InterContinental to test smartphones as hotel keys

InterContinental are testing a new system of checking in involving smartphones being used as door keys.

The key card could become a thing of the past after a hotel chain announced it would allow guests to access their rooms using their smartphones.

The technology, to be trialled at two hotels, would mean that guests could avoid checking in at the front desk, and instead download an application to their mobile that would allow them to enter their room by holding their phone to a sensor.

Testing is set to take place for a minimum of 60 days at two Holiday Inns in the US.

Bryson Koehler, an executive at InterContinental Hotels group, told USA Today: "The holy grail item for us is to simplify the room-key hand-off moment at the hotel.

"We don't need to burden people with additional items; it just clutters up their lives. The beauty of the smart phone is that they've already got it."

Koehler added that the technology would be compatible with most smartphones, including the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phone.

If it is successful, the company is looking to roll out the technology to one in five rooms of each hotel in its portfolio.