If you’ve ever been locked out of your house or car, you are familiar with that feeling of frustration — always at the most inconvenient of times. It’s even worse when you’re staying in a holiday home and have to hunt for help in unfamiliar territory.
Nick Cowley, managing director of PVCu windows and doors expert Euramax, explains how integrating remote access into holiday homes can save the frustration for both holiday makers and those that manage them.
The staycation era is truly upon us. The BBC reported that the UK is the second biggest buyer of touring caravans after the US, as more holiday makers are choosing to become tourists in their own country in favour of heading overseas.
With one third of British families opting for at-home breaks, the holiday home market is bursting with potential. But with an influx of properties to manage, how can we make things as seamless as possible?
Access denied
Whether it’s a retirement earner or second income, many owners let out their holiday homes. But while owning an at-home getaway can be an easy way of boosting your bank balance, managing the property isn’t always so simple.
Quite often, holiday homeowners don’t live an easy commute from their property, which can present a logistical challenge and cause undue hassle. When giving guests access to the accommodation, many use mini key safes and keypad locks with a combination that can be changed for each guest. 
However, this solution does not guarantee maximum security as it affords guests to duplicate keys or share codes. If the keys are lost or misplaced, it can be difficult to rectify the situation without having somebody present onsite.
Remote access is often associated with industrial processes, allowing plant manufacturing facility managers to monitor production lines across the globe. However, holiday home builders can take inspiration from this method of supervision and create systems that help owners keep track of who is entering and leaving their property, wherever they are in the world.
Going remote
It’s time to ditch the keys and novelty key rings. Digital locks have become a popular way of transferring access to guests without hassle — and they can do much more than simply opening and closing the door.
Guests receive a unique access code via their smartphone, which remains active for the duration of their stay. Authorised users simply point their phone in the direction of the door lock to gain access. Property owners receive greater peace of mind, as the technology allows them to receive notifications when their guests check in, unlock the door and check out of the holiday home.
Maintaining the property can also be optimised using smart technology. Homeowners can assign different codes to site managers, handymen or house keeping staff to give easy access in the event of an emergency repair or to track how long they’ve been at the property.
Of course, most smart door locks can be overridden by a master key, allowing the owner to maintain full access to their property in the event of an emergency such as a power cut that might disable the electronic smart door lock system.
Get smart
While smart technology and remote access streamlines holiday home security, there are many other qualities that owners seek when selecting a new door.
By partnering with industry experts like Euramax, which specialise in manufacturing windows and doors for holiday home properties, owners can make sure that their doors look great, are energy efficient and able to incorporate smart technology — whether that’s during initial installation or retrofitted in the future.
With remote access technology, property owners can manage their caravan or holiday home no matter where they are in the world. Smart locking systems are not only an effective way of monitoring who arrives and leaves the property, but they also make our staycations run a lot more smoothly — with no more unfortunate lock-outs and desperate waits for the bathroom.
