We help property managers navigate the smart lock landscape with clarity and confidence.
Back in 2016, our founder Oliver was managing a small portfolio of short-term rentals in Manchester. He spent weeks comparing smart lock platforms — Nuki, Tedee, Tapkey, you name it. The more he researched, the more confused he became. Every vendor promised seamless integration, bulletproof security, and effortless scaling. But nobody talked about the real trade-offs.
That's when we realized the hospitality tech space needed something different. Not another lock manufacturer. Not another PMS. But an independent voice — one that would cut through the marketing noise and help hosts make informed decisions based on their actual needs, not the loudest sales pitch.
We built KeyVision to be that voice. Our philosophy is simple: technology should serve your business model, not dictate it. Whether you're running a single Airbnb flat in Birmingham or managing twenty aparthotels across six cities, you deserve honest comparisons tested where it matters — real properties, real guests, real use cases.
Eight years later, we've helped over 680 property managers across the UK and Europe choose access systems that fit their operations like a glove. We've seen the Italian keybox ban reshape the market. We've watched platforms come and go. And through it all, we've stayed calm under load — because good consulting isn't about hype. It's about understanding your constraints and finding the solution that's engineered to be boring (in the best way).
We're a small crew of property tech analysts, former hotel managers, and data nerds who believe the best advice comes from rolling up our sleeves and testing things ourselves.
Started KeyVision after managing short-term rentals for five years. Oliver's obsession with access control systems turned into a full-time consultancy. He's personally tested over twenty smart lock platforms and holds ISO 27001 Information Security certification. When he's not comparing Bluetooth latency times, he's trail running in the Peak District or tinkering with home automation setups that his family tolerates with remarkable patience.
Former front desk manager at a boutique hotel chain, Sarah joined us in 2018 with a mission: make tech less intimidating for operators who just want things to work. She leads our platform comparison research and writes most of our cost-benefit reports. Sarah's superpower is translating vendor jargon into plain English — a skill honed over hundreds of client calls and late-night integration troubleshooting sessions. She's also our resident expert on Italian rental regulations.
Marcus comes from a software development background and spent three years building booking engines before joining KeyVision. He handles all our PMS integration assessments — mapping data flows, testing API reliability, and identifying points of failure before they become 3 a.m. emergencies. Marcus is certified in Business Intelligence and has a knack for spotting edge cases that break seemingly bulletproof systems. His mantra: "If it can fail, it will fail at check-in."
Elena joined us in 2020 after running operations for a vacation rental management company in Edinburgh. She's the person who makes sure our recommendations don't just sit in a PDF — she walks clients through implementation, trains their teams, and checks in three months later to see how things are actually going. Elena's philosophy is that good consulting doesn't end when the invoice is paid. She's also fluent in Italian and Spanish, which comes in handy when navigating European compliance landscapes.
Our values aren't poster board fluff. They're the principles that guide every analysis, every client conversation, and every recommendation we make.
We don't take kickbacks from lock vendors or PMS platforms. Our income comes from client consulting fees, which means our loyalty is to you — not to the company with the biggest affiliate commission. When we say a platform is the right fit, it's because our analysis says so, not because we get a referral bonus.
We test things. Real installations. Real properties. Real integrations. We don't just read spec sheets and regurgitate vendor claims. If a platform says it integrates with Smoobu, we actually connect it to a live Smoobu account and push test bookings through. Because marketing promises and operational reality are often two very different things.
No jargon walls. No buzzword bingo. We explain things like we're sitting across the table from you with a coffee. If a feature is pointless for your use case, we'll say so. If a cheaper option does 90% of what you need, we'll recommend that instead of the premium tier. Honesty builds trust, and trust is the only currency that matters in consulting.
Access control is about more than convenience — it's about keeping your guests safe and your properties secure. We hold ISO 27001 certification and UK Data Protection registration because we take this stuff seriously. Every platform we evaluate gets scrutinized for encryption standards, access logging, key revocation speed, and offline failure modes. We won't recommend something we wouldn't use ourselves.
Today you might have two properties. Next year, twelve. We design recommendations with growth in mind — not just what works now, but what won't break when you scale. That means understanding per-unit costs, multi-property dashboards, API rate limits, and the hidden friction points that only appear at volume. We've been there, and we know what to watch for.
We're not here to sell you a report and disappear. Our best clients are the ones we've worked with for years — advising on new properties, adjusting systems as needs change, keeping them informed about regulatory shifts like the Italian keybox ban. We succeed when you succeed, and that means staying in your corner for the long haul.
Whether you're launching your first property or optimizing a portfolio of twenty, we're here to help you navigate the smart lock landscape with clarity and confidence.
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