Contributor I

Answered

using a system in rented villa

8 replies
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I have a villa which is rented out Airbnb etc and we have a Sonos system in property and I am looking for best procedures for guests to use the system - do they have to set up a system every time some one new moves into villa or is there a simple method ?

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J

John BAnswer

Hi. They don’t need to set up a new system.

You can choose whether to provide a controller - an Amazon Fire tablet is a cheap way of doing that. Or you can tell them how to download the Sonos app and connect to your system. Do not give them your Sonos account password! Without that, they cannot get at most of your settings, but can still play music.

I would take out a separate music service subscription for the system. I don’t think they will be able to add their own accounts without your Sonos password (I think - you had better check that).

If you provide a controller, reset it and then reconnect to your system before any gueats use it (to lock out access to settings).

J

John BAnswer

Hi. They don’t need to set up a new system.

You can choose whether to provide a controller - an Amazon Fire tablet is a cheap way of doing that. Or you can tell them how to download the Sonos app and connect to your system. Do not give them your Sonos account password! Without that, they cannot get at most of your settings, but can still play music.

I would take out a separate music service subscription for the system. I don’t think they will be able to add their own accounts without your Sonos password (I think - you had better check that).

If you provide a controller, reset it and then reconnect to your system before any gueats use it (to lock out access to settings).

buzz

Grand Maestro

How often do new guests arrive? Do you tend to have “experts” renting the villa? I ask because the “experts” will customize everything that they can get their hands on. They’ll install their own music services on SONOS and install their own TV Aps. When a client leaves, they may not remove their private Netflix, accounts and such.

It’s a mess, but if you have too many “expert” clients, you may need to factory reset SONOS and TV’s from time to time in order to take out the trash that has been installed by “experts”.

One relatively easy SONOS solution would be to install an Android tablet locked to the wall. If you use “kiosk” mode on the Android it will essentially become a dedicated SONOS controller. I recommend wall mount, not so much to prevent theft, but to prevent someone from accidentally packing the controller with their own stuff as they check out.

M

Muzz4021Author

Contributor I

Thanks buzz and John appreciate replies

buzz

Grand Maestro

One note about cheap Android tablets -- some are using such an old version of the Android operating system that they cannot install the SONOS controller App.

X

x2bate

Contributor I

I purchased a Roam, Move and Ray for our beach rental unit. The Ray (tv bar) can only be controlled with the TV remote IF you have a particular kind of service (IR vs RF). I have the wrong ones, so they would have to download the crap Sonos app.

We decided to keep the Move in the owners closet at the suggestion of our management company.

The Roam came home with us as a partial replacement to the no longer functional Sonos speakers we have at home.

Look into buying a couple of Ultimate Ears Blast units. They work like a charm and don’t cost much if they are abused or stolen

Airgetlam

Never heard of a TV remote that couldn’t have IR turned on, so it could control things like Sonos, Blu-ray players, cable boxes, satellite boxes or similar. Must be a pretty odd TV.

Sounds like your management company has no idea about how Sonos works. For that matter, it sounds like you don’t have a good grasp, either.

But Sonos, at the end of the day, isn’t designed for rental use, they advertise themselves with the tag line of ‘whole home music’. Trying to force them into use that they’re ultimately not designed for can be a challenge, I’m not surprised you’ve had difficulty. The much less complex and much less capable speakers may be ideal for use by your renters.

Bruce

buzz

Grand Maestro

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106rallye

@x2bate Most TV’s that use rf remotes can also be programmed to either have their remotes send ir or send ir themselves when receiving a command from the rf remote. I’ve used this for my TV provider’s set top box. There just has to be a line of sight between the TV and the Ray when the TV sends the ir commands.

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