REPORT FROM THE U.S.—To help accommodate rushed travelers and stay on the cutting edge of innovation, hoteliers for years have been fixated on adopting mobile keys. But because of a fragmented smartphone manufacturing industry, varying worldwide cell signal standards and expensive locking system upgrades, mobile keys have yet to become more than just a fixation.
Many brands and operators have announced “mobile check-in” solutions that allow guests to check into their hotel and even select a room from their mobile phone before they arrive. But true keyless entry, which allows guests to bypass the front desk and use their mobile phone to unlock their guestroom door, remains on the distant horizon.
“Hotel brands have been working hard to develop mobile check-in solutions, but to date there is no truly mobile, keyless check-in,” said Brian McGuinness, senior VP of specialty select brands for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
Starwood Hotels has been testing radio frequency identification technology at 14 Aloft hotels, where Starwood Preferred Guest members who’ve opted in to the program and received an advanced SPG card can receive a text message with their room number. Then the guest can bypass the traditional check-in process and use their SPG card to enter their room.
The company also recently announced the first phase of true keyless mobile check-in that will allow SPG guests to use their smartphone to open their guestroom door. Enhancements to door locks will be required, and the option will be available via the SPG mobile app for loyalty program members.
The first mobile-key platforms will be rolled out at the Aloft Harlem in New York and the Aloft Cupertino in California by the end of the first quarter, McGuinness said. By the end of 2015, Starwood Hotels is hoping to introduce the smart key at all its W Hotels and Aloft hotels.
“With the evolution of smart check-in, Starwood has a true industry first on its hands,” McGuinness said. “Never has there been a system which allows guests to completely bypass the front desk.”
First step forward
While mobile keys have been the buzz at hospitality technology conferences for years, the appetite for them is increasing as hotel brands look for more ways to stay technically relevant and put more control in their guests’ hands.
Personality Hotels, a collection of seven independent hotels near Union Square in San Francisco, implemented a mobile-key program last year. But David Chin, COO of Personality Hotels, said Personality wants mobile keys fully integrated with the hotels’ property-management systems before they suggest guests completely skip the check-in process.
“We’re not quite to the ‘skip the traditional check-in procedure’ yet, but eventually we would like to move that way,” he said. “In the future that would be a good possibility for us. We’re also looking at getting our PMS mobile as well from a day-to-day operations standpoint.”
Guests at Personality Hotels can use their mobile phone to unlock their guestroom door, but the hotels still require guests to check-in at the front desk to get their room number before the technology is activated.
“If you’re in an urban setting and you have security concerns you may not want to have that feature available to everyone. You might want to see the guest and engage with them before sending them to the room,” Chin said. “Union Square is the No. 1 destination in San Francisco, so we need to overcome that to be able to comfortably suggest they bypass the desk for check-in.”
Marriott International last year also introduced mobile check-in at 350 Marriott Hotels where loyalty program members can check in via their phone then go to a separate check-in desk to pick up a key.
Guests “cite the convenience and faster check-in once they arrive,” the company said in a news release. “Guests also appreciate the alert notifying them their room is ready. It gave them less to worry about while traveling.”
Additional benefits
Despite the potential consequences of putting room access in the wrong hands, mobile check-in offers tremendous benefits to hotels as well.
At the 210-room Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa in La Jolla, California, guests receive an email a day in advance of arrival and check-in, asking them to provide an estimated time of arrival. This allows staff to authorize the check-in with a credit card, get a room ready and give guests their room key as they pull into the porte-cochere.
The program is being used with Estancia’s loyalty members only, said Aaron Anavim, director of front office operations.
“The communication with the guest is making them feel more comfortable,” he said. “They’re able to plan their day a day out and we get that email in the morning that allows us to plan our day.”
Touching base with the guest in advance also provides an opportunity to upsell either an upgraded room or ancillary on-property service, such as a spa appointment, Anavim said, adding that today upselling is more responsive when it’s virtual because guests perceive it as less pushy.
For first-time guests, however, Anavim said Estancia wants to keep the opportunity to inform them face to face about the property.
Using services from CheckMate, Estancia is also fed information about guests in advance of their stay that has been scraped from various places across the Internet. For those guests who check in online, Estancia knows demographic information about the guests as well as how active they are on social media and review sites. Estancia is “careful with letting the guest know how much we know about them,” Anavim said.
Installation cost
Both Personality Hotels and the Estancia had to modify their door locks to allow mobile access. Starwood Hotels will require owners to “slightly modify the door locks, but it is as easy as swapping out the old locks for the new with minimal disruption,” McGuinness said.
That means today’s owners and operators are still determining whether the benefits outweigh the costs. At Personality Hotels, mobile-key adoption is sporadic, at least in the early going.
“We have those who are first responders to technology who embrace it and those who are traditional and need to get an actual key,” Chin said. “We do find that the people who do use it, they like the convenience of not having to carry a key, and it’s good for the environment as well.”