What's driving safe demand?

Perma-Vault Safe Co. is designing safes to fit many different electronic devices, including bigger laptops.

The presence of safes in hotel and motel guestrooms has always been higher in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, but the demand for in-room security in the United States is growing significantly.

Safe manufacturers and vendors aren't sure what exactly to attribute the increase in demand to, but they know it exists.

"I'm spending a lot of time internationally, and the safes are standard in every room in India," said John Foley, VP of sales and marketing for Safemark Systems. "Eighty-five percent of rooms in Europe have safes and only 32 percent do in America. But international guests are driving demand here."

Foley said hotel operators are requesting safes because of new regulations that require international travelers to travel with a passport.

"Guests want to secure their passport [when they leave their guestroom], he said. "The threat of identity theft keeps increasing."

Foley said Safemark has always been popular in the limited-service markets, and he is seeing more demand in economy properties.

Norman Bartwink, senior account manager at Perma-Vault Safe Co., said the fact that people are walking around with more electronic devices is forcing hoteliers to help guests secure those valuables.

"Now property is a great deal more valuable than it was 20 years ago," he said. "IPods, BlackBerrys, laptops and credit cards—these things took us out of the cave. We acknowledge now that people travel with valuables."

Laptops, in particular, have shaped the way safe vendors design and build.

Charlie Dunn, product manager for Onity, said Onity has gone as far as marketing their safes "laptop size."

They're designed to handle the computers you're most familiar with," he said.

Dunn said he has seen the biggest demand coming from hotels that attract the business traveler. These hotels ask for safes large enough to accommodate a larger laptop. Today, he said, most safe manufacturers offer a safe that can hold a laptop with a 17-inch screen.

"Many brands are demanding their hotels include a safe in the room," Dunn said. "Not that we distrust everyone; it's just a comfort factor."

Technological advances improve security

Safes are equipped with newer technologies such as PIN code and magnetic stripe identification.

As hotel designers move away from large, in-wall security, the safe has evolved into a smaller unit that fits in or under an existing casegood.

"They're more convenient," said John Foley, VP of sales and marketing for Safemark Systems.

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But this trend of a smaller, more convenient safe could lead some guests into perceiving the safe as less secure. Therefore, the locking and entering techniques have improved.

Instead of simply a lock-and-key technique that forces the guest to take the key with them, safes are being equipped with newer technologies such as Personal Identification Number codes identification, magnetic stripe swipe, fingerprint reading and Bluetooth identification.

"The locks have evolved," said Norman Bartwink, senior account manager at Perma-Vault Safe Co. "They now give you push-button operation. It will display the code, you re-enter the code and the door will open. If you enter the code wrong, the safe will go into shutdown."

Magstripe readers are popular, offering a safe lock that can read either a credit card or a door key and open with that identification.

But, Bartwink said, many guests are hesitant to swipe their credit card for fear they will be charged or their information will be kept. The reader cannot obtain any information from the card, he said.

"People thought their personal information was at risk ... it isn't," Bartwink said.

Charlie Dunn, product manager for Onity, said it makes sense to use the same technology to open the guestroom door and the safe.

"Traditionally, safes have been pretty standalone devices," he said. "If you can make it more similar to how the guest opens the door, whether it be with their cell phone or a key card, and you can require the same level of security, that's a pretty substantial change."