Would a Ring doorbell put you off a holiday let?

[LookWhosInsideAgain]

I became an accidental landlord a couple of years ago and rent out the house on Air BnB and a couple of other sites. The house is 6 bedroom and was originally two flats so I often get bookings from two family groups wanting to holiday together which is obviously great. Unfortunately a few weeks ago a booking that claimed to be a family group, and arrived as what seemed like a fairly normally family group, had actually decided to rent it for the weekend for a party. Luckily I live next door and soon realised as the day wore on that there were around 30 people in the house which I’m neither insured for and not what the group had agreed to.

I asked them to leave and after a bit of rudeness and a bit of help from my neighbours they did but they caused over £2k worth of damage and I had to cancel the following booking too as they’d smashed the oven. I know this is always a hazard with a holiday let but I’d hoped the fact that I make it very clear that I live next door would dissuade this kind of behaviour somewhat.

Anyway, I thought of maybe getting a Ring doorbell or similar, just so I can see who is actually going into the house. I don’t know if this would be something that would put people off though. It would only be pointed at the door itself and the driveway so they’d be no filming when guests are in the garden or house. I’m still not sure whether it seems a bit controlling though. Any thoughts?

I don't have alexa at home, nor would I have a Ring or similar doorbell, but I wouldn't care at all or even think about it when renting a holiday let. If your property's decently priced, in a good area & you've got reasonable reviews then a camera outside is going to be the least of my worries.

Having the landlord next door doesn't bother me at all in a holiday let either. Generally we stay in converted bits of farm building / cabins / huts etc and I'd say that having the owner nearby is totally normal and if anything a plus point in case of any issues.

Unless they're fiercely expensive, I'd be inclined to install one, put it on the listing & remove it should it cause your bookings to drop off.

My next door-but-one neighbour's got one and sometimes he springs out of his house to talk to me, I often wonder if he is getting some kind of notification that I've left the house. I meant to start a thread on here asking about it, actually.

Yes as well as the doorbell notifications you can have motion sensor notifications on - mine are switched off as they drive my mad but he might have his on.

We used to stay at FIL’s house sometimes when he was working away (he gladly let us, wanted us to in fact to do things like charge the damn doorbell!). We didn’t mind the doorbell, mostly because he’d asked us to charge it anyway so we’d just remove it and wouldn’t put it back till we left… Last time we went they’d installed loads of cameras around the perimeter of the house so we’re not going again, it’s just weird.

Most people have a doorbell camera now so wouldn’t put me off alone but extra cameras would.

Most people have a doorbell camera now so wouldn’t put me off alone but extra cameras would
Most people really don't.

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Most hotels have cctv in foyer

I wouldn’t have a ring doorbell but camera over door

I stayed in a holiday leg with a ring door bell. I did find it intrusive but it's there so the owner knows who comes is who they were told. I did read that it's a rental must and gives a lot of protection to the owner.

Weird that people wouldnt like it, it's literally just filming people at the door. How odd

Next door has been an Airbnb for a couple of years. Not overly happy about it but hey ho.
They have a ring doorbell to monitor number of people (no parties rule). They also apparently have a noise monitor inside to alert the company. Sounds very odd to me, but as a neighbour this is good. It is stated upfront though so guess it's up to guests if they stay there

The OP asked for opinions, this is mine 🙄

I’d cover it as I hate them and I would not expect you to come over and uncover it or speak to me. I’m on holiday and I wouldn’t appreciate you popping around at all unless Iv requested it.

There’s no need to see my every move of going in and out.
I wouldn’t want to feel like you are watching my every move and would like to relax on holiday.

I wouldn’t rent a place with a ring doorbell though full stop.

I have nothing to hide when I book out places but that doesn’t mean I want them watching me go in and out all the time.

I would imagine that the cctv in a hotel is more closely monitored than the feed from a Ring doorbell, yet no one seems to mind that.

A hotel can have hundreds of people moving around daily so chances are they are not going to be looking at my every move and I expect it from a hotel as it’s standard.

I don’t expect it from a holiday let when I’m the only person (plus my family) coming and going.

I'd be quite happy with one, I am certain the landlord isn't going to be obsessively monitoring my every move on it, they have better things to do. As for the microphone, well if you are talking outside there's a good chance someone will hear you anyway.

I also appreciate you using the term accidental landlord as it gives context, as others have said, very different to a professional landlord with dozens of properties.

The.hotel is much.more likely to follow laws.and regulations. They aren't likely to listen in to conversations.

There's no 'just" about it. Lots of issues as other posts have shown..
I am not particularly keen on Google storing images of my and my children 's faces so that can make maps of our movements, work out who we know and what we're saying.

I’d be inclined to beef up your statement about not allowing hen/stag/party groups and say that due to recent experiences you have installed a Wi-Fi door camera, stating that there is no internal monitoring.

See if your bookings alter.

@Snowtrails they're entitled to protect their property as they see fit

Hell no. That's psychotic! You are going to monitor your guests while in the accommodation? How far does that go? Definitely put it in the listing. If I turned up and found you were going to watch me during my stay I'd be getting a refund with compensation faster than you can say 'is that a camera?'. Also surely this falls under voyeurism legislation?

You've had a bad experience, don't let it turn you into a weirdo.

@Nigglenaggle chill. I’ve already stated I won’t be doing it and, even if I had, it would be posted on the description, as such doorbells always are on AirBnB (it’s very common). I don’t necessarily think that wanting to try and prevent my property being destroyed again and several people’s holiday being cancelled with practically no notice as the accommodation is unusable makes me a psychotic weirdo. Any suggestions that may help this?

I have an Airbnb that is a country cottage with no immediate neighbours. Aimed at families/couples etc. We have rented it for several years. Until now we have avoided installing a ring type camera but we are about to on the front door. Purely for security reasons and to establish when the guests depart so my remote housekeeper knows when she can get in (some guests love to ignore the 11am checkout policy). The majority of our guests have been great but we've also found guests lie (no pet policy introduced after one dog breeder turned up with 4 dogs who slept in the beds & peed everywhere). Lied from start to finish. We're also keen to ensure that our cottage is kept safe in between guest stays as there's a lot of oil thefts/country thefts unfortunately. Like I said I have no interest in watching my guests and the camera will be focused purely on the driveway.

How come the damage has wiped your year’s profit so far? Air bnb covers you for damage.

I wouldn't see an issue.Plenty of flats have secure entry with CCTV, and plenty of holiday lets are within these buildings, so how would this be any different? OP, if you don't already charge a damage deposit, I would definitely do this.

We’ve stayed a Airbnb properties with front door security cameras. They haven’t bothered us one iota and if I were you, I would install one - there are plenty of stories to back up your unfortunate experience of badly behaved Airbnb guests. What I wouldn’t want is any security camera on a back garden area as I would consider that ‘private space’.

If you are less stressed about the property you may in turn find that it’s something you enjoy doing rather than something you have to do.

Front door absolutely fine. People use them for deliveries, security etc. Wouldn't bother me.