Love Hotels Turned Out to Be Surprisingly Advanced in Using QR Codes

Love Hotels Were Pioneers of "Contactless" Service

Love hotels are one of the business types in Japan's hospitality industry that pursued "contactless service" early on. A system that lets guests enter / leave their room without coming face to face with front desk staff is one of the essential values of a love hotel. This commitment to "anonymity" makes them a good match for QR code technology.

At conventional love hotels, the common style was to choose a vacant room from a panel lined with photos of the rooms, receive the key through a pneumatic tube, and pay at the payment machine in the room when leaving. This system itself is already "contactless," but the introduction of QR codes has made an even more refined experience possible.

How QR Codes Changed the Check-In Flow

At love hotels that have introduced QR codes, choosing a room on a touch panel installed at the entrance or in the elevator hall displays a QR code on the screen. Reading this QR code with a smartphone shows the room number, the plan (short stay / overnight), the price, the Wi-Fipassword, information about in-house services, and more.

At some facilities, the room door can be unlocked by holding up this QR code. Physical keys and card keys become unnecessary, and the "point of contact with people" of handing over a key disappears.

At check-out too, if you scan the QR code shown on the terminal in the room and pay by cashless payment, you can leave without stopping by the front desk. Everything from entering to leaving is completed without meeting anyone even once. It can be said that QR codes have made the "fully contactless" experience that love hotels have pursued for many years easier to achieve technically.

Room Service Orders by QR Code Too

Some facilities have adopted a system in which reading a QR code placed in the room displays the room service menu. Additional orders for food, drinks, and amenities can be placed from a smartphone.

Previously, orders were placed with the front desk by the room phone, but some guests felt uncomfortable about "having their voice heard" over the phone. Ordering by QR code is completed entirely in text, which lowers the psychological hurdle.

Furthermore, if a multi-language menu is prepared at the QR code's link destination, it also becomes easy to serve foreign guests. When foreign travelers used love hotels, the language barrier could be an obstacle to using the services. A multi-language menu via QR code is one means of solving this problem.

What Business Hotels Should Learn

Love hotels' use of QR codes is actually a useful reference for business hotels and ordinary hotels as well.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, self check-in machines have spread at business hotels too, but at some facilities you need to receive a card key at the front desk after completing the procedure at the check-in machine. Systems like those of love hotels, which complete everything from entering to leaving with only a QR code, are thought to be still rare at ordinary hotels.

You do not want to keep front desk staff waiting for a late-night check-in. You want to avoid the line at check-out. These needs are shared by business hotel guests as well. The "fully contactless" know-how that love hotels have cultivated is a pioneering example that the hotel industry can also learn from.

Privacy and QR Codes Are a Good Match

For love hotels that adopt QR codes, one of the major reasons for adopting them is thought to be the protection of privacy.

Contactless service via QR codes makes it easier to protect guests' anonymity. You do not come face to face with front desk staff. Your voice is not heard on the phone. There is no need to hand over cash either. The combination of QR codes and cashless payment technically answers the essential need of love hotel guests to "use the place without anyone knowing."

On the other hand, if access logs remain at the QR code's link destination, care is needed from a privacy standpoint. Some people may worry that the love hotel's URL will remain in the browser history on their smartphone. Thoughtful consideration is called for, such as posting guidance on private browsing mode near the QR code.