Choose keyless access by starting with your existing locks, because retrofitting decides most of the cost. Confirm the system opens doors when the internet is down, check battery type and replacement effort across every door, and plan the fallback for guests without a compatible phone. Price the full installation, not the per room software fee.
The first question is whether your existing locks can be upgraded or must be replaced. Retrofit modules are far cheaper than new locks but only exist for certain models. Get the lock manufacturer and model from maintenance before any vendor conversation, because that single fact reshapes the entire budget.
Count every door, not just guest rooms. Back of house, the gym, the pool gate, the car park and the staff entrance all need a plan, and they are the ones forgotten in the first quote and discovered in the second.
Ask directly: if the internet drops, can a guest still enter their room. If the answer involves reception issuing something, ask what happens at three in the morning with one person on duty. A good system stores credentials on the lock so the door opens offline, and syncs when connectivity returns.
Then ask about power. Most electronic locks run on batteries, so you want the expected lifespan, whether the system alerts before a lock dies, and how long a replacement takes. Across two hundred doors this becomes a scheduled maintenance task with a real annual cost.
Skip the research, talk to someone who has done it 45 minutes with an independent specialist. Free for hotels, no pitch, no commissions. Book a free session →Some guests have no compatible phone, a dead battery, or simply no interest in installing anything. A keyless rollout that has no fallback creates a queue at reception, which is the opposite of the intended effect. Keep cards or codes available and make issuing one quick.
Adoption also depends on where the key is delivered. A key inside an app the guest must download performs differently from a key sent by link or added to the phone's own wallet. Ask which options the vendor supports and how they connect to your online check-in.
Vendors quote a monthly fee per room, which is the smallest part. Add the hardware, the installation labour, the door by door survey, the network coverage you may need to add, spare units and staff training. Ask for a fixed price installation quote after a physical survey, not an estimate from a spreadsheet.
Then ask what happens at the end of the contract. Locks are yours, but the software that drives them may not be, and a system that bricks your hardware when the subscription ends is a very different purchase from one that does not.
Only in combination with online check-in and identity capture. The mobile key removes the physical handover, but if the guest still needs a person to verify a document or take a deposit, the desk visit remains. Hotels that reduce coverage usually change all three together.
It depends on the architecture. Systems that store the credential on the phone and the lock keep working offline. Systems that verify against a server at each opening do not. Ask which model the vendor uses and test it by disconnecting the network during the trial.
Both are secure when implemented well, and both fail in the same way when they are not. The practical advantage of mobile keys is that credentials can be revoked instantly and every opening is logged. The practical risk is that the system now depends on your network.
A survey plus retrofit on existing compatible locks can run floor by floor over days. A full lock replacement in an operating hotel is planned in phases over weeks to avoid taking too many rooms out at once. Any vendor quoting a timeline without a site survey is guessing.
It has to, because the key must be issued for the right room and the right dates without anyone typing them twice. Ask for a reference hotel running your exact PMS and lock combination in production, not a connector listed on a roadmap.
It depends on whether the locks are yours and whether they can be reprogrammed by another platform. Ask before signing, because hardware that only works with one subscription turns a software decision into a permanent one.