Keys

Keys

Types of keys. Emergency keys open all doors in the property - even those that guests have double locked.  These keys should bekept ina secure place.  Some properties also keep an emergency key off the premises.  Distribution and use should occur only in emergency situations such as a fire or when a guest or employee is locked in a room and needs immediate assistance.  Most housekeeping personnel do not use emergency keys on a day-to-day basis.

Master keys also open more than one guestroom.  Master keys are separated into three levels of access.  The highest  level is the grand master.  This key opens every hotel room, and, many times, all housekeeping storage rooms.  If the guest has turned the dead bolt, master keys will not open the door.  Master keys can be used in emergency situations when it is vital for an employee to enter some or all areas of a hotel.  Master keys are kept at the front desk for such emergency purposes.

            The next level of master key is the section master.  This type of master key opens rooms in one area of a hotel.  An inspector may be issued more than one key of this type because he/she may be required to inspect the work of more than one room attendant.'

           

Key Control Procedures

            A log can be used to monitor the distribution  of master keys.  This log should include the date, time, and the name of the person who signed for a particular key.  Every time an employee receives or returns a master key he/she should be required to initial or sign the log.  The  person issuing the keys should also initial or sign the log for each master key transaction.

            Employees issued keys should keep the keys on  their persono at all times.  Key belts, writst  bands, or neck chains are recommended devices for keeping track of master keys.  Master keys should never be left on top of a housekeeping cart, in a guestroom, or in an unsecured area.  An employee should never loan the key to a guest or to another employee.  The room attendant who signed for the master key is the employee who is responsible for it and should never leave the roperty.  Finally, a  room attendant should never use a  master key to open a room for a guest.  If a guest asks an employee to unlock a room, the employee should politely explain the hotel's policy and  direct the guest to the front desk.

            Room attendants are also responsible for  retrieving guestroom keys if the guest leaves the key in th room.  Many hotels provide key lock boxes on the room attendant's cart to store guestroom keys.  If no lock box is available, room keys should be kept in a secured area - not on top of the  cart - until returned to the front desk.  If a room attendant finds a room key inthe hallway or public area, the front desk should be notified immediately.  The key should be returned to the front desk or placed in the lock box.

Sample Key Control Sheet

KEY CONTROL SHEET Date: .................................                                          Page .................... of .................
Key code	Name	Signature	Turn out	Issued By	Time in	Signature	Received By

•             Sign for them at the beginning of duty;
•             keep them on her person (never lend them);
•             never use them to let a stranger into a room;
•             always hand them in at the end of a duty period according to house custom;
•             hand into the housekeeper any keys found left in doors or lying around; never open communicating doors;
• never open more than one door at a time.

Lost or stolen keys. 

            Lost or stolen keys create security and safety problems.  When keys come up missing, the only solultion is to rekey the affected rooms.  The rekeying of rooms  is very expensive and time- consuming-especially when it involves higher levels of master keys.

Card Key systems.

            Many hotels use a card key system.  This type of room-locking mechnism uses regular door locks and special plastic cards that act as keys to unlock the doors.  The plastic  cards cards look like credit cards with holes punched in them; some have a magnetic strip.  The system uses a computer which codes the cards to lock and unlock doors.

            A card key system is initially expensive to purchase.  However, if a card is lost or stolen, the procedure for rekeying is quick and inexpensive.  Rather than rekeying the door locks, the computer is used to create new room-lock codes for each room.

            Master keys may be created and destroyed through the computerized card system.  If a room attendant is responsible for cleaning rooms on more than one floor, the employee only needs one master card key rather than several floor masters