This article is part one of a three-part series on door locks.
What are the biggest things hoteliers should consider when replacing or upgrading existing door locks? Lock companies narrowed down their top suggestions.
1. Security
“While there has no doubt been momentous change in the field of guestroom access with a focus on streamlining the guest experience, a solution provider will nonetheless ensure that any advancement in innovation does not come at the sacrifice of a hotel’s ability to ensure guest safety,” said Markus Boberg, VP of business development for Assa Abloy Hospitality.
This includes not only guest locks but back-of-the-house locks as well. “The bad people aren’t always trying to get into guestrooms—they want to get into the back end of a hotel operation,” said Matt Mrowczynski, VP of global hospitality at Salto Systems. “The locks also must be able to adapt to the existing doors for fire ratings and allow security warnings.”
2. Upgradability
“They should consider how efficiently their properties can upgrade from magnetic locks to radio-frequency identification, and if the existing door treatment can be used, which helps preserve their initial investment and reduce out-of-service rooms,” said Casey Fale, GM of Onity. “Also, they should ask if the replacement locks are mobile-key-ready if their plans include implementing mobile access in the future.”
3. Cost
“As with everything else, you get what you pay for,” said Brian Shedd, OpenKey VP of sales and marketing. “While hoteliers can source cheap locks from China, you won’t get the quality, functionality or support that would come from major manufacturers that have the majority of the market share.”
Plus, partnering with a supplier that has both a local and global presence will guarantee proper support whenever needed.
4. Future-proof
With the constant advances in technology and considerable expense typically associated with maintaining up-to-date services, hoteliers should always focus efforts on implementing future-proof systems.
“This makes it possible to easily upgrade to the latest industry trends and standards such as mobile keys, and bring them online at a significantly reduced cost and with minimal interruption to guest services,” Boberg said.