Google Wallet's NFC room keys are now supported by real-world hotels

Summary

• Club Quarters Hotels now support digital room keys in Google Wallet (and Apple Wallet).
• Google Wallet integration eliminates the need for hotel-specific apps for smartphone room entry.
• Club Quarters is the first hotel chain to offer digital wallet room keys at all its locations.

Google Wallet is the Android tap-to-pay platform of choice, but over the past few years, Google's been building out Wallet functionality to include features like digital ID cards and hotel keys. Digital ID functionality is rolling out gradually (though my state of Ohio doesn't support drivers' licenses in Wallet yet), and now, we're finally making progress on the latter front, too. Club Quarters Hotels has announced that all of its hotels in the US and UK now support digital room keys in both Google Wallet and Apple Wallet, making it the first hotel chain to offer digital wallet room keys at all its locations.

Google announced hotel room key functionality for Wallet last summer. Club Quarters isn't quite first to the Google Wallet room key game — Strawberry Hotels' Clarion Hotel Post in Sweden took that honor in June 2024. But Club Quarters Hotels is the first chain to offer the functionality at all of its locations. Club Quarters isn't an especially large chain, with 15 locations in a handful of US cities including New York and Boston and a few in London, but still, an entire chain supporting hotel keys in Wallet hopefully means larger organizations will follow.

Smartphone-based room keys have been around for some time, but up until integration with Google and Apple's Wallet apps, using them required downloading a specific hotel's application — a minor hassle that's dissuaded me from using the functionality more than once. With Google Wallet integration, though, using these digital keys doesn't require downloading any additional apps, and Club Quarters even says that you'll be able to use a configured phone with a depleted battery for up to five hours after the phone dies.

Available now at all Club Quarters Hotels locations

There's a good chance you've never stayed at a Club Quarters Hotel — the boutique chain operates a relatively small number of locations across major cities in the US (and in London). Even so, it's nice to see an entire chain adopt Google Wallet room keys; I'd love to see this become normal in the near future.

Google Wallet room keys are available now at all of Club Quarters Hotels' locations. Apple Wallet keys and traditional keycards are also available.