Opening hotel door with a virtual key, without an app

Market leader in access control celebrates 25th anniversary 

A 25th anniversary, brand new branding and an innovative solution that allows guests to open their hotel room door without an app. For Hotek Hospitality Group, Dutch market leader in access control, and its customers, 2024 has a lot in store, including an exhibition participation at the Independent Hotel Show at the end of November in Munich.

Until recently, Hotek Hospitality Group had three product groups, each with its own brand name: Hotek for key card systems, Be Dutch for hotel accessories such as minibars and lockers, and Your Mobile Key for mobile access technology. "As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we resolutely choose the Hotek brand name for all our products," says owner Dolf Mulder. This new branding does not stand alone, as innovation has always been a key driver for the Dutch market leader in access control. 

That Hotek Hospitality Group is fully committed to development is demonstrated by Your Mobile Key, the innovative cloud application where a universal chip is built into every hotel door. "The big advantage of this solution is that guests can use their smartphone to open their hotel room door. Without them having to download a separate app to do so," Dolf clarifies. "This is, in fact, too cumbersome for someone staying somewhere for one or two nights. Instead, the guest is sent a link with a virtual key, with which he can easily open the door. This is also interesting for small family hotels with few staff. This way, the hotelier does not have to stay open longer for a hotel guest who arrives late at night. Moreover, online it is visible when the guest is inside."

The realisation of this virtual key was a process of trial and error. "Years ago, we started with installations that allowed you to open doors with bluetooth," Dolf continues. "Soon we realised that there was a risk of third parties intercepting a bluetooth signal, making it an insecure solution. So we developed a product that allows you to simply open a door via the internet, namely Your Mobile Key. This solution is particularly secure because it features Advanced Encryption Standard security, AES 256 for short." 

When Your Mobile Key was just ready for the market, the first corona wave broke out. "As a result, we got a lot of cancellations," says Dolf. "But what turned out? After only a few weeks, the orders suddenly poured in. The product was exactly what hotels needed: contactless check-in, no keycard and no passing by the reception desk. Therefore, it was the ideal solution for many of our hotel customers to keep running during the pandemic. An additional advantage is that Your Mobile Key works not only on our own Hotek locks, but on any electronic hotel lock. As a result, around five hundred hotels are already using this virtual key system. This digitalisation also proves that the product in itself, in this case a door lock, is no longer the most important thing, but rather the solution we can offer hotels with it." 

According to Dolf, covid has made hotel guests increasingly accustomed to dealing with such digital solutions. "Before the corona crisis, you saw that especially the older generation had a lot of trouble using a smartphone. That has changed dramatically, because during the pandemic you had to constantly show your QR code. As a result, even for hotel guests, using such a virtual key is no longer a problem."

To convince customers of its innovative access solutions, Hotek Hospitality Group participates in several trade shows. For example, the company signed up for the Independent Hotel Show in Amsterdam last March and will be present at the trade fair of the same name in Munich on 20 and 21 November. "We will place Your Mobile Key fully in the spotlight there, although a trade fair is mainly about the people," concludes Dolf. "After all, it is the ideal time to strengthen ties with existing and new customers."