Gadgetory

traveling whether for business or pleasure can be frustrating but mobile technology is easing one Travel whoa instead of fumbling for a hotel keycard you may soon just reach for your smartphone this month 10 Starwood hotels will allow guests to unlock their rooms with a tap of their phone the keyless feature should roll out at all W aloft and Element hotels starting in 2015 to use the feature guests need an iPhone or Android device that's Bluetooth Low Energy enabled that's how the phones talk to the door locks and the free Starwood Preferred Guest or s PG app SPG members will start with a one-time process though to register their device with us from that point on when they make a reservation at any W a loft or element Hotel globally they'll receive the option to use SPG keyless when they check in a major convenience of this technology is that you can bypass an often time-consuming step checking in at the front desk just open up the app and head straight to your room you get push notifications with your room number you also get a notification saying what preferences we were able to deliver so you've been upgraded for example and then you get a notification when you check out as well to open the door guess hold the phone up to the lock and wait for the green light keyless entry could eliminate the need for key cards altogether yeah we really started by looking at the entire guest experience and how we can leverage SPG keyless to enhance that so whether it is the elevator locks in certain hotels the locks on the gyms to ensure security Starwood partnered with a smart lock company the key is it will only work on your phone not anybody else's phone so it can't be taken and put on anything else and if you lose your phone the key is immediately rejected it's taken away from the system so in terms of security is that good ads if not higher than the card they used to carry around still if a phone is stolen and not passcode enabled someone could learn your room number but Starwood is assuming guests will notice a missing phone before a missing key other hotels that have gone mobile include San Francisco's personality hotels group Hilton also plans to introduce keyless entry and a mobile feature that lets guests choose their rooms now that's a travel perk in San Francisco I'm Sumi das see Netcom for CBS News