Hotel customers will be able to use their smartphones as door keys thanks to new app that will prevent need for post-lockdown reception queues
- Bloc has introduced an app to check-in and control rooms without any contact
- Guests use the software on their phones to open their rooms and control inside
- Bloc said the app is safer than key cards because of military-grade encryption
A hotel chain has introduced software that allows guests to check-in, access their rooms and control switches inside their rooms without touching anything.
Bloc, who have hotels at London Gatwick Airport and in Birmingham, want their new app to make guests feel safer about staying away from home in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The app will show guests which room is theirs, operate the elevator and open their bedroom door.
Bloc hotel chain has hotels has at London Gatwick Airport and in Birmingham and has developed software so guests can limit their contact with anything contaminiated
The software allows guests to check-in, access their rooms, control light switches, air conditioning, the TV and electric window blinds
Bloc assured customers that the app is safer than traditional key cards because of its military-grade encryption, the Sunday Express reported.
The smart room control software will also enable guests to control lights, air conditioning, the TV and electric window blinds without coming into contact with anything.
Guests can share the app with their partners in case their phone batteries die and staff will always be able to offer a standard room key if requested.
Likewise the rooms also come with switches, dials and television remote controls if guests do want to use the app.
The app helps hotel staff run things smoothly too as it tells housekeeping when a guest has checked out and when a room needs cleaning.
It can even alert staff if a lightbulb needs replacing.
Bloc’s managing director Rob Morgan said they are trying to make sure guests do not have to be in close contact with each other or staff.
He said: ‘This is a very Covid-friendly solution and our intention is to offer this app to other hotels.
‘I think in the hospitality environment, this technology could be applied to any brand.’
SYMBIoT, the app’s technology platform, advertises a ‘contactless solution’ for hotels.
The app also helps hotel staff by telling them when a guest has checked out, when a room needs cleaning and when a lightbulb needs changing
Although the technology has been pioneered at Bloc it is customisable for different hotels to make it suit them best.
Bloc plans to open two more hotels in Glasgow and Birmingham and also want to sell the technology to bigger chains to be rolled out nationally.
Hotels will be allowed to open with the rest of the hospitality industry on July 4 with Boris Johnson stressing that shared facilities must be kept clean and no more than two households can go on holiday together.
On the same day social distancing restrictions are due to change from two metres to one metre.
Travel companies reported their biggest Saturday sales ever as bargain hunters rushed to book before a ‘traffic light system’ is introduced this week.