The support for access passes for hotel rooms, offices and residences was already announced during WWDC 2021. The cards will be digitally available in the Wallet app, after which you can open the door with NFC. Now it's finally time for the first hotel partner to arrive: at Hyatt hotels you can open the hotel room with your iPhone. Initially, six hotels and resorts in the US will participate, followed by a further global rollout. You need iOS 15 on your iPhone and watchOS 8 on your Apple Watch.
These hotels are:
- Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort
- Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa
- Hyatt House Chicago/West Loop-Fulton Market
- Hyatt House Dallas/Richardson
- Hyatt Place Fremont/Silicon Valley
- Hyatt Regency Long Beach
The system can be used in addition to the own Hyatt app, with which you can also open your hotel room door. After booking a room, you get the option to add the room key to Wallet, just like when you travel by plane or buy cinema tickets. You can do this immediately when booking. However, the room door will not open until it is time to check in. You will be notified when your room is ready.
Hotel key also on Apple Watch
In addition to your iPhone, the hotel key can also be used on the Apple Watch. This again saves a plastic card in your pocket and you no longer have to check in at the reception when you enter the hotel, but you can immediately freshen up and enjoy the hotel facilities. It also works to open the door of the pool or gym. Also smart: the key works in Express mode, so you don't even have to unlock your device. And yes, that also means someone can enter your hotel room if you leave your iPhone lying around… But you can also do that with a plastic card. So just keep an eye on your belongings.
You can see the date and name of the booked hotel in the Wallet app. By tapping on the three dots you can view reservation number and more information about the hotel. From the Wallet card, you can open the Hyatt app to edit your booking.
Multiple room keys… with limitation
You can even store several room keys in your Wallet, in case you are at the hotel or resort with the whole family. Unfortunately, you cannot share the hotel key with another person, as it only works for the owner of the Hyatt account. That can cause problems if there are two of you in a room and the other person wants to go to the pool alone.
The rollout can take a while, because the hotels need to adapt their access systems. Hyatt has teamed up with Assa Abloy, a well-known lock manufacturer, for this. According to Apple, other manufacturers and hotel chains can also participate.