Starting Wednesday, November 5, checking in at Starwood hotels will become smart, seamless, and keyless.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts is launching SPG Keyless at 10 Aloft, Element, and W Hotels in cities like Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, and Doha. Touted as the “industry’s first truly keyless key,” SPG Keyless will allow all guests at participating hotels to check in, receive their room numbers, bypass the front desk, and unlock the doors to their rooms using the SPG app on their smartphones.
In order to use the feature, SPG guests must register their phone once through the app and allow push notifications. Then, after they book a reservation at a keyless hotel, about 24 hours before arrival, the app will allow them to opt in to SPG Keyless. The app will later notify them that they are checked in and update with the room number and a Bluetooth key when the room is ready. This ensures that when guests arrive, they can proceed directly to their rooms and immediately unlock their doors and unpack.
“Not only does SPG Keyless alleviate a perennial pain point for travelers, but it also transforms the first interaction with our guests from one that is transactional to something more personal,” said Starwood’s President and Chief Executive Officer Frits van Paasschen in a press release. “This is just the beginning, because through mobile we have the opportunity to marry high tech and high touch to transform the hotel experience in many exciting ways.”
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This Wednesday, the hotels going keyless are 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—but by the end of 2015, Starwood plans to have SPG Keyless available at all 150 Aloft, Element, and W properties around the world, affecting a total of 30,000 guestrooms.
Starwood isn’t the only hotel company rolling out keyless entry, however. By the summer of 2015, Hilton Worldwide plans to introduce a service allowing Hilton HHonors members staying at Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts, Conrad Hotels and Resorts, and Canopy by Hilton brands to open their doors using smartphones.
To find out more about SPG Keyless and how to use it, visit spg.com/keyless.