For any property manager or owner, controlling operational expenditure (OpEx) is a constant priority. Yet, one of the most persistent drains on both time and money is often the very system meant to provide security: your door locks. Traditional keycard and mechanical lock systems come with a long list of recurring costs that go far beyond the initial hardware purchase.
Let's break down the true total cost of ownership for these legacy systems.
Hidden Cost #1: Constant Staff Intervention
Your staff's time is your most valuable resource. Legacy systems consume hours of it every single day with manual, repetitive tasks.
- Programming and Issuing Keycards: Every check-in requires a staff member at the front desk to manually create and hand over a key.
- Handling Lock-outs and Lost Keys: When a guest loses a key or gets locked out, a staff member must stop what they are doing to resolve the issue, often at inconvenient times.
- Managing Physical Master Keys: The logistics and security risk of managing and tracking physical master keys for cleaning and maintenance staff is a significant operational burden.
- Providing Contractor Access: Granting access to third-party maintenance or service providers often requires a staff member to be physically present to let them in.
Hidden Cost #2: Consumables and Maintenance
Beyond labour, there are the direct, recurring material costs that chip away at your budget.
- The Endless Cycle of Plastic Keycards: Hotels can spend thousands of pounds a year on purchasing plastic keycards, many of which are lost, damaged, or accidentally taken by guests. This is not only a financial cost but also an environmental one.
- Faulty Card Encoders: The machines used to programme keycards require maintenance and eventual replacement, representing another recurring expense.
- Mechanical Wear and Tear: Physical lock components wear out over time, leading to costly call-outs for locksmiths and hardware repairs.
Hidden Cost #3: The Price of a Poor Guest Experience
This is perhaps the most significant hidden cost. A clunky arrival process directly impacts guest satisfaction and, ultimately, your revenue.
- Front Desk Queues: A queue at reception is a guest's first impression of your property. Forcing them to wait after a long journey creates immediate frustration.
- Keycard Failures: A keycard that fails to work—a common complaint with magnetic stripe systems—is a major source of guest irritation and can lead directly to negative online reviews.
- A Dated First Impression: In a world of seamless digital experiences, handing over a plastic keycard feels outdated and can detract from a property's premium positioning.
How to Eliminate These Costs Without CAPEX
The solution is to automate and digitise the entire access process. A modern, cloud-based access control system directly addresses every hidden cost listed above. With mobile keys, access is provisioned automatically and sent directly to a guest's phone. Staff intervention is virtually eliminated. There are no plastic keycards to buy. The guest experience is smooth, modern, and immediate.
Historically, achieving this required a huge capital expenditure on new locks. However, with a retrofit solution like the Portal Module, you can upgrade your existing locks to be fully 'smart' and cloud-managed with zero upfront hardware cost. You eliminate the hidden operational costs and elevate your guest experience, all while preserving your capital for other investments.
