Rich DeMuro – a technology journalist – posted a video on YouTube showing how to use the digital key in Apple Wallet. This function allows you to open a hotel room door with a simple tap on your iPhone or Apple Watch. The video also shows how you can use the digital key to access the floors and your hotel room.
With Express mode, which is active by default, it is not even necessary to unlock the devices, and even if the iPhone is empty, it is possible to unlock the room for up to five hours.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation – a multinational company, operating in the entertainment sector and particularly in the management of hotels and resorts – was the first to announce support for digital key in Apple Wallet for iPhone and Apple Watch.
Hyatt Hotels Using the Digital Key in Apple Wallet
The first six hotels of the multinational that support the keys in the iOS and watchOS Wallet are:
- Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa,
- Hyatt House Chicago/West Loop-Fulton Market,
- Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort,
- Hyatt House Dallas/Richardson,
- Fremont/Silicon Valley,
- Hyatt Regency Long Beach
Customers can use Apple Wallet from iPhone or Apple Watch to access their room or common areas normally protected by magnetic cards such as gyms, swimming pools and elevators. There is no need to launch apps or take the traditional card provided to customers in hotels out of your pocket. Bring your iPhone or Apple Watch close to the lock.
There are not yet many hotels that support this feature as it requires major infrastructure changes. However, more and more hotels will offer this possibility in the future. In addition to hotel keys, Apple is working with the governments of some US states on the feature that allows you to save your driver’s license or ID card in the Wallet.