Hilton to Adopt Digital Check-In, Smartphone-Based Room Keys Worldwide

[thefourthpope]

Surely the ultimate step is to remove the lobby experience altogether (perhaps excluding valet/porter service) and have check-in and -out entirely on the user end.
That's where airlines should go as well, rather than the ridiculous kiosks that somehow people always have troubles with and don't actually seem to speed anything up.
I'd welcome that.

 

[yjchua95]

...as well as purchase upgrades and make special requests for item deliveries.

I see what they did there

 

[Gabichon]

Look at that beautiful iPhone design in the picture.. The best ever! <3

 

[newcronos]

My iPod is ready!

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I prefer independent hotels & B&B's. The service is always better, I can pay cash, go by aliases, no questions asked.

 

[CFreymarc]

Hilton is not small potatoes. I want to see the security audit and bonding they have on this feature. I'm sure there is a option to opt out.

 

[PocketSand11]

Looks cool. Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend.

 

[CFreymarc]

It will not be too far in the future where your key is your phone.

What you think HomeKit is mostly about?

 

[PocketSand11]

Optimized for the latest technology, the iPhone 4/4S!

Hey, I think most people I know have the 4S. They upgraded from 4 to 4S but not from 4S to 5, strangely.

----------

You should really separate those two.

Bluetooth LE has excellent market penetration. It has been available on any iPhone introduced in the past 3 years. That is almost 50% longer than many western counties' replacement cycles for smart phones.

NFC does suffer from lack of market penetration. While it has had good penetration by Samsung devices, no iOS device has yet supported NFC.

The problem is that pretty much only phones use BLE (aka 4.0), nothing else. Cars and such seem to be on 3.0. This was a real letdown when I was making my Bluetooth radar.

 

[neversink]

Big Deal! Not!!! What does tis have to do with Apple innovation. Nothing. This will work on Android also. it's an app. And a boring app at that. This article is all fluff. Good advertisement for Hilton, though.....

 

[TsMkLg068426]

Be prepared the door to your room gets hacked

 

[Mr Fusion]

Hilton hotels are awful. Their rewards programs is one of the worst in the industry and the quality of their properties is deteriorating. Not to mention it creeps me out I'm lining Paris' purse with extra cash when I stay there.

Hopefully Hyatt, Westin or Starwood will implement this so I can enjoy it someday.

 

[\-V-/]

No. They're planning to improve the experience for their valued customers by kicking out everyone with Android, Windows, BlackBerry, and other non-iOS devices (or no devices at all).

The article says smartphones in general, not iOS devices.

 

[NightFox]

Frankly with what we've seen of internet based security for big corporations over the last couple of years (the Target attack affected 1/3rd of all consumers in the U.S., which is just astounding when you think about it) - this sounds like it is fraught with peril for Hilton. As it appears the folks doing bad things (stealing credit cards, penetrating companies for secrets etc…) are gaining the upper hand in the security department of things over the last several years.

Imagine the lawsuit claims after the bad guys unlock someone's door in the middle of the night…or just unlock a bunch of doors and go "shopping" during the day.

I'm comfortable with keeping my hotel room access away from my iphone and would sleep much better knowing the company didn't have my hotel room lock kept as far away from their IP based infrastructure as possible.

I'm sure the NSA is very much in favor of this new development as well. JMHO...

You're too late I'm afraid - most of the infrastructure (and vulnerabilities) you're referring to are already well established - most large modern hotel chains (and corporate offices as a whole) have been using IP-based access control systems for a long time already (10yrs+). The only difference here will be the substitution of the traditional key card with an iPhone.

 

[MacMulti]

And charged for requesting normal key card for non-smartphone customer? Like airline charged to print out boarding pass when you can print on your own?

 

[JustMartin]

So instead of taking the chance of what room I get when I check-in, I now have the opportunity of getting up and online at 6am in order to battle everyone else for the room I want. It's still going to be a matter of chance except that I'm now guaranteed to get the worst room in the hotel if I don't get up early.

 

[oatman13]

I can't wait to try this out!

 

[NightFox]

So instead of taking the chance of what room I get when I check-in, I now have the opportunity of getting up and online at 6am in order to battle everyone else for the room I want. It's still going to be a matter of chance except that I'm now guaranteed to get the worst room in the hotel if I don't get up early.

I think it'll be no different to checking in for a flight and selecting your airline seat in advance - the fact is most people still seem happy to stand in a queue at the airport and let the woman behind the desk pick a seat for them out of what's left.

 

[Boatboy24]

And coming soon: The rate you selected was for a basement room, next to the laundry facility. Want that room on a high floor, far away from the elevator and vending machines? That's a $20 per night surcharge. Please say "yes" into your phone to accept.

 

[Antares]

What you think HomeKit is mostly about?

Whatever developers can imagine! Hopefuly, it will mean some great things are on the horizon. Primarily, the ability to control many home functions from your iPhone and iPad which woudl free you from having a mess of separate devices, remotes, etc.. The opportunities with HomeKit are boundless!

 

[TheSlush]

This is nice and all, but is this Apple news? Is all tech/smartphone news considered fair game here now?

 

[Tech198]

Not bad..


But what of your battery goes flat.... This should be "as well as."'


(kind of funny if they DID replace all the door-locks though) good for preventing intruders and yourself.

 

[fixbroken]

Usually when I travel, my client pays for the room so I get the cheapest room possible (which is fine) and I usually get the lovely view of the AC units or the top of the parking garage.

Your client still puts you in a Hilton.

 

[T-Will]

Hey, I think most people I know have the 4S. They upgraded from 4 to 4S but not from 4S to 5, strangely.

I just thought it was funny that they used a 4/4S in their promotional material.

 

[billnye97]

Not unless you've given them a credit card to put an incidental charges hold on. Things are more complicated when you are someone like myself who has someone else arranging/paying for the room. My client makes the reservation and gets billed but it's my credit card that goes on the record for any charges that occur while I'm there.

I'm currently staying at a Hilton and did the online checkin through my app. My client is direct billed for the room and I pay for any incidentals. When you check in I was able to select my card for the incidentals. The room was already appropriately billed. Now that may be that I stay at the same Hilton every week so it is on file but it was a smooth process for me.