Hotel's 'no check-in' scheme to expand internationally

(Zdorov Kirill Vladimirovich)

Starwood-owned hotel chain Aloft is to expand its automatic check-in system internationally, it announced this past week.

Smart Check-In, which Aloft claims is the first such program in the industry, allows guests to skip check-in when they arrive at their hotel thanks to wireless technology embedded in the loyalty cards of guests.

Instead of checking in, guests are sent a text message ahead of arrival informing them of the correct room and can use their Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty card to open the door.

It was first introduced by the Aloft Lexington, MA, USA last year but will now be rolled out to the Aloft Harlem, Aloft Brooklyn, Aloft Dallas Downtown, Aloft Jacksonville Tapestry Park, and Aloft London by the end of 2011, after what Starwood calls a "smashingly successful" pilot.

Although six hotels still represent a fraction of the nearly 50 in operation worldwide under the Aloft brand, this week's decision suggests Starwood is getting serious about the program, potentially meaning it will be introduced further afield in the future or as standard in new properties.

But it's not the only one experimenting with such technology - Holiday Inn is currently trialling a system where guests can open hotel room doors with their mobile phone at two properties in the US.

Oslo's Comfort Xpress Hotel also offers the same technology, provided by a French company called OpenWays.

http://www.alofthotels.com