As Airbnb hosts, adding some clever Airbnb Smart Home Devices to your listing is one of the best ways to show guests you are invested in your property. It’s a win win for everyone involved. By adding some smart home upgrades to your space, you will be able to be less hands on and save yourself and your guests a lot of time. If you are like me and manage an Airbnb remotely, being able to change your door lock code or see what guests are setting your thermostat to will really give you piece of mind!
Today I am sharing some of my favorite ways to use smart devices in your Airbnb or vacation rental. These will save you time, stress, and make you more money! There will be some upfront costs but the benefits will really give you a great return.
Find your listing being more profitable and get more 5 star reviews from guests with these smart home upgrades. Any rental property will really benefits from these.
What exactly is a smart home accessory?
A smart home accessory, device, or gadget is something that helps your house run in a more automated fashion. The term “smart home” has been around for a little while now and has been on the upward trend.
A lot of home owners and landlords have been adding upgrades to their homes or rental properties to take the responsibility of manually doing a task off of them and onto their smart home devices!
Some of the best smart home devices for Airbnb include smart locks, a Wi-fi thermostat, video doorbells, and so much more.
Can smart home technology make my Airbnb more profitable?
Absolutely! Any extra amenities to elevate your home will make guests happy. As someone who also stays at Airbnb’s, I would love the fact that the owner of the place I’m staying at takes their small business seriously and has upgrades that make my experience more seamless.
As a guest searching for somewhere to stay, they are likely to be more inclined to book your house if there are upgrades like vacation rental smart home devices (Smart Locks, Wi-Fi Thermostat, Smart TVS, Bluetooth Speakers, or any other smart home technologies).
If you do make your Airbnb a smart home, make sure to include these items in your listing to make it stand out from the crowd! Add photos of your smart tools that you’ve implemented and also add it to you listing description. Potential guests that see pictures of smart home devices will know you take pride in your short term rental.
If you install a smart lock, make sure to update your check in settings. There is an option to display that you are utilizing a keyless entry.
What are the most popular smart home devices that I can use at my vacation rental?
- Smart door lock
- Wi-Fi thermostat (like the Google Nest)
- Smart TV with apps like Netflix
- Video doorbells
- Blink video doorbell
- Ring doorbell (most popular)
- Eufy video doorbell
- Smart speakers with clock display
- Lamps with USB charging ports
- Smart noise measuring and monitoring (NoiseAware)
- Home control hub (like Amazon Echo or Google Home) with voice command
- Smart lighting (like these Wi-fi Light Bulbs)
- Smoke detectors (Google Nest Protect)
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Smart Locks
Using a regular key in a lock box is a thing of the past. If you haven’t upgraded to using a keypad smart lock for Airbnb, you are doing it wrong!! There is no reason to worry about a manual key exchange.
With a smart lock, you can change the door access code in between guests, have one for your cleaners and handyman, and even see the entry and exits through an app!
It’s a no brainer that a smart lock is one of the best smart home gadgets for your vacation rental or really any property. It’s a great way to keep your rental secure and avoid key exchanges.
A smart lock will also give your Airbnb guests the comfort of knowing that they can check in at almost any time. If they are running late or their plane is delayed, they don’t need to notify their host because there will be no in person key exchange!
TIP: Make sure you leave a copy of the physical keys somewhere the guests can access. With any battery operated device, there is a chance the power will be lost while guests are staying there.
Smart Thermostat
A smart thermostat is one that can be hooked up to your Wi-Fi and controlled through an app. These give a lot of flexibility or control (depending how you look at it!) when you have renters at your property.
A Wi-Fi smart thermostat like the Emerson Sensi Touch with color display will allow you, the host, to set a minimum and/or maximum temperature that guests can set it to. Depending where you are in the country or world, this may be really helpful.
My Airbnb is located in South Florida and it gets really hot here in the summer. People on vacation sometimes do not take care of the property like you would yourself. They wind up cranking the air wayyyy down to 67, 68, 69 which can cause problems with the AC coils freezing over.
Having a smart thermostat, you can avoid this completely. Be sure to make guests aware of this on your Airbnb listing if you do set restrictions!
Smart accessories for the bedrooms
Two of my favorite things to enhance an Airbnb bedroom are lamps with USB charging ports and a Bluetooth speaker alarm clock. Both of these accessories are sometimes found in hotels. But almost always found in upscale accommodations.
Even if your home is not a 5 star resort, you can still make it feel like one by adding amenities like these! My beach bungalow will never be the Ritz Carlton but I can still do everything to make guests feel comfortable and taken care of.
Smart noise detection
Are you worried about someone booking your Airbnb just to throw a party? I know that this is one of my biggest fears.
I haven’t had an instance where I needed to kick guests out because of this – yet! But I did have someone throw a childs birthday party with ~80 people and a bounce house in my backyard! Without me knowing of course.
Having something to detect if there is loud noise coming from inside or outside of your home is important.
NoiseAware is a device that does just that. It is setup inside your home and has a monitoring service. They will notify you if the volume reaches a certain level! This will allow you to check and see what is going on. If you have a video doorbell, you can check on that. If you are close by, you can swing by to check and see if there is a party going on.
Smart video doorbell and security cameras
It’s important for your home to be safe and secure. This applies weather it’s an Airbnb, long term rental, or your own home.
A video doorbell that connects to Wi-Fi is a great upgrade. You can see what’s happening on the outside of your home through an app. There is also a motion detector and can record movement at any time.
Can I have a Ring doorbell at my Airbnb?
The answer is yes, as long as you are not invading anyone’s personal privacy. This means that you can use a video doorbell, like the Ring, outside of your property – only in non-private spaces. Using a Ring Doorbell on your front door that acts as a security camera and a doorbell is the perfect spot for this.
TIP: I would highly suggest looking into getting a Wired Ring Video Doorbell. This means that you will never have to charge it. With a battery operated device, you will have to remove it and charge it every 4-6 months, depending on the quality of the battery.
This does require existing wiring to be in place. If you don’t have wiring for a doorbell, you can hire an electrician to install this as a one time expense. Trust me, having a wired video doorbell will be worth it.
Smart Lights
Smart light bulbs or any other lighting that can be regulated will help save on energy bills. Some of them can limit the brightness in certain rooms and this will in turn decrease your electric bill and the bulb will last longer.
Guest Device Control
All guests these days are tech savvy because Airbnb bookings are made online. Guests could find it useful to control your devices during their stay.
Setbnb is a platform which allows guests to control devices using their phones. During their stay, guests can self check-in by opening your smart lock, change the thermostat temperature before they even arrive, or set the mood by changing the color of your smart bulbs.
Setbnb works with most Google Home supported devices, find the site at https://setbnb.com!
Their app will even allow you to schedule certain devices to turn off after the guests check out and before the next ones arrive. For example, smart thermostats can be turned off automatically to save energy, how cool is that?
Lets recap the best smart home devices for Airbnb!
Smart home devices allow you to control certain aspects of your vacation rental. Smart gadgets also allow your guests the comfort of accessing your home with ease.
Just a few things you’ll want to use to upgrade your space…
Keyless entry with smart locks
TV apps like Netflix with smart TVs
Control the temperature with a Wi-fi thermostat
Monitor guest check ins and outs with video doorbells
We hope you found this article helpful whether you are a new or seasoned Airbnb host! Have you added any other smart home devices to your vacation rental? We’d love to hear what you think has been beneficial! Drop us a comment below.
Hey, I’m Melissa… As an Airbnb Superhost and someone who is passionate about investing in real estate, I created Beach Life Bliss to share my experiences and help short term rental operators. I have been a landlord for over 10 years and started my first Airbnb property in 2019.
Creating a space with amenities that guests love, beautifully designed rooms, and providing exceptional hospitality will make your Airbnb business thrive.
I hope that all of my Airbnb hosting resources are helpful as you navigate the challenges and rewards of being an Airbnb host!