Hotel Door Locks
Hotel door locks are a crucial part of making guests feel safe and secure during their stay. Choosing the right lock for your hotel means understanding the features and options available so you can pick one that will meet the needs of your business.
Consider how easy the lock is to install and use as well. You also want to ensure it’s able to withstand wear and tear over time.
Magnstripe Locks
The lock might seem like a minor aspect of your hotel’s guest experience, but it’s actually a key factor in ensuring safety and security throughout the property. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of different lock systems when selecting the best fit for your hotel, including how easy it is for guests to use, its level of security, and its cost.
Magnetic stripe locks (magstripes) are the most popular hotel door lock system on the market, and they’re incredibly easy for guests to use. Guests unlock magstripe locks by swiping or inserting their magnetic keycard, which is encoded to work with a particular room and set of keys for a specific timeframe.
However, magstripe locks can be easily deactivated by electronic devices (like smartphones), causing guests to encounter frustrating hotel room lockouts and extra front desk work. This makes it critical to find a solution that’s more durable than magstripes. The answer is RFID, which provides a more secure and seamless guest experience by uploading information to an embedded chip rather than swiping or inserting a card into a reader.
Mortise Locks
The MF-M103 RFID electronic hotel lock from Maglocks utilizes leading edge Mifare proximity card technology in combination with a high quality mortise latch and deadbolt. The lock is ideal for new installations and retrofitting existing doors. It eliminates the need for a special app or programmer and allows you to create a system of access cards – master (allows access to all passages), guest, cleaning, building, floor, etc.
Its compatibility with various lock profiles like Euro cylinders, Swiss round locks and UK oval cylinders is very impressive. It also supports voice control through Amazon Alexa and Siri. Its occupancy indicator is an excellent feature that can be very useful in busy bathrooms.
It can be locked and unlocked by fingerprint, RFID keycard, PIN or Bluetooth Key. It’s also compatible with a Yale Module 2 integration to offer global control and monitoring. The igloohome Smart Mortise Lock has the potential to be a game changer in hospitality because of hotel door locks its simple and reliable operation. It’s also very affordable. You do need a separate WiFi access point to get full smart home integration though.
Digital Locks
A smart hotel lock works with RFID, magstripe, pin code and Bluetooth technology to provide additional security and guest convenience. These locks can be updated, managed and monitored over a wireless connection with the help of a hotel front desk system or a mobile access management solution. They offer a variety of options for extra hotel security to meet the needs of different types of hotels and vacation rentals.
Unlike magstripe locks, which require a plastic key card with a magnetic strip that opens the lock, smart electronic PIN code locks only need a numerical code to open the door. They can also integrate with your property management system to assign a unique code for each reservation.
This type of hotel lock can be integrated with your CCTV system to help combat chargebacks, where guests try to reclaim payment for a short term rental by claiming they did not stay there. This type of integration can prove that the guests were actually in your hotel rooms at the time the charge was made. This will help you fight fraud and false claims and improve guest safety.
Keyless Entry Systems
A popular option for many hotels, these locks require a correct sequence of digits to be opened. This allows you to monitor who’s entering the hotel, which can be useful for security and staffing purposes. They also come with splash-proof keypads that prevent unauthorized entry, and can be installed easily on existing doors.
The most modern lock systems integrate with management software to automate guest check-in processes and streamline keycard encoding, as well as offer energy savings. They can also support other property and guest experience initiatives, such as mobile check-in, room control of lights and temperature, and self-checkout for guests.
Smart keys that work with a smartphone app provide a truly convenient and secure alternative to traditional locks. Your guests simply hotel door locks use the hotel’s mobile app to verify their access credentials, which can be generated automatically upon check-in or canceled when they check out. A notable player in the field of hotel and vacation rental locks is Salto, which offers an integrated solution that combines different hardware with its own native cloud-based software.
Keypads
Smart lock keypads are a useful solution for hotel and vacation rental door locks as they offer a secure, user-friendly, reliable option that’s easy for guests to manage. They enable staff to remotely issue and monitor guest credentials, as well as revoke them instantly in response to security threats.
These lock systems eliminate the need for plastic key cards, which are prone to wear and tear and can be lost. They use a numerical code to grant access via a keypad, similar to those used on basic calculators. If the correct code is entered, the deadbolt or door lock will unlock.
This type of door lock is a great choice for hotels because it can be opened with a smartphone app that allows you to grant guest or delivery PIN codes. It also keeps a record of who enters and exits a property each day, providing a more comprehensive security solution than a card reader or key pad alone. The only downside of this system is that it requires guests to download a mobile app, which can be an obstacle for less tech-savvy travelers.
