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#Post#: 763--------------------------------------------------
You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Arks
Date: January 27, 2025, 7:10 pm
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Got a reservation a few days ago from a guy from Italy. 13
nights. In 12 years I've hosted maybe 3 guests from Europe, so I
assumed this to be a hoax, someone testing a stolen credit card
number. Our village is far from a tourist destination.
I looked at his email address, from an Italian company whose
website advertises: High tech equipment solutions. We travel
worldwide.
So I thought, maybe it's legit, someone coming to town to
service high tech equipment at one of our 3 factories here.
Reservation Key reports when guests read the emails I send:
confirmation and "here's your door key code and directions to
find your room." According to ResKey, he never opened any of the
emails the system sent.
So I was prepared to delete the reservation and expect the
charge-back for the stolen CC number.
But he checked in today! Joy! Thirteen nights! I haven't met
him, of course. I never see my guests. But the door keypad sends
me a notice when a guest enters the key code, so I know he has
arrived!
You just never know...
#Post#: 764--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Thebeachhouse
Date: January 28, 2025, 7:26 am
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Yeah, 13 days is a long time. In the dead of winter too.
I’m interested in your check in system.
We are switching from personal service to do it yourself.
Tips?
We will have a keypad lock on the outside door and the old
fashioned keys for the bedroom door. We talked about keypads
but the doors are antique and match all the others in the house,
so we decided to leave them. We will hide a spare and if they
lock themselves out, we can text the location of the spare.
But what about knowing there are only two people? Or they
aren’t smoking? It feels weird to not greet and create a
presence of ownership and oversight.
What about folks who need baggage help? Do they just manage?
Our rooms are up two flights of stairs so that may be way
different from place to place.
How do you know when they’ve checked out?
#Post#: 765--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Arks
Date: January 28, 2025, 8:33 am
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Oh, I could write a book on this subject!!
--- Quote from: Thebeachhouse link ---
>
> We will have a keypad lock on the outside door and the old
fashioned keys for the bedroom door.
>
--- End Quote ---
All my rooms have their own keypad lock, and they're all
WiFi/z-wave connected to the internet, so when I get a new
reservation, through my website only...I don't take phone
calls...I figure if they aren't competent to book online, they
aren't competent to say alone at my inn with no staff on site to
do things for them...when I get a new reservation, I transmit
their individual key code to the lock, I email to them arrival
info and their key code, then pretty much forget about it. I
give them the option, when they book online, to give me their
preferred key code. If they don't enter one, I usually use the
last 4 digits of their phone number, so the code is something
they can remember.
They arrive, enter, stay, leave, and I rarely see or hear from
them. The keypads send me an email each time the guest enters
their code, so that's how I know they've arrived. After check
out time, I remotely delete their key code. Younger people
actually prefer to be left alone, to not have to interact with
staff. Almost all Air BnB places feature no face-to-face contact
with the owner. It's becoming the norm now. Even Hilton and
Marriott feature self check in now. No going to the front desk.
Their phone app gives you your room number, and when you arrive
at the room, the app transmits a code that unlocks the door. No
dealing with keycards.
In your case, you could leave the antique doorknobs, but install
a keypad deadbolt on each door. That's what I do on the one room
I have that has an antique door and knob. The keypad is z-wave
just like the doorknob on the front door, so I can still
add/delete codes remotely, and get the email when they arrive
and enter their room door code into the deadbolt. So they unlock
the deadbolt with the keypad, then use the old door knob to open
the door. My deadbolt automatically relock itself 10 seconds
after they unlock it, so that handles keeping the door locked.
Of course, there's also a manual knob inside they can use to
keep the deadbolt locked.
I also have a combination lock key safe outside each room, which
contains the key to the room. All the keypad locks and deadbolts
come with a real key in case the keypad fails. A couple of times
I've had a keypad fail, like if one of the batteries isn't
making good contact, and when they contact me, I give them the
combination to the key safe and they get in their room with the
key. This has been needed just twice in 12 years, so it's very
rare, but having the key available means I don't have to go let
them in. Much easier to just give them the combination.
--- Quote from: Thebeachhouse link ---
>
> But what about knowing there are only two people?
>
--- End Quote ---
I don't worry about that. It has never been a problem for me,
and I'd MUCH rather occasionally lose the income from the 3rd
and 4th person who sneaks in, than to have to be on site to
check people in.
--- Quote from: Thebeachhouse link ---
>
> Or they aren’t smoking?
>
--- End Quote ---
I don't worry about that, either. I'm sure it happens
occasionally, but it has never been a problem. I have plenty of
no smoking signs up, and notices about huge fines if they smoke.
If we ever smell smoke when we go in after they check out, we'll
charge their card. But so far, in 12 years, it has never
happened. I have wall-mounted ashtrays outside the outside
doors, and we have to empty them pretty often, so I'd say
smoking in the room is rare enough to not be a problem. Most
people know to go outside with their filthy habit.
There are sensing devices available that can detect cigarette
smoke and send you an alert, but I've not found that to be
needed.
--- Quote from: Thebeachhouse link ---
>
> What about folks who need baggage help? Do they just manage?
Our rooms are up two flights of stairs so that may be way
different from place to place.
>
--- End Quote ---
They just manage. I make it clear when they book at the website
about how many stairs, if any, are involved for their particular
room, and that they should stay somewhere else if they can't
handle that. I've never once had a complaint.
--- Quote from: Thebeachhouse link ---
>
> How do you know when they’ve checked out?
>
--- End Quote ---
No way of knowing that. We either just wait until after check
out time to go clean, or sometimes if the cars are gone the
housekeeper will knock on the door to see if they're still
there.
So, granted, you are giving up some control by having self-check
in, but you are gaining the freedom to not have to be there all
the time, and deal with people. Many many times I've been on
vacation, even at sea, when a new reservation came in. It
doesn't matter where I am, if I have an internet connection I
can set/delete door codes and send arrival info emails, even
from my iPhone.
When I'm away I always make sure my housekeeper is available. I
can contact her to take care of problems if they arise. Very
rare situation, also. A few times I've sent her to take people
more coffee pods, or more towels. But that's very rare. I try to
make it clear to people that this is not a hotel, there is no
staff on site, and if they need something, they should do like
they'd do at home: drive to a store and buy what they need!
#Post#: 766--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Thebeachhouse
Date: January 28, 2025, 9:02 am
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Thank you so much for the detailed info. It is a switch for
us, so it is good to know what to expect. We live in a summer
resort town and rarely get to the beach or golf course. This
change will allow us to enjoy our hometown in summer!
Many of the inns in town have switched to self checkin so I
expect it to work out well.
#Post#: 767--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: JimBoone
Date: January 29, 2025, 4:36 am
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@Beachhouse
We are a tiny motel; I sort of copied Ark's lock system in 2023.
We live onsite, just got old and tend to want to go to bed
before some guests arrive. We have a sort of blended system. You
arrive during normal hours I have you sign a registration form
and hand you a key which is actually an electronic chip with
your room number. Holding that up to the door gains you entry.
If a guest is arriving later in the evening, they ask for a door
code rather than an estimated time of arrival. I email them a
code for entry at their convenience. I don't feel like we have
had any issues with our guests as a result of this system.
When I went looking for locks, I found a large variety of
options. I chose a lock made by Sifely, ordered from Amazon,
much more reasonable in price than many options I found. You can
program a chip for an individual lock or any number of locks. A
guest gets a chip/key for their door, while my chip/key opens
all my doors. Same with a code, a guest code opens their door
for a specific period of time while my code opens all doors all
the time. Sifely has an option to use their service to send an
email or text to the guest with the door code if you desire. Our
rooms are side-by-side in typical small motel fashion. About
every other room has a "gateway" which connects the locks to the
internet so that I can program a code from the computer. I can
also add the code by Bluetooth from my phone. I found these
locks gave me a balance between doing what I needed and price.
#Post#: 768--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Arks
Date: January 29, 2025, 6:51 am
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--- Quote from: Thebeachhouse link ---
>
> Many of the inns in town have switched to self checkin so I
expect it to work out well.
>
--- End Quote ---
You may find that you get a slightly different crowd of people,
losing some who need help with things like luggage and finding
their room on their own, and gaining some people who are used to
self check in and prefer it, and like not having to interact
with strangers. Some guests won't stay at a B&B, don't like the
"staying in someone's home" feel of it, but will stay at a place
where they come and go on their own, with no unnecessary
interactions.
#Post#: 769--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: JimBoone
Date: January 30, 2025, 6:09 am
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--- Quote from: Arks link ---
>
> You may find that you get a slightly different crowd of people
>
--- End Quote ---
This is true, our guests have changed several times over our 30
plus years at the motel. Each change of style and pricing alters
your place in the market. This should be a positive as the goal
is to attract the guest that fits your needs.
In my view we started out as an inexpensive place that caught
the overflow. Each upgrade and price change brought different
guests and hopefully today we are a desired location. I enjoy
the guests, many are regulars. I don't want to lose the fun, yet
age and health mean that we depend on our daughter to do most of
the physical work. She isn't the homebody that mom has been, not
ready to be tied down 24/7. Current goal is to continue being
the small, desired lodging stop yet automate some of those
functions that keep one tied to the property.
#Post#: 770--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Thebeachhouse
Date: January 30, 2025, 7:08 am
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Thank you all for the answers. We are staying partially open
for two reasons. One is to cover taxes and insurance so we can
live in a too-big-for-two-seniors house. And more
importantly, we have several regulars that love our location and
don’t want to find a new one.
We are used to the personal touch and so are our regulars, but I
see so many places go self checkin in and people seem to be good
with it.
When we bought this place, there were four B&B’s on our street
alone. And we are a mile out of the village. In the
village, there are several B&B’s and a few motels. We are the
last of the four on our street to close. Some of our regulars
came from those other three to stay in this residential
neighborhood.
#Post#: 771--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: gillumhouse
Date: January 30, 2025, 9:07 am
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I still do the in-person check-in (unless it is a repeat who
knows the house and I have a commitment - they can just come in
and get settled). I just wait up if need be. I have been known -
if I had a concert of something - to message they needed to
arrive before X-time or after X-time to accommodate me or a
parade that would shut down getting into the city.
I am alone (unless going to a meeting or a rehearsal) so it
works for me. It is one of the things that makes me different
from a cold hotel.
#Post#: 772--------------------------------------------------
Re: You Just Never Know...
DIR By: Thebeachhouse
Date: January 30, 2025, 9:17 am
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“It is the one thing that makes me different…..”
Well, that and the roasted coffee and homemade sausage!
😁☕️ 🥞 🍳
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