Lore Group, a global hospitality group based in London, proudly announces that Sea Containers London and Pulitzer Amsterdam have enabled room key in Apple Wallet for their guests. This initiative allows guests to simply tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock their room, as well as locations throughout the hotel property such as entrances, communal areas and elevators within the hotels.

On the recent innovation, Gavin Allison, Head of Technology at Lore Group said, “We are thrilled that guests are now able to access their rooms using room key in Apple Wallet, ensuring a seamless experience without the need for physical keys or downloaded apps on their devices. Leveraging technologies from Vingcard, Alliants and Apple gives us an edge in creating a hotel stay that is truly frictionless from the momenta guest arrives and that provides instant convenience with just a tap of their personal device.”

Sea Containers London, Pulitzer Amsterdam, Riggs Washington, D.C., and Lyle Washington, D.C. are the first of Lore Group’s hotels to launch room keys in Apple Wallet, with its remaining properties (in London and New York City) also enabling the solution throughout 2025.

Room keys in Apple Wallet helps deliver an easy and contactless experience from check-in to check-out while also providing additional security and privacy benefits for guests. Once a room key is added and activated in Apple Wallet, guests can hold their device near the NFC-enabled Vingcard door lock to seamlessly access keycard-protected areas. With Express Mode, guests don’t need to unlock their device to use their room key in Apple Wallet - they can simply tap and enter. If an iPhone needs to be charged, guests can still use the device to unlock their room or common areas with Power Reserve.  

The service uses Vingcard security access solutions to make the process more efficient and enhances convenience by removing the need to open a separate app to use their room key, or even the need for a physical room key. This not only provides guests with a smoother hotel experience than ever before, it also facilitates more environmentally friendly stays by reducing the use of plastic room keycards.

It’s easy to add a room key to Apple Wallet. Upon completing the hotel’s required registration process, guests can add their room key to Apple Wallet. After being added, the room key in Apple Wallet will be updated to let them know when it’s time for check-in. Once a guest is checked in and the room is ready, the room key in Apple Wallet will be activated. A room key will not activate until the guest is checked into the hotel and a guest room has been assigned.

Additionally, if a guest wishes to switch rooms, extend their stay or access late checkout, each Lore Group hotel can update a room key in Apple Wallet remotely without requiring a visit to the front desk.

Room keys in Apple Wallet are stored on the device and take full advantage of the privacy and security built into iPhone and Apple Watch. When or where a guest uses a room key in Apple Wallet is never shared with Apple or stored on Apple servers. If a guest loses their iPhone or Apple Watch, they can quickly use the Find My iPhone app to lock their device and identify its location.

Vingcard Door Locks and Vostio Access Management

This milestone was accomplished through a strategic collaboration with Vingcard, a leading innovator of door lock and credential management technologies. Alliants also played a central role as the integration provider responsible for seamlessly connecting the hotel’s systems and creating a dynamic contactless guest experience. This includes Alliants implementing the process flow for the web provisioning of room keys in Apple Wallet.

By harnessing Vingcard’s Vostio cloud-based Access Management platform, Sea Containers London and Pulitzer Amsterdam can securely manage guest credentials, while providing a convenient, app-free digital journey. Together with Mobile Access-enabled Vingcard door locks, Vostio Access Management ensures that the latest data encryption protocols are used to deliver heightened guest and property safety when issuing digital room keys and providing access to guestrooms or other hotel areas.

“Vingcard is honored to collaborate with Lore Group in providing its guests with the latest in hotel check-in and room entry convenience,” said Li Wang, SVP and Head of Hospitality. “More travelers are becoming accustomed to the streamlined ease that Apple Wallet-enabled services represent, whether at the airport boarding a flight or when arriving at a hotel. We look forward to rolling out this game-changing feature to the rest of Lore Group’s locations around the world in the months ahead.”