Having installed igloohome locks in a number of homes and properties in Australia over the past few months, we got in touch with some of our customers to review how their experience with the locks has been. (Do note that igloohome locks may differ from country to country.)
Clair Hsu lives in Arncliff, New South Wales and has been an Airbnb host for one and a half years. She stays with her family on the ground floor of her house, and has partitioned off the second floor for Airbnb. There are a number of rooms on the second floor, which she puts up as separate listings, and they are connected by a common corridor.
Due to the proximity of her house to the airport, Clair tends to get Airbnb guests who would otherwise likely have stayed at an airport hotel. These guests usually arrive late at night, or early in the morning. Claire shared that prior to the igloohome smart solution, it was very inconvenient to pass the keys to these guests.
When Clair read about the igloohome access solution on Host Assist on Airbnb, she thought that it would be exactly what she needed. She purchased 2 sets in October 2015. One set was installed downstairs for her and her family's personal use as a digital lock. The other set was installed upstairs, on the main door leading to the common corridor, for the use of her Airbnb guests.
We spoke to Clair several months later and she said:
"I'm happy with it! It's a good system and it's easy to use. In the past, I had to stay home to pass keys to the guests. Now I don't have to anymore. In fact, I recently went back to Taiwan for 6 weeks and still could carry on with Airbnb! I could just check on my mobile phone that guests had checked in."
Just in case some of her guests are less familiar with using a digital lock, Clair has attached simple instructions above the lock. She shared that her guests found the system convenient and said that they liked it as well. Clair expressed what she really appreciated about the igloohome smart solution:
"Customer service was really good - the team was patient and responsible. I knew that somebody would get back to me quickly if I faced any issues."
Shane's place includes a granny flat, and this self-contained part of the house makes it extremely suitable for Airbnb. Even as the granny flat is listed for short-term rental, his own living space is not disrupted by the coming and going of guests.
When Shane first started out on Airbnb, he used the conventional lock and key system. He had to physically hand the keys over to guests, which was a hassle to him. As he was usually at work during the day, the system was not working out for him. Also, one of his worries was that nothing was stopping his guests from making a copy of the key.
Subsequently, Shane switched to a digital lock. While this was an improvement over the old lock and key system, he still had to keep manually changing the PIN codes after each guest left, for peace of mind that the property remained secure. Shane later on purchased the igloohome smart solution.
We spoke to Shane recently to ask for his feedback on the system. He said:
"It's a brilliant system, a no-brainer. There is extra security now since the codes are unique to guests. I'm happy with the system and my guests love it."
Shane mentioned that one possible improvement could be to have a latch version of the lock instead of the deadbolt, as a latch automatically locks the door when it is closed.
Shane also shared that he was considering segregating the granny flat into separate listings, and installing 2 more igloohome smart access solutions - one for each room door and the third for the common main door. One suggestion he had was to have a single code for each guest, so that they could use the same code on their room door and the main door. The team is currently looking into the feasibility of such a feature.
Other hosts and guests have shared feedback with us through different channels as well, from our Facebook page to our support email address:
"Thanks for the great price and awesome product. I'm all up and running! Super easy to install." - Josh Hartley (host)
"Works brilliantly." - Faye Ramsay Smith (guest)
"I loved the keyless entry!" - Cornelia Cassimatis (guest)
The igloohome team appreciates all feedback, and will continue to work hard to keep improving our products and services to help both hosts and guests have a better Airbnb experience.