Hotel replaces keys with mobile phones

A Stockholm hotel has launched a new pilot security system enabling guests to open their rooms, and even check in and out, with the help of their mobile phones, the participating companies said Tuesday.

Starting this week the Clarion Hotel Stockholm provide a number of guests with telephones equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

The chosen clients will not only be able to reserve their rooms and receive confirmation on the devices, they will have the option of checking in even before arriving at the hotel and have their electronic room key ready in the phone when they get there.

No need to stop by the reception. Guests can go straight to their room and place their phone in front of the lock and the door opens.

When they leave, they check out using their phone, and the electronic key is automatically cancelled.

"At TeliaSonera, we are looking at many ways of using the mobile phone to make our customers' lives easier," Johan Wickman, who heads up the Nordic telecom giant's research and innovation division, said in a statement.

"The NFC technology, along with other in-built technologies, brings a new dimension to the mobile device which opens new growth opportunities," he added.

TeliaSonera, which partnered with among others the Clarion hotel and Swedish lock maker Assa Abloy on the project, said the pilot test began on November 1st and would last for four months.

Over time, the telecom company said it aimed for the technology to be deployed at other hotels, as well as at commercial and residential buildings.

Meanwhile, Assa Abloy said the project was a world first and the goal was "to get feedback from guests and employees using the NFC phones for a variety of services."

NFC is a short-range wireless communication technology standard that enables the exchange of data between devices over up to a distance of 10 centimetres (3.9 inches).

The only thing I demand of hotels apart from that I, in exchange for a lot of money, be handed some sort of functioning key to a room where sleep is made possible without major disturbances like temperatures way below or above normal ones, nearby road work scheduled at small hours etc, is a decent breakfast.

In many countries, you don't even get that.

Your day begins getting insulted by something the establishment in question has the nerve of calling coffee, a sad looking piece of dough their staff is instructed to refer to as a “croissant” and a ridiculous assortment of small plastic Lego brick sized boxes containing false plastic substitutes for 5 different fruit marmalades that all taste the same.

There is a part of this planet where this seldom happens to hotel guests and that is Germany, Austria and Scandinavia. Italian and French meals often are decent from lunch on, but why don't Mediterraneans take breakfast more seriously?

In Sweden, where I live, a productive day does not begin by drinking yesterday's coffee and chewing on microwaved insults to Humanity's baking traditions and neither does it end by not being able to open your hotel room door for any other reason than being drunk.

I don't travel on a daily basis (although I've done so for periods of my life), but whenever I do travel, I make sure of using my knowledge of the hotel business in order to avoid ending up in the hotels that failed to welcome me when I needed comfort the most.

My best advice (at least when it comes to Europe): use the Internet to find a small, family run inns and such places outside the city centers (preferably recommended by other Internet users) close to freeways and/or public transportation.

Read your “conclusion”.

You’re on to something.

Regards from a city full of engineers, namely Gothenburg, Sweden (we don’t solely build cars and trucks - companies like SAAB Aerospace, Astra-Zeneca and Ericsson are indeed making their presence felt too).

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.