Key Cards vs. Metal Keys

[Hostels]

I was adding the the Start a Hostel guide and wanted to write something about key cards vs. metal keys.

What kind of key system do you use at your hostel? Do you prefer metal keys or electronic key cards?

What size does a hostel have to be before they might want to get a key card system?

[gordo]

keycards, keycards, keycards! especially the ones with the chip instead of the magnetic strip.

we use KABA here in banff, but ive also used vingcard at a couple of places. didnt really notice any difference between the two to be honest, though the actual cards we use here seem to be very susceptible to being 'wiped'. teh dry air creates a lot of static electricity which kills them, even the cold can do it.

[santa klaus]

Originally Posted by gordo

keycards, keycards, keycards! especially the ones with the chip instead of the magnetic strip.

My speech! We use these, too.

[Hostels]

I haven't used the chipped ones. Just magnetic strip cards.

Electronic key cards make life a lot easier, but they can be expensive.

Do you recommend those two brands? (KABA and VingCard) It would be nice to have the guide point to reliable brands.

BTW, the RFID chip cards can easily be hacked, though I'm not sure if it's a problem in the real world yet:

James Van Bokkelen is about to be robbed. A wealthy software entrepreneur, Van Bokkelen will be the latest victim of some punk with a laptop. But this won't be an email scam or bank account hack. A skinny 23-year-old named Jonathan Westhues plans to use a cheap, homemade USB device to swipe the office key out of Van Bokkelen's back pocket.

"I just need to bump into James and get my hand within a few inches of him," Westhues says.
[...]
Today, Grunwald continues to pull even more-elaborate pranks with chips from the Future Store. "I was at a hotel that used smartcards, so I copied one and put the data into my computer," Grunwald says. "Then I used RFDump to upload the room key card data to the price chip on a box of cream cheese from the Future Store. And I opened my hotel room with the cream cheese!"

[santa klaus]

We use this system: http://www.hafele.com/uk/213.asp

We´re very happy with it - never had any trouble. I´m quite sure it can be hacked, but then who would hack the key of a hostel guest?

[Hostels]

Probably not a serious issue in the real world. I could see people doing it as a prank (like opening the hotel room with a cream cheese box), but not targeting hostel guests...

[Tim]

When we assess a hostel's star rating we give more points to hostels with a keycard system. It is simply more secure. It is easier for someone to get a metal key copied or to forget to return it and a good keycard system should be able to let you know which other guests have entered a room at the time that something was suspected stolen.

From a guests point of view, the keycard can be an issue though as it is annoying when they don't work. I have found that the Oyster/Octopus card style that you swipe over a reader - rather than the Vingcard type that you insert into the reader - is more reliable.

[Scotch Argus]

I can certainly appreciate that keycards are more secure than regular keys, however they are out of reach for smaller rural based hostels. The profit margins aren't there to spend tens of thousands installing and running one of these systems. I also feel that when ratings are given more points on this basis it doesn't really truly reflect the security at a hostel.
Which is more secure, a keycard system at a large city hostel with perhaps hundreds of beds, where the reception staff could hardly know who's coming and going? Or a regular key at a small hostel where the receptionist will know everyone coming through the door?

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Scotch Argus

I also feel that when ratings are given more points on this basis it doesn't really truly reflect the security at a hostel.
Which is more secure, a keycard system at a large city hostel with perhaps hundreds of beds, where the reception staff could hardly know who's coming and going? Or a regular key at a small hostel where the receptionist will know everyone coming through the door?

A star rating is a relatively objective way to compare hostels and naturally a hostel that invests more in security precautions will get a higher security rating. However key cards are not the only thing we look at so the system isn't biased towards bigger hostels.

When I started the star ratings I considered comparing police data for each hostel and putting this towards the score. However police statistics (ie: number of thefts from each hostel) can be unreliable and in many countries this data simply is not available, and if it is available it is very time consuming and expensive to collate. It also judges hostels on their past record (when they may have taken fewer security precautions), rather than on the current situation at the hostel. After looking into this I decided that it was simply better to just base the security rating on a number of precautions that hostels can take to make themselves more secure. The things we look at include:

• a single entrance were you have to either be buzzed inside or walk past the reception
• a key for every guest that opens their room and the front door
• a locker for every bed
• video surveillance
• a 24-hour reception

We will deduct points if non-backpackers (ie: locals) are staying at the hostel.

Our security rating only accounts for 10% of our overall rating so it is not a big thing to worry about as long as you score a fairly respectable 2 stars.

[Scotch Argus]

I can certainly see the difficulty in making ratings such as these. One would obviously want some quantative measurement - such as the points you mention above. The problem comes however in that I have stayed in small rural places where I have felt toally safe and secure - but would have ticked none of the above boxes. And conversely in big city ones that would have satisfied the above criteria, but have been populated by some dodgy people where I've felt uneasy. Down to individual experiences I guess.