The problem
Meeting every guest with the keys ties a holiday let owner to the cottage on changeover days, often waiting for a late arrival stuck in traffic. With 14 arrivals a month in season across 3 cottages, at about 45 minutes each for the drive and the wait, that's 630 minutes, 10.5 hours a month. A key safe with one code that never changes is quicker, but every past guest and cleaner knows it.
What the AI does
Smoobu Smart Devices connects supported smart locks and key boxes, igloohome among them, to your Smoobu bookings. For each booking it generates an access code, sends it to the guest in the automated messages you design in Smoobu, and the code expires after check-out. igloohome's Keybox 3 holds the keys and is $199.49£149.99€178.49A$287.98C$281.98 on igloohome's UK store; the Smoobu add-on is €4 (about $4£3€4A$6C$6) a month for each connected device, after a 14-day trial. Smoobu itself is priced separately and already in place here.
A worked example
An owner with 3 cottages in north Cornwall, about 14 arrivals a month in season, already runs bookings and guest messages in Smoobu. They fit an igloohome Keybox 3 at each cottage (3 × $199.49£149.99€178.49A$287.98C$281.98, about $599£450€536A$864C$846) and connect them to Smoobu Smart Devices (3 × €4, about $13£10€12A$19C$19 a month).
Before
About 45 minutes for each of 14 arrivals a month, 10.5 hours of driving and waiting
After
Guests let themselves in with their own code; about 1 hour a month checking codes went out
What it's worth
About $253£190€226A$365C$357 a month of time saved in a season month, against about $13£10€12A$19C$19 a month plus the key boxes. That is 9.5 hours (10.5 hours of handovers down to about an hour of checks) at $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. The 3 key boxes cost about $599£450€536A$864C$846 once, about $25£19€23A$36C$36 a month if spread over 2 years ($599£450€536A$864C$846 ÷ 24), so about $39£29€35A$56C$55 a month in all for the first two years.
How to set it up
- Pick a spot at each cottage to mount a key box, out of sight from the road, check the mounting options suit it, and buy an igloohome Keybox 3 for each from igloohome's UK store.
- Turn on Smoobu Smart Devices and connect each key box to its cottage; the 14-day trial starts when the first device is connected.
- Add the code to your arrival message in Smoobu, with where the box is, how to open it and who to ring if it won't.
- Make a test booking for each cottage and check that a code is created, arrives in the message and stops working after check-out.
- Keep a spare key with a neighbor or your cleaner, and check each morning that today's arrivals have their codes.
What goes wrong
- If a booking doesn't sync or a code isn't sent, a guest arrives with no way in, and nothing warns you. The morning check of today's arrivals and a spare key nearby are the control.
- Smoobu's own page says both that all users can sign up and that the Smart Devices portal is for Smoobu Pro users. Check your plan includes it during the trial.
- An electronic key box needs power. Find out what the box needs and replace it on a schedule, not when a guest is standing outside.
- To create codes, Smoobu shares a limited set of booking information with Seam, the company behind its lock connection. Mention it in the privacy notice you give guests.