CASE STUDY ALOFT ROLL OUT SMART CHECK-IN
After a successful pilot, Aloft Hotels is continuing to roll out its pioneering automatic check-in concept in a number of hotels, including the newly opened Aloft London Excel.
Supplied by VingCard Elsafe, Smart Check- In made its debut at Aloft Lexington, USA in 2010. Running on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, it caters to a new generation of guests on the go who are more interested in high-tech than high-touch service.
OPPOSITE PAGE: The Quantum RFID from Saflock is designed for times when beauty is as important as technology and functionality TOP LEFT: Salto’s new Aelement system LEFT: The ILCO RFID lock has been installed in Yotel ABOVE: VingCard’s Visionline RF-online Solution is the basis of Aloft’s Smart Check-In
free system and enables hoteliers to control the security of their entire building, grant access privileges to individual rooms and gather audit trail data from every door – all without leaving the front desk. Aelement also features a wide range of advanced and innovative hotel management benefits including instant room move and extended stay abilities as well as lost card cancellation, intrusion alarm, door ajar alarm, remote opening, and passage mode activation for meeting rooms. Aelement prides itself on design, with the minimalistic RFID reader available in two contemporary colours, Pearl Black and Ice White, to co-ordinate with interiors. Another of the world’s leading suppliers of
electronic locks and access control systems is Kaba, with its Saflok and ILCO series. Kaba recently completed its fourth Yotel installation, the Yotel New York, following successful systems in Yotel Gatwick, Heathrow and Schiphol airports. Kaba installed its contactless ILCO
790 RFID electronic door locks for all 669 guestrooms, supported by the Atlas front desk access control management system to provide greater property security and guest door control across the entire hotel. In Yotel’s lobby, self-service ‘Shere’ kiosks dispense guestroom keycards and invoices for check-in or check-out, with staff on hand to provide 24/7 assistance. Perhaps one of the most stylish solutions is
the Quantum RFID from Saflok, designed for times when beauty is equally as important as technology and functionality. The flush- mounted electronic door locking system features LED lights displayed behind a polycarbonate lens and again uses the latest in radio frequency technology. Installed in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, and Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund, Quantum allows guests to pass their hotel card keys within six inches of the door’s digital reader to gain access to their rooms.
Here’s how Smart Check-In works: Select Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) members who opt to participate receive a new enhanced SPG / Aloft-branded RFID keycard. On the day of a planned stay, a text message is sent to the guest’s mobile device with their room number. Once at the hotel, guests can skip the check-in line and go straight to their room, where their keycard will unlock the door – giving guests control of their check-in experience in the palms of their hands.
“Aloft guests never settle for a traditional hotel experience, and they’ve embraced the Smart Check-In revolution with tremendous enthusiasm,” comments Brian McGuinness, Senior Vice President, Specialty Select Brands for Starwood. “For our associates, freedom from traditional check-in procedures means they can spend more time engaging with guests and enhancing the social atmosphere that’s made Aloft such a huge hit.”
With technology being a vital component of the Aloft brand’s DNA the RFID keycard may eventually act as an all-access pass throughout the Aloft stay, allowing guests to purchase cocktails and bites at the hotel’s w xyz bar, sundries at the re:stock retail kiosk, and snacks at re:fuel by aloft, the brand’s deli- style, grab-and-go pantry.
WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2012 117
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