Probably the only silver lining of this extended period of recession is represented by some technological innovations that have been introduced into the hôtellerie world and put at disposal of the entrepreneurs who operate in this sector. Among them, the most significant one is a new, completely automated hotel door lock system, able to allow the clients to make their check-in and check-out without the physical presence of a concierge. This tool is conceived to solve the notorious late check-in and late check-out issues, that have always afflicted any hotel staff’s work. Before its introduction, in fact, all it took was a single guest who, for whatever reason (flight delays, inability to find the hotel, path errors along the way), showed himself/herself outside the ordinary working hours; they had to be welcomed in any case, and this meant that one staff’s member was forced to work after hours. Not counting the clients who came back overnight, not knowing where their room’s key was. All these troubles can be considered part of the past now, since this new system has made everything easier and more immediate, with just one move: transforming the customers’ smartphone into an electronic door key.
The author of this innovation is Vikey, an Italian start-up founded in 2016. This means that they are working on this tool way before the pandemic. Their goal was providing the accommodation facilities – like hostels, guest houses, day hotels, B&Bs, short term rental apartments – a way to improve the guest check-in experience and save costs, sparing them from the obligation of having a 24/7 reception. The pandemic has abruptly enlarged the startup’s market area, including big chains and, more in general, companies that are considered giants of the hospitality industry. The result is that even the most luxurious facilities are starting to use vikey smart locks for hotels, to ease up their staff’s work and make their clients more and more satisfied.
How does this system work? Basically, it is a sofware and hardware solution for the hôtellerie able to generate a unique digital key, that is transmitted to the room’s electronic lock. The digital key can be visualized by guests at the moment of their reservation and it can be used to unlock the smart lock, via web-app. Saving money (the host), time (the client) and energies (both of them), preventing any loss or steal of the keys, finding a new freedom from schedules and opening hours: all these vantage points are included in a simple, and yet revolutionary, technology. Will it be, among the other things, one of the secrets of the hotel and tourism industry’s revival?
