You don't know anything about your guest.
I decided to fix that.

Something goes wrong at a property. It happens. A broken item, damage to the apartment, something missing. As a host, your first instinct is not anger at the guest — it is a very specific helplessness. Because in that moment you often realise: you do not actually know who stayed there.

You have a booking reference. You have a first name. You might have a profile photo that may or may not be the actual person. But an email address you can contact directly? A phone number? Verified identity? In most cases — no.

"The frustration is not about the damage. It is about being helpless to even make contact. Some system is blocking you, and you are on your own."

The platform problem

This is a deliberate design of the platforms. Airbnb and Booking.com sit between host and guest intentionally — it is how they maintain control of the relationship and protect their marketplace position. The guest books through them and the guest data belongs to them.

I am active in host communities. I see this come up constantly. Hosts asking whether someone has a guest's email. Hosts asking how to reach a guest after checkout. The answer is almost always: you cannot, not directly.

Airlines had this same situation once. You do not book flights directly with the airline in most cases — you book through Skyscanner, Google Flights, a travel agent. But the airline still takes control at check-in. They capture your passport. Your seat assignment. Your meal preference. Your contact details. The booking platform does not own the passenger relationship — the airline does.

I thought: why can't short-term rental work the same way?

Two gateways

So I built two systems to capture the guest relationship before they settle in — what I think of as two gateways.

Gateway one — the digital check-in

Before arrival, guests receive a link to complete a check-in process. Name, contact details, booking reference, agreement to house rules. Simple, takes two minutes. But at the end of it, I know who is in my property. I have a direct contact. I have confirmed they have read the house rules. And they have a complete digital guide waiting for them — interactive, bilingual, covering everything from the smart home commands to where to find the nearest supermarket.

Gateway two — the WiFi portal

When guests arrive and connect to the apartment WiFi network (Dropby_ecosystem — open, no password), they are taken to a branded portal. Same process: who are you, booking reference, done. In exchange they get full internet access and the digital guide opens automatically.

This is the captive portal model — standard in hotels, airports, coffee shops — but almost nobody does it in short-term rental. The guest is not inconvenienced. The process takes thirty seconds. And the host now knows exactly who is connected to their network.

What came out of this

I built these systems for my own properties. Then I started sharing them in host communities and realised: this is a widespread problem with no good existing solution. The check-in tools that exist are either too complex, too expensive, or not designed for the DACH market.

So what started as a solution to my own problem became a product line. DropSphere — the digital guest guide and check-in system. And the WiFi gateway layer as a companion product.

These are available as standalone tools for self-managing hosts who want to add this layer to their existing operation. You do not need to use Dropby's full hosting service to use the products. They are designed to slot into whatever setup you already have.