Challenge

Luxe Tech Villa Ashitoku’s villa-style rooms are designed for ultimate privacy, allowing guests to enter directly from outside. Initially, each door was equipped with a numeric touchpad lock, but repeated malfunctions — unresponsive buttons and unexpected errors — became a serious problem. The island’s hot and humid climate, which is harsh on electronics, was identified as the issue. It led to condensation and frequent failures with the electronic lock.

When a new building with a common lobby area opened in summer of 2024, the team decided it was time to upgrade to a more reliable key system. They switched to traditional door locks and keys to avoid the risk of electronic lock failure, and looked for an indoor locker solution that could work alongside their self-check-in system. Integration with their reservation platform, HotelSmart, was also crucial to ensure a fully automated and smooth guest experience.

Pain Points

• Frequent Electronic Lock Failure: Touchpad locks for rooms often malfunctioned due to heart and humidity, preventing guests from accessing their rooms.
• Guest Frustration: With an advertised self-check-in system, staff often had to intervene when the locks failed, leading to check-in delays and staff burden.
• Reservation System Integration: A reliable solution that synced automatically with the existing reservation system was needed.

Solution

To meet their needs, Luxe Tech Villa Ashitoku adopted Keycafe’s SmartBox key management system, using the integration with HotelSmart. This setup allows guests to handle everything themselves along their entire stay, from booking and check-in to picking up and returning keys, and finally, checking out.

Guests check in at a tablet in the lobby area and receive an automatically-generated access code to retrieve their room key from the SmartBox. Returning keys is just as simple: guests scan the fob attached to their keys at the SmartBox and deposit them in the bin that opens.

Cleaning staff are assigned access permissions to all rooms, while the management team can monitor logs, check key access histories, and control the SmartBox remotely as needed.

Luxe Tech Villa Ashitoku’s Implementation

• True Self-Check-In Experience: Guests can handle every step independently, from reservation to checkout, thanks to full system integration.
• Check-In System Integration: Room key access codes are automatically generated upon booking confirmation, and time-restricted to the duration of the stay.
• Flexible Staff Management: Continuous access permission is given to cleaning staff, while management staff have remote control and monitoring capabilities.

Result

Since implementing Keycafe, key-related issues and guest complaints have dropped dramatically. With no more electronic lock failures, room access is no longer a worry for guests. The ability to monitor key return status in real time has also streamlined checkout operations, reducing staff workload significantly.

"When it comes to self-check-in, reliability and ease of use are everything. A single malfunction can ruin the guest experience and add extra work for staff. That’s why we chose a system we could fully trust," says Mr. Ikeda from the management team.

The Outcome

• Peace of Mind: Management no longer worries about guest access, thanks to the reliable performance of the SmartBox and built-in backup systems.
• Effortless Experience for Guests: The intuitive, user-friendly design makes self-check-in easy and enjoyable for guests, even those who aren’t tech-savvy.
• Reduced Maintenance: Fewer key-related problems, improved room utilization, and lighter workloads for staff.