Vacasa to outfit homes with proprietary smart home technology

US: Portland-based vacation rental management platform Vacasa has announced that its homes will feature Vacasa’s smart home management system, including proprietary keyless locks, wifi router with custom connectivity experience, and a patented noise monitoring system.

The company says that the technologies will be provided at no additional cost to homeowners.

Vacasa CEO Matt Roberts said: “Vacasa technologies are purpose-built for the entire vacation rental experience, from booking to check-out, home care to local operations, yield management to customer service. Installing these technologies in Vacasa homes represents a major investment in the homeowner and guest experience, operating as good neighbours in our communities, and making our vacation rentals the most technologically advanced in the industry.”

Vacasa homes will be outfitted with:

• Keyless locks

• Wifi routers

• Noise monitoring technology

Vacasa’s keyless locks can be installed and configured with Bluetooth connectivity and the company’s internal app. The locks generate unique door codes for each stay and every individual home care visit, while the codes are date- and time-limited to provide secure, controlled home access, ensuring that no one else can enter the property outside the time specified by their code.

The locks are also designed to facilitate a 100 per cent contactless check-in for guests.

To ensure as simple and customised a connectivity experience as possible, wifi routers will be placed in homes so that guests can instantly connect to the wifi hotspot through the company’s guest app. The routers continuously monitor connectivity in the home so any internet service disruptions will be immediately alerted to Vacasa.

Furthermore, Vacasa’s patented noise monitoring system uses a proprietary algorithm to identify excessive noise issues and automatically notify its local teams. The technology includes proactive intervention as soon as noise issues arise, and only registers noise decibel levels without the ability to record or transmit any audio.

John Banczak, senior vice president of innovation at Vacasa, said: “First and foremost, vacation rental homeowners want safety and security for their homes. Vacasa’s smart home management system will deliver on this consistently across our portfolio better than anyone in the business.

“As vacation rentals move toward greater professionalisation, Vacasa homeowners will benefit from the most complete technology offering in the industry, and guests will benefit from the most seamless experience on their well-earned vacation,” he added.

According to the company, almost 13,000 of its 35,000+ homes already feature certain smart home technologies, and Vacasa’s smart home management system is expected to be rolled out to remaining homes in 2022.

When Vacasa went public in December after closing its business combination with special purpose acquisition company [SPAC] TPG Pace Solutions, Roberts said that the gross cash proceeds of $340 million raised during the transaction would enable the firm to “enhance our technology capabilities and products, add more homes to our platform, and improve the vacation rental experience for all stakeholders”.

The SPAC merger came off the back of Vacasa announcing “record-setting” financial results for Q3.

Vacasa’s currently operates in more than 400 destinations in North America, Belize and Costa Rica.