Hot tech: Hyatt becomes first hotel brand to offer digital room keys in Apple Wallet
Hyatt Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital and Technology, Julia Vander Ploeg, said as the first hotel brand to offer room keys in Apple Wallet, World of Hyatt guests at participating locations “can now seamlessly and securely tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock guestrooms and key card-protected common areas like gyms, pools, and elevators – no need to open an app or handle a traditional plastic room key”.
She said the first hotels to offer the technology – which are supported by Assa Abloy Global Solutions door locks – were the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, Hyatt Centric Key West Resort and Spa, Hyatt House Chicago/West Loop-Fulton Market, Hyatt House Dallas/Richardson, Hyatt Place Fremont/Silicon Valley and Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
Ploeg said this marks an important milestone as Hyatt continues to reimagine the guest experience through digital innovations, offering more control and flexibility during their stay.
“Like everything we do at Hyatt, our approach to technology always includes listening to our guests and members,” she said.
“We heard that they want access to be near-instantaneous,” Ploeg said. “Room keys in Apple Wallet is an easy, convenient and secure room key option for our guests when they travel.
“We are proud to work with Apple to launch this game-changing digital experience. Many consumer technologies evolve through a ‘tipping point’ that drives a change in adoption.
“We believe our collaboration with Apple on this new approach to room keys in Apple Wallet can be exactly that,” she said.
According to Hyatt, the room keys in Apple Wallet help deliver an easy and contactless experience from check-in to check out, while also providing additional security and privacy benefits for guests. Here’s how it works.
From the World of Hyatt app, members can add their room key to Apple Wallet after completing a reservation. Once added, the room key in Apple Wallet will be updated to let them know when it’s time for check-in. Once a guest is checked in and the room is ready, the room key in Apple Wallet will be activated, will note the guest’s room number and can be used immediately. The room key will not activate until the guest is checked into the hotel and a guestroom has been assigned.
If a World of Hyatt guest needs to change rooms, extend a stay or access late checkout, the hotel can update the guest’s room key in Apple Wallet remotely – bypassing the need to visit the front desk. When it’s time to check out, guests can simply do so through the World of Hyatt app. The guest’s room key in Apple Wallet will then be remotely deactivated and archived in Apple Wallet.
Room keys in Apple Wallet give World of Hyatt guests easy and secure access to their room and common areas around the hotel such as the gym, spa, pool and more, with a simple tap of their iPhone running iOS 15 or Apple Watch running watchOS 8. Once a room key is added to Apple Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch, guests can hold their device near the door’s NFC-enabled lock to access key card-protected areas. With Express Mode, guests don’t need to unlock their device to use their room key in Apple Wallet. If their iPhone needs to be charged, they can still use the device to unlock their room or common areas for up to five hours with automatic Power Reserve.
Room keys in Apple Wallet are stored on your device and take full advantage of the privacy and security built into iPhone and Apple Watch. When or where a World of Hyatt guest uses a room key in Apple Wallet is never shared with Apple or stored on Apple servers. If an iPhone or Apple Watch is misplaced, the guest can promptly use the Find My app to lock the device and help locate it.