Seamless ow throughout

More than 5OO-million guest experiences are enhanced by dormakaba hospitality products each year, making dormakaba a leading supplier of electronic locks, access and space management systems.

“The Kiosk allows guests to check themselves into their hotel without the need to engage directly with staff, this became very important globally during the health pandemic.”

Easy monitoring

Staff can easily monitor the status of each lock and quickly respond to any issues. This also helps to ensure a smooth check-in and checkout experience for guests.

Personalisation

Modern door lock systems can be customised to suit individual guest preferences, such as allowing them to choose their own PIN codes or granting access to specific areas of the hotel.

Mr Benikos said: “In addition to addressing guest demands for improved convenience, mobile key technology also allows businesses to better cater to expectations for a personalised service. With today’s guests overwhelmingly valuing the ability to influence how their stay unfolds on their terms, mobile key solutions significantly provide them with the opportunity to decide how they wish to interact with property services from the moment they first arrive.”

He said: “More robust solutions can also be integrated with third party systems such as room thermostats or lights, allowing guests to effortlessly control virtually any aspect of their stay with just a few swipes on their personal device.

“For guests desiring greater convenience, the latest advances in mobile key technology now even provide the ability to use and store keys within digital wallets located on a guest’s personal device.”

Mr Barnwell said that guest room management and energy management is another “wow solution” that provides a programmed environment for guests.

He said: “Programming to the in room RCU (Room Control Unit) or directly to the Smart Thermostat allows for automated energy and environmental control increasing guest comfort, while also providing significant energy and infrastructure savings.”

Modern guests also enjoy voice activation.

Mr Barnwell explained: “Voice assistant and guest room concierge allows the guest to verbally control IPTV, lights, blinds, and air-conditioning.

“This technology is a perfect way to promptly manage all low-end requests such as, ‘what time is check out?’ freeing staff up to spend valuable faceto face time with guests.

“It can also replace the guestroom compendium, allowing marketing and promotion of hotel facilities and services, this can also improve revenue, and be completely customised to the property and brand.”

Door locks: What to consider?

There is a universal industry need for high-quality door locks said Mr Benikos. “Regardless of a property’s size or guest demographic, businesses find that travellers today routinely expect service that’s faster, more convenient, and able to be personalised without coming at the price of a reduction in personal safety.

“To keep pace with everincreasing expectations, you need to be aware of the most recent advances in door lock technology and the latest security standards while also providing unique opportunities to enhance the guest experience.”

He added that upgrading to provide guests with mobile key capabilities “doesn’t have to involve a cost-prohibitive or complicated process”.

“By working with a reputable security access solutions provider, options do exist to ultimately adopt mobile key functionality in budget-friendly stages. When deploying future-proof and scalable door locks, for example, properties can later activate digital key services, once demand for the feature becomes widespread among their guests and without first requiring the expense of replacing existing hardware.”

Mr Barnwell said: “If you are looking at new locks, whether for a new build or a renovation its essential to consider “quality, security and longevity, backed with a complete after sales support, 24 hours 365 days a year”.

What about attractive and secure solutions?

Modern door locks do not need to be bulky and commercial looking, according to Mr Benikos. Instead, there are “minimalist, well designed alternatives capable of seamlessly blending in with any property style while still featuring the latest in security protection and functionality”.

He said: “These more adaptive and technologically advanced door lock solutions often only consist of a sleek RFID/BLE reader that is visible to guests, which itself can frequently be custom-tailored with a property’s unique brand colours and logo. With a wide range of door handle options to also select from, industry businesses can now effortlessly ensure the adoption of a solution that accentuates rather than detracts from their property’s specific style.”