Owners, hosts and managers
Holiday rental locksmith in Orihuela Costa, between one guest and the next
A family with suitcases at a gate in Playa Flamenca, a code that will not work, keys that left with last week's guests. For owners and managers who need the door working before the next arrival.
Open 24 hours · 7 days
- Guests or you can ring
- Invoice for your records
- Price agreed before work starts
The scale of it
Thousands of lets, and every one with a front door
By the summer of 2024, the municipality of Orihuela had 5,760 tourist homes registered and around 1,300 more applications waiting, most of them on this coast. Residents' representatives put the summer population at over 100,000, against around 60,000 in winter. Every one of those lets has a door that is opened by a different set of hands every week.
Many of them are apartments, quads and townhouses in complexes with a communal pool, where a guest meets a community gate before they meet your front door. A guest who cannot get past either is your problem, and usually at the worst hour of a changeover day.
Common calls
What goes wrong between check-in and check-out
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Guests at the gate
Complexes with a community gate, a block door and a flat door give a guest three chances to get stuck. Tell us which one stopped them.
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Keys gone with the guests
Taken home by accident, or lost at the beach. If a set cannot be accounted for, the cylinder is changed before the next arrival.
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The smart lock that went dark
A flat battery in August, a keypad baked by the sun. The door is opened through its mechanical cylinder and the lock checked.
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A slider forced shut
A terrace door slammed every day for weeks. Rollers and hook locks are covered on the aluminium doors page.
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The safe nobody can open
A code chosen by a guest who has flown home, or a keypad dead after the winter. See a safe that will not open.
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The end-of-season check
After a busy summer, a look at every lock in the property before it goes quiet, so nothing fails on the first winter guest.
When a guest rings
When a guest rings from the gate
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The guest or you ring
With the property, the urbanisation and which door or gate is the problem.
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You confirm the booking
Nothing is opened for a guest until the owner or manager has confirmed them, by phone or in writing.
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The price is agreed
With whoever is paying, before any work starts.
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The door is opened and checked
Through the lock where possible; if a cylinder is replaced, you are told how many new keys there are and who has them.
For how a door is actually opened, see opening without breaking the lock. Owners who live abroad and let only part of the year may also want second home lock work. Cylinders as planned work are on a lock change, and the number to save for guests is on the contact page.
Questions
What hosts and managers ask
Can the guest ring you directly, or does it have to be me?
Either. If the guest rings, you will be called to confirm that they are booked into that property before the door is opened, so keep your phone on at check-in times.
Is it worth changing the cylinder between guests?
Not every time. It is worth it when a set of keys goes missing, when a guest leaves without returning them, or when you have lost track of how many copies exist. A cylinder can also be swapped for a spare one kept in the property.
We use a smart lock. Can you deal with those?
Yes, when it fails: a flat battery, a keypad that will not respond, a motor that has jammed. Most have a mechanical cylinder behind them, and that is how the door is opened.
Who pays when a guest breaks the lock?
That is between you, the guest and your booking platform. The invoice can be made out to you or to your management company, with a description of the damage you can forward.
Do you look after a property manager's whole portfolio?
Managers with several properties can ring the same number for each of them. Say which property it is and who on your side authorises the work.
Along the same coast
What people usually need next
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Door opening
Front doors of quads, townhouses, apartments and villas opened through the lock, with drilling kept as the last resort.
Door opening -
Second home lock work
For owners who spend months in the UK or elsewhere: locks checked before you fly, access arranged for a trusted person, a door secured while you are away.
Second homes -
Safe locks
Wardrobe and wall safes that refuse the code, have no power after the winter, or came with a house nobody left the code for.
Safe opening
Guests waiting at the door?
Ring with the property and the urbanisation, and keep your phone on to confirm the booking.
Open 24 hours · 7 days