If you’re looking to prevent parties in your short-term rental, a noise monitoring device is an excellent investment.
House parties are every property manager’s worst nightmare. They can quickly get out of hand and result in broken windows, damaged furniture, angry neighbours, and in some cases, theft and run-ins with the law.
One of these destructive parties could cost you time, money and the trust of the owners whose rental you’re managing. When it comes to scenarios like this, prevention is better than cure.
Vacation rental guest screening is one solution to ensure only verified guests can enter your property. In this article, we’ll look at another method of party-control: noise monitoring devices that alert you to continuous loud noise, so you can intervene before it escalates and damages your reputation with neighbours.
So how does noise monitoring work and what kind of device should you buy?
How do I monitor noise levels?
You probably know that the use of cameras or audio recording equipment inside your rentals is not only a huge invasion of your guests’ privacy, it’s also completely illegal.
Luckily, you don’t need a hidden camera or microphone to make sure your guests are behaving themselves.
In response to the growing problem of unauthorized house parties in short-term rentals, there are now lots of noise monitoring devices on the market that are designed for property managers.
By installing one of these devices in your rental, you’ll be able to ensure your guests respect the house rules, and your neighbours can enjoy their peace and quiet.
What is a noise monitoring device?
Noise monitoring devices can detect excessive noise and sometimes other warning signs of a party without breaking any privacy laws.
Their sensors measure sound levels by calculating the pressure of sound waves in the air.
You can often customise the maximum threshold of decibels, and when noise exceeds this level, you’ll receive an alert so that you can contact guests and find out what’s going on.
In this article, we’ll look at a selection of short-term rental noise monitoring devices designed to stop guests from throwing unwanted parties.
Most of these monitor noise levels, but some have other ways of detecting potential risk factors and can give you more insights into what’s going on in your property.
The best short-term rental noise monitoring devices
Now for our list of the best noise monitoring devices for short-term rentals.
Each of these tools has different features and there are options for every budget, so we hope this will help you choose the right solution for you.
1. Minut
Minut is a discrete device that offers noise, motion, and temperature monitoring. This home sensor guarantees to protect your guests’ privacy while letting property managers rest assured that guests aren’t breaking the house rules.
This noise monitoring device also ensures that you don’t just monitor for one-off loud sounds, but ongoing noise that would indicate a party.
Other features of Minut include temperature and motion monitoring. You’ll know when your guests arrive or check out, and if they have left the air conditioning or heating on while they aren’t in the property.
Minut’s motion detectors can also detect any unexpected movement on your property and alert you to potential break-ins.
The device is wireless and easy to install anywhere in the home. You can view your entire portfolio through a dashboard and you’ll receive instant alerts in case of any issues.
You can customise your alert thresholds and even set up automated guest communication.
Price: The pro plan is €14.99 a month per home. With this package, you’ll get unlimited users and data history and can monitor multiple homes. You’ll also get many other features like PMS integration and Zapier automation.
2. Alertify
Alertify is a noise monitor which uses AI to detect suspicious noise levels that may indicate a party.
However, the device has other capabilities as well. It contains four sensory units: for sound, smoke particles, temperature, and occupancy.
That means you’ll know if anyone is smoking or vaping in your property, or if guests change the temperature outside of your presets.
The occupancy meter means you can measure how many people are on the premises.
You can customise your settings and triggers for each of the different types of alerts. Alertify will provide you with documented proof of irregularities, and you’ll receive immediate alerts to your phone in the case of any kind of disturbance or irregularity.
Price: Alertify is due to launch soon, and if you sign up with your email address you will get a 30% discount on launch day.
3. Party Squasher
Party Squasher is a tool designed to protect short-term rental managers from parties.
However, this device is not actually a noise monitor at all, but an occupancy counter. The aim is to prevent parties before they begin by alerting property managers to large gatherings.
Instead of waiting for the noise to start, the Party Squasher will tell you if there are more people on your premises than there should be.
When you connect the device to your wifi, it will be able to count the number of mobile phones in and around your house. You can set your occupancy limit and you will receive a text message or email any time that limit is breached.
The creators of Party Squasher are keen to emphasise the advantage of monitoring occupancy rather than noise. They say it gives you a chance to act faster and stop the party before your neighbours start to complain.
The sensor can monitor your entire property, including outside space in the front and back. The device is discreet, it can’t be muffled and it doesn’t require batteries. You just have to attach it to your wifi router with the cables provided and download the app. Then you’ll be able to set your alert threshold and choose whether you’ll receive alerts by SMS or email.
Party Squasher works brilliantly for detached properties. However, because it senses nearby mobile devices through wifi, it is not suitable for apartments or homes that share walls with other buildings.
Price: For a portfolio of between 10-99 properties, Party Squasher costs $249 for the first year. This price includes sensor hardware, access to dashboards, use of the app, and alerts.
4. NoiseAware
The inspiration for NoiseAware came from co-founder David Krauss’s real-life experience running a short-term rental.
After his guests staged a wild party, he was left to deal with property destruction, furious neighbours, and legal problems. After selling his property and losing over $30,000, he teamed up with co-founder Andrew Shulte to create the “smoke detector for noise” and help other property managers avoid the same fate.
NoiseAware is ideal for property managers as it helps teams handle noise issues quickly and efficiently. In fact, 75% of incidents are resolved remotely with an average 15-minute resolution time.
As well as the monitoring device, NoiseAware provides 24-hour service and support. You’ll have access to historical data and dashboards to help you manage noise and complaints across your whole property portfolio.
When NoiseAware detects sound above your decibel threshold, you’ll receive alerts with a link to their Noise Risk score graph.
The advanced technology doesn’t just detect decibel levels but measures noise in a more advanced way within a particular environment. That means the algorithm can differentiate between sporadic and continuous loud noises, ensuring that you won’t contact guests over a slammed door.
Price: NoiseAware provides customised solutions for property managers and prices are available on request.
5. Roomonitor
The Roomonitor noise alarm is a device that alerts you to excessive noise levels in your short-term rentals, helping you avoid problems with the neighbours and local community.
Roomonitor was founded in 2015 in Barcelona, a city that’s had its fair share of disputes between local residents and the short-term rental industry. The company is aiming to promote a more positive image of vacation rentals by sparing neighbours from excessive noise.
This noise monitoring device provides an operating system so that you can connect all your devices, and check on your properties in real-time.
You can customise the alarm’s sensitivity, and when excess noise is detected, you will receive alerts by a phone call or SMS. Roomonitor is guaranteed to be privacy safe and gives you access to a dashboard and daily noise reports.
Price: $7.90 a month per device
Monitor noise, prevent parties
Preventing parties in your properties will protect your business as well as your clients’ properties and relationships with their community.
The best way to stop unauthorised parties and rule-breaking in your vacation rental is to install a noise monitor or device with a combination of features that can check occupancy, temperature, noise, and more.
To keep up to date with all the best technology for the short-term rentals industry, subscribe to the VRtech YouTube channel and check out some of our other articles where we explain check-in apps and dynamic pricing tools.