Two large hotel companies, Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, announced the launch of new service, keyless room access with mobile phone. Starwood already offers this feature for its Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) members. SPG Keyless allows guests using their smartphones as keys to guestrooms. The system was officially launched in 10 hotels around the world Starwood hotels in Beijing, New York, Hong Kong, Doha and Los Angeles. The company plans to launch the system in more Aloft, W, and Elements hotels globally. In order to use the new feature, guests need to install the SPG application and register their phone through it, allowing push notifications. Then simply book a room in a hotel with keyless access feature, and approximately 24 hours before the arrival you will receive a notification inviting to opt in to SPG Keyless. Later, guests will get the check-in notification with the room number, and when the room is ready, the application will also download Bluetooth key.
Hilton’s initiative will appear in hotels later. Starting from late spring 2015, selected hotels, mostly in the US, will offer keyless access to Hilton HHonors members. The hotelier will launch this system in the following brands: Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, and Canopy by Hilton. Currently, the famous hotelier offers mobile check-in for members of its Hilton HHonors loyalty program, and the feature will be available at more than 3,700 hotels worldwide by the end of the year. Members of the program can choose location of their guestroom and check-in from HHonors profile on their tablet or smartphone. Mobile room access will be the next step of the program. The program will be carried out in four steps. In 2015, the company will launch the system across the US, and in 2016 it will be deployed in 11 Hilton hotel brands globally.