Enhanced experience: digital access control in hotels

Hotek Hospitality Group develops and supplies keycard systems, hotel accessories, and security solutions for the hospitality industry. Under the leadership of CEO Dolf Mulder, the innovative company has grown since 1999 into a 35-employee business that operates nationally and internationally. With Your Mobile Key, the company owns an innovative solution for contact-free access technology.

Hotek Hospitality Group relies on three different pillars. Hotek stands for keycard systems, Under the brand name Be Dutch, the company provides high-quality hotel products for hotel, bathroom, reception and public areas. The latest addition is Your Mobile Key, an innovative and unique solution to open doors with the guest's phone without an app. In the field of access control, Hotek Hospitality Group is the market leader in the Netherlands.

"At the start of the first corona wave, Your Mobile Key was just getting ready," says Dolf Mulder. "At first we seemed to face cancellations, but after 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." With foresight, Hotek Hospitality Group decided in challenging times not to order less from the suppliers and factories it works with. The fruits of this are now being reaped. "We still have a lot in stock now, without price increases. What many other companies in the industry don't have in stock, we can deliver within 24 hours." 

Phone key without app

Mulder explains how Your Mobile Key came about. "Eight years ago, we were already supplying locks suitable for opening via phone or via an app with Bluetooth. However, hotels were not sure how to handle this and there were no apps that could open a door. In addition, we felt that Bluetooth was not a secure product to operate doors. We then started looking for a solution. Downloading a separate app is too much hassle for someone staying somewhere for one or two nights. However, what will always remain in the future? Right yes, the internet." 

And so Hotek developed a cloud application, where a lock with a universal chip is built into each hotel, connected to the internet via a gateway. Through the cloud programme, mobile keys are sent to guests. "For this, the hotel guests do not need to download anything, and it is a very secure encrypted (AES 256) solution working through private hosting cloud platforms. We deliver a 100% Dutch product, with about 20 developers working on it on an ongoing basis."

According to Mulder, Covid has ensured that a phone as a medium is increasingly accepted. "Almost everyone uses Whatsapp. Using our Your Mobile Key is just as easy. We find that this is very attractive for family hotels, but also for young entrepreneurs starting a hotel with as few staff as possible. They can set up how Your Mobile Key can be used and by whom." 

All kinds of hotel information can also be added to the Progressive webapp (PWA), such as contact details, how to get to the hotel, happy hours and, of course, the ability to open doors. 

"The most used tool is our smiley module where a guest can give instant feedback to the reception. Everything is easily customisable through the CMS. The webpage remains, so guests can book with the hotel again after checking out. We see that the lock is no longer the most important thing, it's about the solution for the hotel."