RFID systems remain promising

The Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch recently installed RFID locking systems throughout the hotel, including in the 910 guestrooms.

For hotels with a large number of rooms or spacious convention areas, upgrading locking systems on a property-wide basis can be a costly process.

“We had a very old magnetic stripe system in the hotel that was obsolete but Saflok continued to support the product for us,” said Rick Creviston, chief engineer of the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch. “We had reached the conclusion, however, that we should update our locks for reliability. We want it to work right the first time, and for a 910-room hotel that’s a fairly pricy endeavor.”

The management team at Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch examined a number of different options, eventually deciding on radio frequency identification locking systems based on ease of installation and the potential for future innovation.

“We also weighed the growing RFID capabilities as there will be opportunities to do more cutting-edge things with new locks if they are RFID,” Creviston said. “The best example is RFID credit cards, so guests may be able to use a credit card to access the lock.”

One of the major limitations of implementing RFID systems in the past has been the high cost of RFID chips. But increased supply has helped to reduce prices, which are expected to decline even further.

“If you look at it on a per-occupied-room basis, we’re talking about going from 7 cents a key to 65 cents a key,” Creviston said. “It becomes something all good businesspeople have to consider, so we looked at it and tried to trend how RFID key costs had been moving. There was a nice downward curve that showed prices are getting more and more competitive.”