Club Quarters, a hotel brand and management company, announced that it will offer guests the ability to store and use mobile room keys within personal device digital wallets at all of its properties throughout the US and the UK.
While other hotel chains have implemented this technology at select properties within their portfolios, Club Quarters is the first to fully embrace it at all of its hotels and includes the advantage of being compatible with Apple and Android devices. The move marks a significant expansion in the hospitality industry’s adoption of a technology that transforms the guest experience by offering a more convenient, secure, and sustainable way for guests to check in and access their rooms with just a tap of their mobile devices.
Digital keys were previously made available by downloading the hotel’s app–an innovation that Club Quarters first introduced to the industry in 2017. However, by offering mobile keys with digital wallet compatibility, guests are able to use the technology without the step of having to download and use an additional app. Instead, arriving guests can easily receive their room key by downloading it from their check-in confirmation email and adding it to a digital wallet on their Apple or Android device.
“We truly believe that soon digital keys will displace key cards, which have been shown to be less secure,” said Club Quarters CEO John Paul Nichols. “We use our mobile phones to board planes and enter sports and concert venues. Entering your hotel room with a digital key on your phone will become another extension of that, and Club Quarters is incredibly proud to lead the industry in offering this convenience to all of our customers at all of our hotels.”
Digitalized room keys are automatically activated once a guest checks in electronically and are ready to use as soon as a room becomes available, allowing guests to breeze past check-in lines and easily access their rooms with a tap of their phones.
The key works without needing to open up any app, navigate to a special screen, or unlock the device. The same digital wallet-based key can also be used to access the hotel’s fitness centre for even greater convenience. If guests choose to extend their stay, the key is automatically updated which sidesteps any need to visit the front desk.
Advanced features included the ability for a guest with a dead device battery to still use their mobile key for up to five hours, preventing the risk of experiencing a frustrating room lockout.
To launch its digital wallet-enabled mobile key service, Club Quarters leverages cutting-edge door lock and software solutions developed by Vingcard, a leading innovator of advanced technologies tailored to the needs of the hospitality industry. Each Club Quarters location is equipped with Vostio Access Management, Vingcard’s cloud-based system responsible for generating mobile keys, ensuring use of the latest in data encryption, and providing seamless compatibility with guest digital wallets.
While key cards will continue to be available for use at its hotels, Club Quarters believes that the convenience of digital wallet-enabled room keys will ensure that the features quickly gains mainstream adoption by its guests.