Hotel Hospitz Saves €25,000 on Low-Season Operating Costs with Keycafe

Hotel Hospitz is a historic lakeside boutique hotel located in Savonlinna, Finland, operating 22 rooms since 1933. As a highly seasonal business that generates roughly 80% of its annual revenue during the summer months, the hotel faces significant operational hurdles maintaining profitability during the low season from September to May. Historically, front desk operations relied entirely on physical key handoffs. When late reservations arrived during unstaffed evening hours, staff had to resort to leaving keys in paper envelopes at reception or manually driving to the property to hand keys over in person.

Managing after-hours check-ins manually placed an unbearable financial and personal burden on leadership. Keeping evening receptionists on staff during low-demand months generated unaffordable labor costs for the hotel. Furthermore, the constant requirement to monitor late arrivals severely disrupted personal time, forcing hotel leadership to remain on call continuously and drive back to the hotel on short notice to accommodate incoming guests.

To eliminate evening staffing requirements while keeping the hotel open year-round, Hotel Hospitz adopted Keycafe's SmartBox system to automate its key pickup process. The hotel connected its tech stack using Mews, Duve Guest Platform, and Keycafe. When a guest makes a reservation, Duve pulls the booking details from Mews and automatically sends a customized welcome message with a dedicated PIN code for the Keycafe locker containing their room key. Upon arrival, guests enter the building, input their code into the intuitive SmartBox touchscreen, and retrieve their room key without front desk assistance.

Beyond guest check-ins, Hotel Hospitz optimized property access by integrating key fobs directly with the hotel's main entrance lock, enabling guests to enter the building using the same access token attached to their room key. Management oversees all key access remotely using the Keycafe mobile application, enabling them to grant access, release keys, or resolve key-related issues directly from their phones.

Implementing Keycafe allowed Hotel Hospitz to transition into an efficient self-service operational model during the off-season without sacrificing guest satisfaction. Arriving guests adapt quickly to the intuitive SmartBox touchscreen, with the modern setup frequently creating a positive initial impression. Eliminating manual evening key handoffs freed hotel leadership from constant off-hours stress, providing complete peace of mind and remote control over property access.