Nils Mattisson from Minut: “We make it a win for the host, the neighbors and the guest.”
Apart from hosting happy vacation memories, your short-term rental (STR) property can become a home to the occasional symphony of loud mishaps — cue the overly enthusiastic karaoke session and the midnight tap-dance extravaganza.
But Nils Mattisson from Minut is sure that smart tools will save your day.
In our latest Hospitable Hosts episode with Nils, we dug into all the nitty-gritty details of noise and occupancy monitoring, highlighted the use of outdoor sensors and explained how smart technology not only protects your property but also elevates the guest experience.
Tune in now to learn how innovative devices like Minut are rewriting the rules of property protection for you and your guests.
Prefer to read the highlights? We’ve got a summary of the key takeaways below.
Just a Minut Ago: Nils’ Story
Back in 2009, Nils’ contact among the early Airbnb staffers told him about a strange problem — some hosts started installing surveillance cameras. It was a bit understandable: Airbnb was new, there were just a few reviews and not much of a background check back then. But it was a huge problem because it invaded people’s privacy.
Fast forward a few years, and Nils and his friends came up with a business idea — a better way to make sure everything was okay with your property without invading anyone’s privacy.
He underlines that “the founding idea of Minut is to give hosts peace of mind, maintain the guests’ privacy and make sure that short-term rentals are a good contribution to the community and nothing that neighbors need to fear.”
Monitoring But Not Intruding
Nils encourages you to let your guests know that you’ve got smart tech in your rental, “It’s a monitor for noise and occupancy, it doesn’t pick up any conversations or record any sounds.” When guests hear that it’s not for snooping, they’ll likely feel better about staying in your place.
But here’s the cool part. Nils explains that smart tech like Minut improves the guest experience. The devices help you know when your guests come and go, so “rather than trying to guess when a guest shows up, you can time welcome messages or schedule your cleaning.”
Nils also clears up something important. The same device can be used inside or outside, capturing both indoor disturbances and noises near the pool. “It’s all within one sensor. The device adapts to its location and you can then monitor for the levels of noise that are right for your particular property,” he explains.
Take care of your guests even in your sleep.
Most People Are Good People
Nils shares a pretty positive insight: “Most people are good people, you know, good people having a good time.… they just need a polite reminder every now and again.”
So, what’s the solution? It’s all about quick communication and that’s where technology weighs in. Nils explains that using smart tech like Minut, integrated with platforms like Hospitable, allows you to send automated messages to guests when the noise goes overboard.
And guess what? In 90% of cases, this friendly message does the trick. Nils isn’t just suggesting this — it’s backed by real results:
“That came out of a study we did together with the city of La Quinta in California. When we compared the number of neighborhood complaints to the council before and after having a Minut sensor installed, we got this truly fantastic result.”
What Happens With 10% That Remains?
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a few guests might not react to the gentle reminder. In such cases, Nils brings in a new form of partnership — collaboration with local security firms.
“We’ve recently introduced a couple of collaborations with local security firms. In those cases where it is quite stubborn, we can dispatch a local guard who can go to your property and de-escalate the situation. That is pretty rare, but in some cases that is what’s needed.”
Hungry for more tech deets about the “magic monitors”? Or maybe you wanna hear a couple of fun party anecdotes? Definitely explore the full episode of our Hospitable Hosts podcast!
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