Airbnb hosts
Self check-in is the amenity short-term guests expect — and buzzer buildings make it hard. Enterkey solves the front-door half cleanly: a timed key covers the check-in window, or a PIN lets guests buzz themselves in whenever they land. No lockbox on the railing, no waiting at the curb for a delayed flight.
How does guest check-in work?
Before arrival day, set a key across the check-in window — or a Permanent key gated by a PIN you send with the check-in instructions. The guest buzzes your unit, says or types the code, and they're in the building; your existing solution for the unit door (smart lock, lockbox inside) takes it from there.
Change the PIN between stays in seconds. The activity log gives you a timestamped record of building entry for every stay.
What should hosts know upfront?
Two honest notes: Enterkey handles the building entrance, not your suite door — pair it with a smart lock inside. And like any buzzer-forwarding setup, your unit's directory entry needs to point at your Enterkey number (a one-time property-manager change; see how it works). Hosts managing check-ins across many buildings should note Enterkey covers one building per account.
Guests describe your entrance in a review whether or not you thought about it, so it is worth reading the apartment buzzer guide and knowing what the panel outside actually does.
How it works, step by step
Create a Permanent key and give it a code
A Permanent key never expires, and for exactly that reason Enterkey requires a PIN on it. That pairing is what makes standing self check-in deliberate rather than accidental.
Put the code in the check-in message
Add the unit number, the code, and one line about the panel to the message your listing already sends. Guests read it on the way in from the airport.
The guest buzzes and says the code
Spoken codes matter more here than anywhere: a guest holding two suitcases and a phone is not going to enjoy a twenty-year-old keypad in the rain.
Rotate the code at turnover
Change the PIN as part of cleaning day and the previous guest's code stops working before the next one lands. It takes seconds and needs no hardware.
Pull the log if a stay is disputed
The activity log holds the time of each building entry and the key behind it, which is a useful record when a guest and a platform disagree about arrival.
Frequently asked questions
Does this replace the smart lock on the suite door?
No, and it is worth being blunt about that. Enterkey covers the building entrance only. The lock on your own door stays whatever it is today.
Most hosts pair the two: a code at the panel downstairs, a code on the lock upstairs, and no metal changing hands at any point.
What if a flight is delayed past the check-in window?
This is exactly why a Permanent key with a PIN suits short stays better than a timed one. There is no window to miss, so a guest landing at 2am gets in without waking you.
If you prefer something bounded, keys run up to twelve hours, which covers most arrival days.
Can I run two listings from one account?
No. Enterkey covers one building per account, because the setup is tied to a single unit's directory entry. A second property means a second account.
Will guests hear anything useful at the panel?
By default they hear the standard greeting. The welcome message add-on, a one-time $4.99 purchase, plays a short line you wrote in a voice you picked: the floor, the door, where the elevator is.
Self check-in that starts at the building entrance, not at a lockbox on the railing.