Access and energy management as a strategic hotel tool

Technology that moves with you

Hotels and holiday parks are changing rapidly. Guests expect more freedom and convenience, employees less manual work and operators more control over processes and energy consumption. This requires different solutions than a few years ago. Salto Systems is moving with this: the sector is shifting from traditional access control to integrated solutions that combine guest experience, efficiency and safety.

“It's no longer just about opening a door,” says Bas Braaksma, Business Development Manager Residential & Hospitality at Salto. “It's about how guests, visitors and employees move through a location, which spaces belong to it and how you organise this as logically and comfortably as possible. That looks different in every hotel or park.”

From access to guest flow

This shift is clearly visible at both hotels and holiday parks, where overnight stays are increasingly combined with wellness, sports, meetings, attractions or leisure. Visitors who do not stay in the hotel also use those facilities. “You then want to know specifically what someone is coming for and what access they should have,” he says.”

Salto IDM responds to this by linking access rights to identities and user profiles. This allows a hotel to distinguish between hotel guests, day visitors and, for example, members of wellness or sports facilities, with corresponding rights and time slots. 

“We are almost never the only solution,” says Braaksma. “Access is part of an ecosystem that together creates a smooth guest flow.”

The rise of receptionless arrivals

More and more hotels and holiday parks are opting for a partially or completely reception-free check-in experience. Guests can check in digitally in advance, go straight to their room or lodge on arrival and open it with a mobile key. Staff guide this process where necessary on the floor, while queues decrease. Check-in kiosks also play an increasing role, especially during peak times and late arrivals. 

According to Braaksma, reception work is thus increasingly shifting from manual registration to guest experience. “With a well thought-out and designed guest flow, employees can focus on service, and not on peripheral matters such as creating physical passes. That gives space and calm in the operational process.”

IDM supports this by allowing visitors to be pre-registered in the system, or to register themselves on the spot. This reduces errors and speeds up the flow of guests.

Partnership as a starting point

Salto develops its own solutions and works with Technology Partners to create complete integrations. Linking with booking, guest and management systems is essential in this respect. “Access is never isolated,” says Braaksma. “Our role is to ensure that identity and access are right within the overall ecosystem that a hotel is already using.”

This reduces manual actions, prevents miscommunication between departments and provides a consistent experience for the guest.

Energy management and insight for hotels

In addition to access control, Salto focuses on energy management in hotel rooms. With rising energy costs and sustainability goals, there is a growing need for systems that combine comfort and savings. With the XS4 Sense solution, hotels can automatically control lighting and climate based on occupancy. The system replaces the classic card in the holder and works more reliably and efficiently thanks to wireless sensors.

In addition, the platform offers insight. Hotels see for each room what is happening and how much is being saved. This helps both in internal management and in reporting for sustainability labels, such as the Green Key certificate. “If you can show what you save per room, you make sustainability measurable and concrete,” says Braaksma. “It provides comfort as well as supporting operational efficiency.”

Experience at the Independent Hotel Show

At the Independent Hotel Show on 22 and 23 April 2026, Salto will show how access control, ID management and energy management come together in one integrated solution for hotels and holiday parks. “We show how our technology moves with what hotels and holiday parks need today and in the future,” says Braaksma. “Not as separate tools, but as part of a coherent guest journey.”