I built GrantKey because I got tired of being my own backup plan.
My name's Collin, and I run Bower & Kip, a short-term rental company in Northern Virginia. GrantKey started as a tool for my own properties before it became something I thought other operators could use too.
Why I built it
Because of my background, I've always leaned on automation to run Bower & Kip — a lot of small tools handling pieces of the business so I don't have to. GrantKey is the one I'm proudest of. I'd had the idea for a while. The first version actually used an AI model to decide who should get access — but during testing, I found it could be talked into handing over the key when it shouldn't have. I put the idea on hold for a long time after that, until it clicked that the answer was straightforward, rule-based logic instead — no guessing, no talking it into anything. That's the version I put in place on my own properties a few months ago, and it's been handling guest lockouts automatically ever since — usually once or twice a month, often in the middle of the night. I'm sometimes reachable when it fires and sometimes I'm not, but either way, it's a call I no longer have to take.
The trip that started it
By the time of the hike, I already knew rule-based logic was the right way to build this — I just hadn't done anything about it yet. What actually got me moving was a hike in Central Virginia, completely out of cell service. A guest at one of my properties had booked a late checkout, but the door code change hadn't synced from my booking software to the lock in time. They went out to breakfast, and when they came back to grab their luggage before an afternoon flight, they couldn't get back in — and I was unreachable.
It was a failure on more than one level, between the booking software and the lock itself. They ended up stranded outside for two hours. They made their flight, but it isn't the kind of experience that earns a good review, and it isn't one I want any guest to have. Had GrantKey existed then, it would have verified their reservation and gotten them their backup key without needing me at all — which is exactly the gap it closes now.
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