifications for their sms’! (umm me at times, but thats a long story )
He sounds like a nasty guest to deal with. sigh
My sister would say ‘its the nature of hospitality’ but I don’t think we are here to be treated rudely.
I do a unique 4-digit code on the actual door of the cottage for all my guests. I have found that it is relatively easy to change it in between stays. The first couple of times it was tricky.
