SPG Keyless Mobile

Starwood Hotels is introducing its new program that puts the power of the users room key on their mobile device. The date is coming soon for users to download the mobile check-in Android app. Starwood Preferred Guest® members can open their hotel room from their SPG App at “ no extra baggage”.

In a recent article from WSJ, Starwood now offers to select hotels the SPG Keyless Mobile Hotel Check-In. The Aloft Hotel in Manhattan or in Silicon Valley will soon offer the smartphone as a room key. According to the article, the boutique hotel brand from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. plans to offer this feature at two hotels, in the Harlem neighborhood and in Cupertino, Calif., before the end of the quarter. The guests at the select properties will receive a message on a Starwood app containing a virtual key, unlocking the door with a tap or twist of their phone.

SPG Keyless Mobile Hotel Check-In features Bluetooth technology. Android phones running 4.3 and higher are compatible."We believe this will become the new standard for how people will want to enter a hotel," says Frits van Paasschen, Starwood's CEO. "It may be a novelty at first, but we think it will become table stakes for managing a hotel." Not everyone is so sure. Past attempts to use technology to streamline the check-in process have had mixed results. Robert Habeeb, president of the First Hospitality Group, which is the owner of 55 hotels in the U.S.

Mr. Habeeb stated. "It can be an interaction people enjoy." Hotels have never been known for being in the forefront of technology. The industry is often a laggard, in part because many hotels are owned and managed by separate companies, making investments in technology more complicated. Nevertheless, many hotel operators have been searching for ways to eliminate the bottlenecks that can form at a hotel's front desk. The delays are the bane of many a road warrior's travel experience. "Everybody has to check in, but we are all doing it pretty much the same way we were 100 years ago," says Christopher Nassetta, chief executive officer for Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.

Users can download the keyless mobile check-in app for Android at SPG.