Mid-scale Hotel Operators Buy RFID Locks for Cool Factor, Efficiency

A growing number of hotel operators can speak at length about the value, safety, and reliability of converting to RFID locks for their guest room doors, but at least one of them has another favorite benefit that is short and sweet: “Our guests think they are cool.”

 

The 283-room Holiday Inn Knoxville is upgrading to RFID electronic door locks as part of its recent renovation project. “We opted to install RFID locks because it is current technology,” says Ryan Cazana, the property owner’s representative. “The ILCO 790 electronic locks from KABA are more reliable than any other locking system, so our guest keys work every time. We virtually never have to issue replacement keys. RFID locks cost about the same as magnetic-stripe systems and our guests like them.”

 

An additional benefit that Cazana noted was KABA ILCO’s professional installation service. “The ILCO installation team was very professional and retrofitted the new RFID locks during our property renovation to accommodate the hotel’s schedule.”

 

Ann Terry, general manager of the 97-year-old Hotel Harrington in Washington, DC, is also pleased with her property’s RFID lock conversion. “We used iron keys until recently,” she says. “I spoke to KABA about RFID lock technology and they offered to install one ILCO 790 lock on a storeroom as a trial. It was exactly what I wanted—effortless to use and reliable.”

 

Terry was so impressed that she had KABA install RFID locks on all Hotel Harrington’s 300 guest room doors. The retrofit to the older property went smoothly. “Many of our doors are quite old, but KABA’s team was experienced at fitting the new ILCO RFID hardware to the existing doors. They only took 10 days to do all our rooms. The installation team went from floor to floor with minimal guest inconvenience. The ILCO 790 is reliable and the convenience and quality is excellent. Our guests return keys as they check out and the system is very cost effective.”

 

The Howard Johnson Admiral’s Inn on Tybee Island, GA, chose ILCO 790 RFID locks for their dependability. “RFID keys are easy for guests to use,” says Shawna Starks-Allen, hotel manager. “We have two outside entrance doors that also have RFID locks now. These locks are ideal for us because they are sealed against the elements.” Starks-Allen also notes that her original locks were 15 years old and were failing. The company that sold them to her property would not replace the old locks without considerable expense. “The cost for the ILCO 790 RFID locks was comparable to my previous vendor’s units, so it was an easy decision to install the latest and easiest to use technology.”