Your Smartphone Is Now Your Hotel Room Key
Source: Angela Moscaritolo
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will let guests bypass the front desk and enter their rooms with a smartphone.
Your smartphone already does so much: it's a camera, radio, map, virtual wallet, mobile office, even a source of amusement when boredom kicks in. And now, it's your hotel room key as well.
Stamford, Conn.-based hotel brand Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide on Monday began rolling out technology that will let guests bypass the front desk and enter their rooms with a smartphone. The new mobile and keyless entry system is arriving today at Aloft, Element, and W Hotels around the world.
First announced in January, the system lets guests bypass the front desk, avoid waiting in line, and unlock their room with a tap of their smartphone.
"Innovation and personalization are at the forefront of everything we do at Starwood and SPG Keyless represents the perfect intersection of these two pillars," Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, said in a statement. "We are excited to be the first in our industry to debut this new technology allowing us to further deliver on the wants and needs of our early adopter, hyper-mobile guests who use their smartphones for just about every aspect of their lives."
Connected TravelerThe technology will initially be available at 10 hotels around the world: Aloft Harlem, Aloft Cupertino, Aloft Beijing, Aloft Cancun, W New York - Downtown, W Hollywood, W Singapore, W Hong Kong, W Doha, and Element Times Square. Starwood plans to "rapidly expand" the rollout in the first half of 2015, bringing the technology to 30,000 doors in 150 hotels around the world.
Here's how it works: After booking a reservation at a participating hotel, you'll be invited to use the keyless system and register your phone through the SPG app. Then, approximately 24 hours before your arrival, you'll receive your room number and Bluetooth key via the app. When you arrive to the hotel, go directly to your room, make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone, open the app, tap your smartphone to the doorlock, and voila.
For more on the technology, check out the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e4d3NmO4-_k
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