Virtual key: opening hotel door without an app

Until recently, Hotek Hospitality Group had three product groups, each with its own brand name: Hotek for key card systems, Be Dutch for hotel accessories such as minibars and lockers, and Your Mobile Key for mobile access technology. "But as we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we are going to use the Hotek brand name for all our products," says owner Dolf Mulder. This new branding does not stand alone, as innovation has always been a key driver for the Dutch market leader in access control. 

The latter is also evident, for example, in Your Mobile Key, Hotek's innovative cloud application in which a universal chip is built into every hotel door. "The big advantage of this solution is that guests can open their hotel room door on their smartphone without an app," Dolf clarifies. "This is because downloading a separate app is too much hassle for someone staying somewhere for one or two nights. Instead, the guest is sent a link with a virtual key with which the door can be easily opened. This also offers a solution for small family hotels with few staff. This way, it is no longer necessary for such a hotelier to stay up extra for a guest who arrives late at night. And online, it is also visible when the guest is inside."

The creation of this virtual key was a process of trial and error. "Years ago, we started with installations that allowed you to open doors with Bluetooth," Dolf continues. "But we soon realised that there was a danger that a Bluetooth signal could be intercepted by third parties, making it an insecure solution. So we started developing a product that allows you to simply open a door via the internet. That became Your Mobile Key. It is also a super-secure solution because it features Advanced Encryption Standard security, AES 256 for short." 

Just when Your Mobile Key was ready, the first corona wave broke out. "As a result, we got a lot of cancellations," Dolf explains. "But what turned out? After only a few weeks, the orders suddenly poured in. The product was exactly what hotels needed: contactless check-in, no keycard and no passing by the reception desk. This made it the ideal solution for many of our hotel customers to keep running during covid. An additional advantage is that Your Mobile Key not only works on our own Hotek locks, but on every electronic hotel lock. As a result, some 500 hotels are already using this virtual key system. This digitalisation also proves that the product itself - in this case a door lock - is no longer the most important thing, but rather the solution we can offer hotels with it." 

According to Dolf, covid has also made hotel guests increasingly accustomed to dealing with such digital solutions. "Before the corona crisis, you saw that especially the older generation had a lot of trouble using smartphones. That has changed dramatically, because during the corona crisis you had to constantly show your QR code everywhere. As a result, for hotel guests too, using such a virtual key is no longer a problem at all."

At the Independent Hotel Show in Amsterdam, the Your Mobile Key is also in the spotlight. But visitors to the Hotek stand can mainly expect a party brimming with Brabant conviviality, complete with a champagne bar. "After all, a fair is all about people, not just products," says Dolf, who also has another honourable task during the fair. As a member of the professional jury, he is directly involved in the presentation of the award for Independent Hotelier of the Year.