The Best Smart Home Devices for Airbnb in 2023

It’s 2023, and smart home devices are becoming more and more prevalent. From your lights to your locks, and even your microwave (yes, even that!), your home is becoming autonomous.

Does that mean our short-term rental homes should join the ranks of SkyNet-ready homes? Guests appreciate the ability to operate the best smart home devices for Airbnb with their phones or using Alexa. But will the new frontier of home-centered AI become a nuisance for uninitiated guests looking for any excuse to leave a bad review? Let’s take a closer look at what smart home devices are necessary for Airbnb when you’re preparing a home for short-term rentals.

The Cool Factor: Smart Home Devices for Airbnb Music

Guests were constantly leaving us 5-star reviews after we installed the best smart home devices for Airbnb in our listings. We’ve found that they really appreciate the convenience that the devices add. And in turn, our value ratings have spiked significantly. One thing guests frequently mention in great reviews is using our Alexa devices to play their favorite music.

From Amazon Music via our Sonos One SL smart speaker, the sound quality is fantastic. They also enjoy having the ability to use Vacation Rental Concierge to discover the best local hangouts, restaurants, and activities!

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Get Smart with Utilities

Even the most novice host knows that utility costs are no joke for your Airbnb! One of our biggest expenses behind cleaning services is our electric bill. When evaluating the best smart home devices for Airbnb, we kept conservation in mind. If your devices can shut themselves off when guests aren’t around, you could see a huge impact on your Airbnb utility bills.

A good smart home device should be able to utilize automation geared towards saving resources.

We love to get fancy with our smart devices using Zapier. Their automations can shut off all the lights and the thermostat after guests check out.

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Secure Your Listing With Smart Home Devices for Airbnb

• Smart home devices are very useful in tipping off hosts that guests may be breaking their Airbnb house rules
• They help you avoid the awkward situation when a guest brings more people than allowed
• These devices can also prevent squatters!

Here’s How We Helped Guests Feel Safe

We typically install smart security cameras in our listings at every entrance to the property. This trick allows us to make sure that nothing suspicious is happening as guests come and go.

We have used footage clips in the past as evidence to make claims against guests’ security deposits. It can be a lifesaver! You must disclose the presence of cameras in your Airbnb listing description and in your house rules. If you don’t, Airbnb can punish you for it severely.

Guests will also feel more secure knowing the cameras are in place. We make sure the guests know how to lock our smart locks. Your visitors will really appreciate the ability to ask Alexa if the doors are locked!

Educate Your Guests

If you do decide to outfit your listing with smart home devices, you’ll want to make sure that you have very detailed instructions for how to use them in your Airbnb welcome binder. Not all guests will be savvy about using smart devices. This is a big reason we really recommend having an Alexa device in your listing. If you have one, guests won’t have to mess with any apps to operate most of the smart devices.

What Are the Best Smart Home Devices for Airbnb?

What smart home devices should you grab first? We break it down with our favorites here:

1. Best Airbnb Smart Locks

Smart locks are a lifesaver when it comes to running a vacation rental. Our favorite smart lock can connect to Airbnb and automatically manage guest invitations and access to our listing! We love that we no longer have to worry about doing a key exchange or the risk of losing keys or, even worse, a guest copying it!

2. Best Airbnb Smart Thermostat

Another must-have in the realm of best smart home devices for Airbnb is the smart thermostat. Our favorite smart thermostat can detect when the guests aren’t in the listing and adjust temperatures accordingly. Also, we can put a passcode on some settings we don’t really want guests to mess with. We can also set up a minimum and maximum temperature our listings can be set to so that guests can’t stress our A/C.

3. Best Airbnb Security Cameras

As we mentioned previously, security cameras are a great way to ensure your listing is secure and your house rules aren’t being broken. Our favorite Airbnb security camera can send alerts to our phones whenever motion is detected, so we’ll know when guests arrive.

4. Best Smart Home Assistant

In our opinion, Alexa is a great way to ensure that all your smart home devices are easily manageable for guests. For example, you can set up a “routine” so all the outside lights will turn on whenever motion is detected outside!

5. Best Airbnb Smart Lighting

Smart lighting can add a cool factor to your listing. With tons of colors and automation options, Hue lights are the way to go! They are also LED and consume far less power than a standard light bulb.

6. Best Airbnb TV

Guests typically expect at least one entertainment option in any vacation rental. We recommend a smart TV because it can offer all kinds of streaming services and apps.

How Else Can You Get Smart as a Host?

If you haven’t considered different “smart” systems for managing effectively, you could be missing out on tons of extra revenue. But logging into multiple platforms to answer messages on Airbnb and its competitors is overwhelming. These are solutions we love:

• Consider automating your Airbnb pricing
• Make sure you’re using vacation rental management software.
• Automate your messaging and reviews to save tons of time!