When you hear terms like “contactless check in” or “digital key,” you tend to think about hotels and not about apartment complexes or Airbnb’s. Self-service guest technology isn’t just limited to the hospitality sector, though. It can serve multifamily dwellings and vacation rentals just the same. Those industries are facing challenges similar to those of hotels: higher costs, problems finding staff, and demand from tenants and guests for more touchless technology. Through technology including high-tech automation, smart locks, and virtual concierges, nearly every building can provide a more streamlined and customized experience to tenants and guests.
Residents are coming to expect high-tech features. Depending on the level of the property, features like automated mail delivery smart appliances are expected. Companies like Luxer One are rethinking how the simple delivery of mail works for multifamily situations. Allowing for secure package deliveries and even refrigeration for grocery deliveries, smart lockers help put tenants’ minds at ease when they are not home. Similarly, being able to remotely start a load of laundry or pre-heat the oven are functionalities that will set residences apart from one another. Of course, vacation rentals aren’t immune from this trend. A smart thermostat and alarm system should be par for the course for any multifamily and vacation property. Not only do those features add value for tenants and guests, they help reduce costs by allowing building managers to remotely change the temperature and monitor for break-ins.
Smart locks continue to evolve, even becoming small enough to just replace the deadbolt in your house (see the Level Bolt). They have become commonplace in hotels and common areas of apartment complexes and student housing. However, they are expanding even to the individual units of those buildings. People lose their keys a lot, and it can be expensive to replace them. MIT charges $30 for the first offense. If a lock needs to be replaced, a $150 fee is charged. Smart locks, whether code- or card-based, can be recoded in minutes. Temporary key cards can be issued on the spot, and the old key cards become obsolete. Many modern locks support mobile keys on cell phones, meaning a replacement key can be issued straight to the resident’s phone, avoiding unnecessary trips to building’s reception desk. When it comes to vacation rentals, placing a key under a doormat (still all too common) is asking for trouble, and meeting the tenant at the door puts a strain on both the owner and tenant.
Virtual concierges, like the Virdee’s Virtual Reception, help put access to many of these smart features at tenants’ and guests’ fingertips by consolidating access within one app. Unlocking the mailbox, pre-heating the oven, and setting the temperature can all be done from one location instead of requiring multiple apps. When it comes to access control, tenants can add guests and even control what days of the week and times of the day the mobile key for service providers like cleaning services is enabled. Vacation rental owners can issue keys, provide instructions, and even have secure calls without disclosing their personal phone number. Just like hotel check in kiosks, a kiosk in the lobby can provide key cards in the case of a lockout or for guests or service personnel.
How does this all help with staffing issues? Let’s look at the example of providing a temporary key in the case of a lockout. Even with key cards instead of metal keys, someone needs to be available to encode the key. However, with the help of a virtual concierge app, a replacement key can be provided straight to the phone following some security questions. As mentioned above, a kiosk can also be used to place a support call to a remote employee and provide a temporary key card. In the case of the automated mailboxes, no one has to be present to receive packages.
We’re going to see the technology differences among hospitality, multifamily, student housing, and vacation rentals blur more and more. While hotels have been leading the way with technology and guest experience, other industries are beginning to adopt them as well and are seeing the benefits not only in cost reduction but also in providing a higher-end experience. As adoption increases and prices come down, even individual vacation rental units will begin to take advantage of the technology more and more. Don’t be surprised if you don’t have to look under the doormat during your next Airbnb stay.
