Hotel Key Cards
RFID and magstripe cards for your hotel’s installed access system.
Hostels & Serviced Apartments
Key Cards for Hostels & Serviced Apartments
Keys for high turnover and tight budgets
Hundreds of check-ins a week, keys that walk away, and no minibar margin to absorb waste. We build card and fob programs around cost per issued key, not list price.
Choose products for your property
Select a product to review its options, request a quotation or plan the samples your team needs before ordering.
Key Card Accessories
Custom-printed key card sleeves, key fobs, staff ID cards and linen tags that complete the program.
Eco-Friendly Key Cards
Wood, bamboo and paper options, with composition and sourcing evidence to review.
Sample contents and charges, production timing and shipping are confirmed for your project.
Ordered with Cardotel before?
Use the reorder form to share your previous order reference, new quantities and any changes.
Hostels, aparthotels and serviced-apartment operators buy keys differently from full-service hotels: turnover is higher, budgets are tighter, and the estate is often many small sites with different locks. The right program starts from cost per issued key — the card price multiplied by how often a key never comes back.
Two formats dominate. Magstripe cards remain the lowest-cost option for properties still on swipe locks, and economy RFID cards on cost-optimized chips cover tap locks. Newer aparthotels often run app-managed smart locks, where the supported card depends on the exact hardware rather than the app — check the TTLock and smart lock guide before assuming anything will enroll. Indicative per-card ranges for both formats are in the cost guide.
What we supply to hostels and operators
Economy RFID cards
Standard PVC cards on cost-optimized compatible chips, quoted at volumes that match multi-site estates.
Key fobs
Hang-it-on-a-lanyard fobs that survive backpacks and pockets better than cards in some operations.
Magstripe cards
The lowest-cost format for properties still on swipe locks.
Multi-site programs
Per-property artwork and packing for operators running many small sites from one procurement desk.
Why operators consolidate with us
Priced for churn
Formats picked for cost per issued key: the cheapest media your locks accept, quoted across the whole estate rather than site by site.
One spec, many sites
Central artwork control with per-site delivery, so every location issues an on-brand key.
Fob or card, same chip
Fobs and cards can share one chip specification, so a mixed program can be reordered against one credential specification.
Deposits, self check-in and key return
High-churn operations lean on process as much as product. A small key deposit raises return rates and funds replacements; a visible return box by the door catches early departures; and fobs on lanyards are harder to lose in a dorm than a flat card. For self check-in, the credential has to fit the flow — a coded fob in a lockbox, a card pre-encoded per booking, or a smart lock enrolling cards at the door — and each option puts different demands on what you order.
Cheap does not have to mean anonymous: even a one-color logo on standard stock stops your keys vanishing into the pile of unmarked white cards behind every hostel desk.
Running many small sites
Multi-site operators save by consolidating: one artwork specification with a per-site color or code, orders packed per property, and one reorder rhythm. Keep a record of each site’s lock brand, model and chip — mixed estates often span magstripe and several RFID generations, and 125 kHz T5577 and 13.56 MHz MIFARE-family cards look identical while being mutually incompatible. When a site’s locks change, confirm the new requirement instead of carrying the old spec over, and test a sample in that site’s own encoder and doors before its first order.
Weighing an estate-wide move off magstripe? The RFID upgrade planning guide covers sequencing the change and what to do with remaining card stock.
What to send for a hostel or operator quote
- Number of sites and the quantity each one needs
- Lock system per site: brand and model, or photos of the lock and a working key
- Cards, fobs or a mix — and whether keys are deposit-backed
- Artwork: one shared design or per-site variants
- Your reorder cadence and delivery destination(s)
Hostel and apartment key questions
What is the cheapest way to key a hostel?
On swipe locks, magstripe cards are the lowest-priced format we publish ranges for; on tap locks, economy RFID cards are the workhorse. The bigger lever is usually the loss rate — deposits and return boxes change annual spend more than the per-card price does. See indicative prices
Do your cards work with TTLock or Tuya smart locks?
That depends on the exact lock hardware, not the app. App-managed locks from different manufacturers read different credentials, and some keypad models have no card reader at all. Record the lock maker and model, confirm the supported card type from its documentation, and enroll a sample before ordering stock. TTLock requirements guide
How many spare keys should a high-turnover property hold?
More than a hotel with the same room count. Base the buffer on a month of your own issue and loss records, then hold several reorder cycles of stock so a delayed shipment never leaves reception rationing keys.
Start your order
Plan your hotel key card order
Share the installed lock and encoder details, quantity per design, artwork and destination. Confirm the credential and sample checks before production.