How to Give Airbnb Guests Access to Your Condo Building

If you Airbnb a unit in a building with a callbox, you have a problem no one talks about: getting guests through the front door.

A smart lock only opens the apartment. The callbox is a separate system. It dials your phone, and you press a button to let them in. That's not self-check-in. That's a leash.

So hosts end up with one of two workarounds. Neither is good.

Option 1: A smart lock plus "just call me"

You send guests a door code for the apartment, but guests still have to call you to get through the building entrance. You're still on call for every check-in.

Option 2: Physical keys

Since you need to give building access somehow, you hand over keys. A key to the building and a key to the apartment, because you're already doing keys.

Now you have two problems. First, an outdoor lockbox, which is a key to your building sitting in a visible spot on the outside of your building for every guest, every listing, every month you operate. Second, in-person handoffs, which always sound manageable until a flight is late, a schedule shifts, or someone just doesn't show. The handoff breaks down, the guest is stuck outside, and the review reflects it.

The actual fix

Point the callbox at a number that an automated system answers instead of yours. The system greets the guest, asks for a code, and opens the door if it matches an active reservation. No call to you. No lockbox. No key.

Connect it to your iCal feed and it generates a unique code per booking automatically. Active at check-in, expired at checkout, cancelled when the reservation is.

Chimekey does exactly this. Setup takes about ten minutes: swap the number your callbox dials, paste your iCal URL, and you're done.