Hate waiting in-line to check-in to your hotel room after a long journey? Maybe you don’t have to anymore. Hotels are implementing a new room key that could save travelers some time!
“Some chains are adopting permanent keys that repeat guests can carry in their wallets and use for multiple trips at a variety of properties. Other establishments are doing away with physical keys altogether; instead, guests can open their room doors by holding their cellphone next to the lock” says Andrea Petersen, Wall Street Journal writer.
The hassle of demagnetized room keys will no longer be an issue. Hotels are trying to find the most convenient way to accommodate their customers. In addition to the permanent and cell phone keys, some hotels, like the Hilton and Intercontinental Hotels Group, are using something called OpenWays. This new technology sends a phone number to the guest’s cell phone. Upon arrival, the guest calls the phone number which will play an audible tone that unlocks their door. This tone changes every few minutes for security purpose. Thus, no one can record and replay any of the tones to reopen a room.
"Think of the business traveler who goes to the same hotel every week. He can go straight to his room, drop off his bag and get right to his meeting," says Pete Sears, senior vice president of operations at Hyatt Hotels Corp.
Although hotels do not believe these changes will be very cost-saving, they do trust it will boost their customer service and satisfaction rating. Those chains that decide to adopt the new keys hope to stand out amongst the other hotels.
For more information see http://tinyurl.com/31c9rm3
