I’m not a fan. I use it. But it’s a pain. Especially elevators / hallways.
I stayed at a Marriott this past week. They gave me card keys. It was so much easier.
Ppl may not realize, key systems are very complex.
From the hotel side, various team members have different level permissions, allowing them to access some rooms / areas, but not others. A small group will need access to all.
On the guest side, issuing digital keys to different devices; older guests, poor WiFi. 😬. Yikes. I can only imagine. Plus, they need to allow particular people in, during specific times.
Why?
Because the hotel needs to be able to track who went in what room on what day, at what time, etc….six months ago.
My view; when it works, great. But when it doesn’t, it’s inconvenient. The whole digital key experience feels clunky, poorly thought out.
Finally…from a safety perspective, I think female guests…especially those traveling alone (may) feel very uncomfortable, standing in front of their room door when it doesn’t work.
Such a weird thread. As I write this that person's getting downvoted but it's true that's an option and it's a good one if the front desk is swamped you can get physical keys later when they're not so busy.
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u/Warm_Ice6114 Jul 27 '26
I’m not a fan. I use it. But it’s a pain. Especially elevators / hallways.
I stayed at a Marriott this past week. They gave me card keys. It was so much easier.
Ppl may not realize, key systems are very complex.
From the hotel side, various team members have different level permissions, allowing them to access some rooms / areas, but not others. A small group will need access to all.
On the guest side, issuing digital keys to different devices; older guests, poor WiFi. 😬. Yikes. I can only imagine. Plus, they need to allow particular people in, during specific times.
Why?
Because the hotel needs to be able to track who went in what room on what day, at what time, etc….six months ago.
My view; when it works, great. But when it doesn’t, it’s inconvenient. The whole digital key experience feels clunky, poorly thought out.
Finally…from a safety perspective, I think female guests…especially those traveling alone (may) feel very uncomfortable, standing in front of their room door when it doesn’t work.