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Our Best Airbnb Smart Lock Review 2024

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Today I am sharing the best Airbnb smart lock at our lake house and why we love it. Whether you are looking for a security smart lock at your home or a rental property, you want the lock system to be easy to use, reliable and wifi capable.

As many of you know, we purchased a waterfront lake house in New Hampshire last year that is now a beautiful Airbnb near lake Winnipesaukee. We spent 9 months renovating the interior and exterior of our vacation rental and finding a designer friendly smart lock and handle set that was simple to use and had remote access was no easy task!

Best Smart Lock for Rental Property

If you have a rental property or Airbnb rentals, you know the importance an easy check-in process.

We tried 2 different smart keyless entry options and the Kwikset Wifi Smart Lock Keyless Entry from Amazon was the winner.

Airbnb matte black smart lock, black door handle, white board and batten house, black door, black lantern exterior lighting

We started our Airbnb venture 9 months ago and are so excited to have achieved Superhost status in under 6 months. Learning the “ins and outs” of owning an Airbnb was a learning curve and honestly, still is. That is a blog post for another day!

Smart Lock Keyless Door Entry

We searched the best Airbnb smart locks and the keyless entry deadbolts for days! We decided that keyless entry for our short term rental was not only hygienic (keys are so dirty and easy for guests to have copies made) but simple for us to manage remotely by giving each guest a special access code for their stay. We simply add the code before check-in and remove the code after check-out.

If you are an Airbnb host, you know that security is extremely important and the ability to manage your door locks remotely is imperative.

black matte kwikset smart lock with deadbolt, keypad, keyhole and large white numbers for access on a black door.

We ended up returning the first keyless entry door locks from another brand as they didn’t work, the wifi was tricky to connect and overall was extremely frustrating.

Jim is all about functionality and while I’m very conscientious of style so we needed to find a smart lock that satisfied us both!

The smart lock keypad is user friendly (the numbers are big!), easy to clean and looks nice!

black matte kwikset smart lock with deadbolt, keypad, keyhole and large white numbers for access

The keypad also has a key lock option as well.

Smart Lock Deadbolt

An interior deadbolt is a must! This is one of the biggest reasons I think our smart lock is the best wifi lock for airbnbs. It makes it easy to lock and unlock the door from inside and coordinates nicely with our homes design.

We found that the smart locks that required a keypad on the interior to lock and unlock the door were honestly, a pain in the butt! I am pretty simple when it comes to technology and when it comes time to lock the door at night before bed, I just want to turn a dial!

black matte kwikset smart lock with deadbolt, keypad, keyhole and large white numbers for access
Kwikset Smart Lock (purchase here)

I don’t want to punch in codes and deal with a tempermental keypad. The first smart lock that we tried was so high tech we literally locked ourselves out of the house a couple times due to the “auto-lock” feature and couldn’t get the door to lock from the inside without going through several prompts. Long story short, just because it’s high tech doesn’t mean it’s the best!

If you are an Airbnb host, keep your smart lock system simple. Your guests will thank you and your risk for issues will be less. You can find our smart lock here on Amazon.

Kwikset Smart Lock

Pros

  • Easy to install, easy to clean, easy to use
  • Wifi enabled & can manage remotely with internet connected
  • Create up to 250 custom door codes (great for cleaners, guests, friends, maintenance ect)
  • SmartKey Security
  • Smart Screen Technology
  • Keyhole for backup for physical keys

Cons

  • Battery backup

Kwikset Smart Lock Battery Life

When searching for the best keyless entry for an Airbnb, look at battery life. All smart locks will be battery back up and the “battery life” is important. We had to change out our batteries (which is very simple) 2x throughout the summer when our home was filled with Airbnb guests for 12 weeks back to back.

The door lock had a significant amount of use daily for weeks so we didn’t find that terrible to swap out old batteries a couple times. The app gives you significant warning on your phone when the battery life is low.

Kwikset Smart Lock App

The app is very easy to use, add and delete codes for guests as well as the cleaners. The app allows you to grant full, partial or restricted access based on guests needs. The fact that you can also manage remotely and remove/add a code immediately as well as see entry activity is a great feature.

kwikset mobile app to manage access to the smart lock

FAQs about Airbnb Smart Locks

After all my research, most Airbnb hosts use a smart lock that is wifi capable and can be managed remotely. We opted to purchase new door handles, hardware and a coordinating deadbolt smart lock keypad but there are several options to purchase smart locks that cover your existing deadbolt

Our Airbnb smart lock check-in is very simple as I have a video uploaded in our Airbnb account with written directions on how to use the keypad and access the home.

The Kwikset Smart Lock from Amazon is the in my opinion, the best door lock for what we need at our Airbnb. We have 4 of them on all exterior doors as well as our shed. We can see the status and activity level of each lock remotely via the mobile app and unlock/lock the door from anywhere.

white Airbnb Aframe lake house overlooking lake with wrap around porch, patio, hydrangeas,

Our waterfront Airbnb rental is available in New Hampshire and you can see the full tour and details here. All in all, we are very happy with our Kwikset smart lock and the fact that “I” can operate it, change the batteries with ease and it looks good are features making this the best door lock for airbnb.

Meet Jessica

What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.

diy fire pit

Come Enjoy a Stay at our Lake House

Our newly renovated waterfront lake house retreat with 1500 SF (7 beds), 3BR, 2BA, open concept living room + kitchen + lower level w/ arcade game is the perfect destination for your next getaway.

2 Comments

  1. I have this same Kwikset Halo Smart Lock on my Airbnb. Unfortunately, some guests have trouble using the touch screen to the point where they can’t get in, so I’ve decided to swap it out for the Kwikset Halo model that has a push-button keypad, but otherwise exactly the same functionality. Also, I installed a lock box on the porch with the Smart Lock key, in case power goes out or more likely, the batteries run out. All in all, a great lockset but be mindful that some guests may be confounded by it!

    1. Hi Nancy! Great idea with the lockbox for a key as a backup, I love that idea! I actually added a video and screenshots in my airbnb account (check in area) that shows me using the keypad which eliminated most of our questions early on with guests. I always love hearing from fellow Airbnb hosts so nice to meet you 🙂

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