Derag Livinghotels is offering a new key experience together with Zaplox

As the first apartment hotel provider Derag Livinghotels is offering a new key experience: for the first time, guests at the Munich Hotel Am Viktualienmarkt can open doors with their smartphones.

MUNICH October 2014 – Open doors from a smartphone screen:

At the Munich Derag Livinghotel Am Viktualienmarkt, guests will now be able to open their hotel room doors with their smartphones. This useful new service is made possible by an innovative app designed by the Swedish company Zaplox. The new app is set to be installed throughout the hotel. Derag Livinghotels is the first apartment hotel operator to provide this leading edge mobile key technology for its guests. In addition to its mobile key function, the app - which is to be rolled out across other Derag hotels - offers a range of useful benefits, including online check in and check out and information about the hotel and the destination. The new app will be launched in Munich on the 18^thof November 2014, the day on which the hotel previously known as the “Campo dei Fiori”, reopens as Derag Livinghotel Am Viktualienmarkt.

“Most guests now own a smartphone, and so we expect many of them to swiftly make the transition from key cards to the new app solution. This is also great news for the environment in the long run because this solution avoids a great deal of the waste created by plastic cards”, says Ole Kloth, Director of Development at Derag Livinghotels. “Primarily, though, we aim to offer our customers an attractive new service which has a lot of potential and update options for the future.”

How it works: Right after check in, guests can download the app and use the door opener function. The mobile key can also be shared, for example with family or business partners whom the guest wishes to invite into the apartment. The app provides a city guide, orientation with Google Maps and plenty of useful hotel information. Guests can also opt to receive push messages from the hotel, for instance when their room is ready. Check out can also be completed via smartphone – easily and without having to queue at the reception. After a onetime acceptance on the registration form, which is required to comply with data protection laws, guests can also use the Zaplox app to check in for all subsequent visits – including check in in advance before they reach the hotel.

Future plans: Next year, the new app will be made available in a version designed to match the Derag Livinghotels Corporate Identity and vision and rolled out to the Group’s other properties. One especially useful feature is the booking tool which Derag Livinghotels plan to integrate in the app soon: this will give guests the option of selecting their own room, a little like booking a seat on a plane, the ability to book directly through the app, use upgrade options and also pay for their stay. All in all, a great new service!

Safety: Zaplox uses the same encryption technology that is used in online banking. If a phone is lost the reception desk will immediately block the door opener code, ensuring the very highest level of safety. Guests who do not own a smartphone, have forgotten their phone in their room or have run out of battery do not need to worry: the reception desk can always help, giving the guest the option of using a RFID card.