In a quirk of timing, both Starwood and Hilton today made major announcements regarding the implementation of mobile-enabled room access. For a closer look at exactly who, what, where and when:
Starwood’s keyless entry plans
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®), the loyalty program from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, has introduced SPG Keyless, a mobile, keyless entry system that allows guests to use their smartphone as a key. SPG Keyless – powered by the SPG app – enables guests to bypass the front desk (where available), go directly to their room and unlock their stay with a simple tap of their smartphone.
SPG Keyless goes live Wednesday, November 5th at the following hotels: Aloft Beijing, Aloft Cancun, Aloft Cupertino, Aloft Harlem, W Doha, W Hollywood, W Hong Kong, W New York-Downtown, W Singapore and Element Times Square. Starwood will rapidly rollout SPG Keyless with plans for it to be available on 30,000 doors in 150 hotels around the globe by early 2015 across Aloft, Element and W hotels. SPG Keyless is available to SPG members who book a hotel room through one of Starwood’s channels (hotel websites, SPG.com, the SPG app or customer contact centers).
SPG Members must register their phone once through the SPG App and allow push notifications. After booking a reservation at a keyless hotel and approximately 24 hours before arrival, SPG members are invited to opt-in to SPG Keyless. Guests will receive a push notification noting that they are checked in and the SPG App will update with his/her room number and Bluetooth key when the room is ready. Upon arrival at the hotel, the guest can completely bypass the front desk (where available) and go directly to his/her room. After ensuring his/her Bluetooth is enabled, the guest simply opens the SPG App, holds the smartphone to the door lock, waits for the solid green light and enters the room.
SPG Keyless is an evolution of Starwood’s Smart Check-In, another industry-first that debuted at Aloft hotels in 2011, allowing guests to bypass traditional check-in and access their rooms with a RFID-equipped key card. Building upon those early learnings to develop SPG Keyless, Starwood tapped the world’s largest lock manufacturer, Assa Abloy, to create an all-new, Bluetooth-enabled lock as well as keyless software, which are designed to securely recognize and connect with a guest’s mobile device.
How Hilton will do it
Beginning in late spring of 2015, Hilton HHonors members staying at U.S. properties of the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Canopy by Hilton brands, can also use their smartphones to access their rooms.
In July, Hilton Worldwide debuted digital check-in with room selection technology, now available at more than 3,700 hotels, and worldwide by the end of this year. This technology enables Hilton HHonors members to check in via their HHonors profile on desktop, mobile or tablet and choose the exact location of their room – right down to the room number. Mobile-enabled room key goes a step further in simplifying the guests’ journey, allowing travelers to check-in, choose their room and access their room upon arrival entirely via the HHonors app on their smartphone.
Hilton is rolling out the technology in three phases across all U.S. properties of four brands:
- Pilot testing at 10 U.S. properties in early 2015.
- Mobile room key will be enabled at all U.S. properties of Conrad Hotels & Resorts beginning early 2015.
- Rollout will continue across the U.S. properties of Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Canopy by Hilton properties beginning in summer 2015.
The technology extends beyond simply guest room access. First available on the Apple and Android versions of the Hilton HHonors mobile app, guests can use their smartphone to access other areas of each property that require a room key, such as the fitness center, executive floors, elevators and parking facilities, among others. Looking ahead to 2016, Hilton plans to deploy the technology at scale across 11 brands globally.
Since the launch of room selection this summer, one-third of eligible guests have already used the function and more than 90 percent were “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with the experience and said they would use it again.
