Smart hotel

A luxurious hotel in Kilkenny, southern Ireland, has installed a new 'state of the art' wireless access control system to look after its guests' security needs.

The 5-Star Lyrath Estate Hotel is a 50 million euro project. Set among 170 acres of parkland, the complex provides modern facilities while incorporating the original 17th Century Lyrath country house as the centre point of the development.

For its bedroom and back-of-house security, the hotel manager insisted on the highest technological standards, combining the Mifare smart chip card (which had previously impressed him) with a state-of-the-art networked electronic locking system.

Flexible time limited access

Hotel access control installations are usually based on secure locking that requires flexible time limited access, so that guest access authorisation is withdrawn from the room lock after they leave. This is normally controlled via specialist front desk software. Locks are networked to the hotel computer, providing control from the front desk PC, without hard wiring or WIFI infrastructure. Both the key card and lock have a built-in antenna which performs simultaneous 2-way communication which opens the guest's room and can permit access to other secured facilities such as the swimming pool or gym.

Comfort for guests

For the Lyrath Estate Hotel the "easy-to-install" comfort range lock from Salto was installed by Doorware Ltd, of Rahoon, Galway. The lock with satin stainless steel finish, bespoke handle designs and a "privacy thumb-turn option" was fitted to all 137 bedrooms and a variety of back of house rooms.

Designed for use with internal doors, the lock has been tested and approved to withstand fire resistance for one hour and is simple and quick to install. Power is supplied by 3 AAA batteries good for up to 60,000 openings, and each lock can support up to 64,000 users with an audit trail of the last 1,000 events stored in the read/write escutcheon.

The locks also have anti-vandal protection to safeguard the electronics, which are housed in the inner backplane, on the inside of the hotel room door.

The hotel is pleased with the performance of the finished installation and recommends that all hotel managers should consider smart electronic locking.