THE TRUTH ABOUT HOTEL KEYCARDS AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Hi everyone! It's April and I'm back with the next installment of our blog...but first things first! A big THANK YOU to everyone who followed along through the past couple of weeks and our trials and tribulations through the storm and subsequent power outage. We appreciate all of the love and support you showed us during that time and proved to us yet once again why guests of the Berlin Grande Hotel are THE BEST guests in town!
The week-long outage was challenging for our staff, (to say the least!) but in true Berlin Grande style, we managed to make the most of the situation and find creative solutions to those challenges. An ENORMOUS expression of gratitude to our employees, especially housekeeping and maintenance. Because their carts are all kept on one floor and the elevators weren't operational, they had to carry all of their cleaning supplies, vaccuums etc. up and down 4 flights of stairs and do the same to bring dirty linens down to laundry. These girls are absolute rock stars and I am so proud of how everyone came together as a team to perform their daily tasks with what little resources we had available.
Now, on to today's topic of discussion, hotel keycards and your privacy.
You may have seen a story or two floating around on Facebook lately about hotel keycards containing your personal information, and might have wondered whether or not those rumors are true.
What kind of information, if any, is contained on hotel keycards? In reality, not much at all.
Today I’m going to debunk the myth that you need to hang on to those key cards and shred them when you get home and instead tell you why you should be turning them in at check-out!
ABOUT KEYCARDS AND KEYCARD MACHINES
Our keycard system is completely independent of our reservation system – in other words, they don’t communicate with one another at all. When we make keycards for arrivals each day, we have a list of room numbers along with check-out dates for those rooms. We enter the room number for the keys we are making and the check-out date, put the keys on the magnetized keypad and that’s it. No names, addresses, phone numbers, and absolutely no financial information whatsoever.
To be perfectly honest, if you have an online presence here on Facebook, have ever ordered anything online or use an ATM / Debit or credit card, your information is vulnerable. Hotel key cards are the very least of your worries.
With the supply chain issues effecting small businesses everywhere and the fact that we are an independent hotel, we don’t have the ability to receive the same type of bulk discounts that larger, branded hotels are able to get, and we are doing everything we can to continue to provide you with the best value possible. Every dollar counts.
THE COST
Speaking of dollars, here are a few reasons we ask for the keycards back:
1. Each keycard costs approximately $1
2. We have 102 rooms in the hotel
3. We make 2 keycards per room each day
4. 204 keys x 365 days a year = $74,460
5. YIKES
Granted, we aren’t sold out every single day. But we do average 70% occupancy for the year. So that’s still over $50,000 for the year, which is a pretty substantial expense for us.
THE COST TO THE HOTEL
Our reputation and good name are very important to us, and we have spent the past 12 years doing the best we can to earn the trust and loyalty of each and every guest we have the opportunity to welcome through our doors. We strive to create an experience for you that feels like home. Plainly put, if we were in the business of collecting and using guest information for ill-gain, we would no longer be in business.
THE COST TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Another great reason to turn in those keycards? Plastic. Landfills. Plastic waste in landfills. Every chance we get to reuse the keycards you turn in keeps one more piece of plastic out of a landfill, and that’s a really big deal – did you know that it takes hard plastics an estimated 400-450 years to decompose? Clearly hotel keys are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to plastic pollution, but every effort helps.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There is absolutely no personal information whatsoever contained on our hotel room keycards. Turning them in at check-out time (or leaving them in your room if you prefer not to stop by the front desk to check out) gives us the opportunity to reduce, reuse and recycle which helps us and the environment.
Questions or concerns about keycards and privacy? Feel free to leave a comment on the social media post or send me and email at alemmon@berlingrandehotel.com
We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you soon…make it an AMAZING day!
April
