At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, the company announced plans to integrate support for home, office and hotel keys into Apple Wallet, as well as driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet. ‘State. Today, Apple announced that Hyatt will become the first hotel partner to support the new technology. The hotel chain will roll out support for room keys in Apple Wallet for its guests, initially starting with six US properties, with more to come in the future.

The six properties include 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 and Hyatt Regency Long Beach.

The new system will work alongside the World of Hyatt mobile app. After making a reservation in the app, a screen will appear offering you the option to add your room key to Wallet. This experience is similar to when you book tickets or passes and then have the option to press a button to add those items to Apple Wallet for later access. And like other passes, you can add your hotel room keys immediately after making your reservation. Of course, the door will only unlock when checking in.

Once the key has been added to your Apple Wallet, you will be able to see the reservation dates, property name, and your next arrival date on the main screen. You can also tap the three-dot menu in the top right to view more information about your stay, including your reservation number and other property details. Plus, you can launch the Hyatt app directly from Apple Wallet to manage your reservation.

Hotel keys aren’t just available on your iPhone, they’re also automatically added to the Wallet app on a paired Apple Watch.

In addition to the convenience of not having to track a plastic hotel key card, this system can also allow guests to skip lobby lines to check in. Instead, the app can notify guests when the room is ready and they can check in on their phone. Once this process is complete, the room key will be activated and display your room number so you can go straight to your room. It could also help customers reduce their exposure to COVID, as they won’t have to queue alongside other customers for check-in.

Apple says guests with multiple rooms will be able to add them all to the same room key and wallet for their stay, so they don’t have to remember which virtual key to use. And like the Express Mode used by transit pass holders, Hotel Keys can also work in Express Mode where you won’t even need to unlock your device to open the door. The key also works to unlock access to hotel amenities, such as the gym or swimming pool.

If the guest decides to extend their stay or book a late checkout in the mobile app, the hotel key will also be updated. One thing you can’t do, however, is share the hotel key with a friend — they only work with the Hyatt account holder who’s logged into the mobile app. After payment, hotel keys are archived in Apple Wallet but not deleted.

The new system will require hotels to update their room locking infrastructure to support NFC technology. This allows guests to open hotel doors with just a touch, just as they do today when using Apple Pay on supported point-of-sale terminals. Hyatt is working with Assa Abloy on its solution, but Apple is open to working with vendors chosen by the hotel. The company declined to say which other hotel chains might work to deploy the technology, but notes that Hyatt plans to expand access to all global properties.

Hotel key support is rolling out today to iPhones running iOS 15 and Apple Watch devices running watchOS 8. Hyatt tells TechCrunch that it is currently only working on a cardless solution for hotel guests. iOS users, although he hasn’t ruled out working with Google down the road.