Niagara Holidays: Managing a distributed short term rental portfolio with a scalable smart lock solution.

Niagara Holiday Rentals operates as a local short-term vacation rental company, exclusively serving Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL). Situated along the scenic Niagara River Parkway and just a short drive from Niagara Falls, NOTL is renowned for its picturesque scenery, heritage district charm, unique shopping experiences, award-winning wineries, and world-class performances at the Shaw Festival Theatre. The company offers a range of single family vacation rentals that accommodate various group sizes, ensuring guests experience the distinct character and local culture of NOTL. This case study explores how Niagara Holiday Rentals utilized Igloo smart locks and Avantio PMS software to create a scalable smart access system to manage all their distributed rental properties efficiently.

What We Did

Key Results

Challenges

Managing multiple properties for short-term vacation rentals is a complex task. Property managers (PMs) need to ensure the security of the properties, streamline guest entry and exit, and manage operational tasks such as cleaning and maintenance efficiently. Without smart technology, these tasks can be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human error. These challenges are further compounded when properties are not located in close proximity as is with many distributed single family portfolios.

Problem

Niagara Holiday Rentals, a vacation rental management company operating in the Niagara region of Canada, faced significant challenges before transitioning from an analog security system to a digital one some of the key issues from the perspective of their business are highlighted below:

• Security Issues: Traditional lock systems required manual pin code programming and/or physical in person key handovers. Not only were these pin codes insecure, maintaining and changing these codes manually wasted a lot of time for operators. 

• Guest Experience: Guests would receive access codes on the morning of their arrival, this would potentially lead to early check-ins which were not desired as the properties may not be turned over for the next guest which would lead to unpleasant waiting times.

• Operational Challenges: Managing access for cleaning contractors and other tradespeople was cumbersome, requiring manual updates and numerous on-site visits. Much of the access requirements happen behind the scenes with outsourced support staff and managing this access manually was extremely inefficient and a barrier to scaling.

Solution

To address these issues, Niagara Holiday Rentals implemented igloo smart locks and a customized lock management dashboard that is integrated directly with the Avantio PMS , short-term rental software to scale your vacation rental property management businessThis integration provided the following benefits for our customer:

• Enhanced Security: Unique codes are automatically generated for each guest and contractor, active only for the duration of their stay or task, improving overall security. These unique codes can also be managed or revoked via the dashboard in the event of a cancellation or no show. Additionally, activity logs, or audit trails ensured an accurate history of who entered and exited the property potentially protecting property managers and owners from claims by guests as well as ensuring peace of mind for guests.

What Was Implemented

• Locks Used: The Deadbolt 2S for most properties and Keybox 3 for unique door configurations were used across properties.

• Software Used: The igloohome app was used to manage and configure the individual locks while the Avantio dashboard was used to manage access and monitor activity logs centrally. This dashboard created automated bookings via the Avantio VRMS creating an end to end digital experience for Niagara Holiday properties. 

• Deployment Rollout: Due to our scalable solution, our customer rolled out the deployment in a phased manner over a few months, starting with a few houses and expanding to the entire portfolio.

Key Results

The integration of Igloo smart locks and the management dashboard resulted in:

• Increased Security: 80% reduction in unauthorized entry incidents. This was achieved through unique time bound codes for each guest, contractor or visitor for enhanced security. 

• Improved Guest Satisfaction: 40% fewer emergency calls due to lockouts or misplaced keys. With forgotten pin codes, codes can be reshared or regenerated on the fly for guests eliminating the unpleasant experience of being locked out.

• Operational Efficiency: A 85% reduction in time spent managing cleaning and maintenance tasks. With automated codes for each guest and the remote ability to change codes, it completely eliminates any manual process of traveling to each house and changing the code at every guest changeover. And allowing access for tradespeople can be automated eliminating the need to meet them at a property

"Our experience with Igloo smart locks and the integrated dashboard has been transformative. The security of our properties has significantly improved, and our guests love the seamless entry process. Managing our operations has never been easier, allowing us to focus more on enhancing our guest experience."

- Jason Clements, Property Manager, Niagara Holiday Rentals

Ready to transform your property management experience? Book a Demo with us today and discover how our smart lock solutions and Integrated Avantio dashboard can enhance the security and efficiency of your short-term vacation rentals.