Increasing numbers of travellers and residential renters are turning to digital access solutions for their convenience, with businesses in these dynamic sectors reaping commercial advantages. Such solutions facilitate the swift and efficient expansion of new sites by enabling remote access management without the expenses associated with a 24/7 front-desk operation.
City Pop, a provider of short-let furnished apartment rentals, operates within this evolving landscape. Their portfolio spans European cities, including Zurich, Berlin, Prague, and Milan. Previously reliant on RFID access-cards, City Pop faced challenges with manual credential management as they pursued international growth. The company sought a scalable access solution to simplify management and support their business expansion.
Expanding portfolio with card-less access
City Pop has embraced card-less, mobile access across its serviced apartment portfolio by installing Aperio® wireless locks integrated with the Incedo Pro access management system. This setup equips doors in City Pop apartments and certain common areas with battery-powered Aperio escutcheons featuring wire-free designs.
Pawel Gawor, City Pop’s CEO, stated, “We were looking for a future-proof, reception-less access solution that could scale with our growth across Europe.” By integrating access with the booking system, entry permissions are automatically distributed to customers, eliminating the need for manual staff intervention. Guests can check in at their convenience using secure mobile access via the City Pop app or by entering a PIN on the Aperio escutcheon’s keypad.
Efficient access and retrofitting
This digitalisation allows City Pop to offer varied lengths of stay, from overnight to monthly stays
The adoption of the Aperio E100 Wireless Keypad Escutcheon allowed City Pop to retrofit existing buildings without the necessity for additional wiring or damage to doors.
Furthermore, integrating their reservation software with the Incedo Pro system enables automated, centralised control over time-limited access across multiple sites in Germany, Czechia, Switzerland, and Italy. This digitalisation allows City Pop to offer varied lengths of stay, from overnight to monthly stays, with their ongoing installation project now covering over 2,500 doors.
Commitment to sustainability
By choosing the ASSA ABLOY solution, City Pop aligns with their sustainability goals, eliminating the need for key or smartcard management infrastructure, which reduces plastic use. Remote access management also negates the need for staff travel associated with a 24/7 reception.
City Pop's energy footprint is reduced as wireless Aperio locks, powered by standard batteries, consume significantly less power compared to wired access devices. Additional energy savings are achieved through ASSA ABLOY's Signo Readers, featuring an Intelligent Power Mode that conserves 41% more energy than standard readers. Pawel further notes, “With Aperio wireless locks and Incedo Pro, we now have a fully digital, mobile-first access experience for our guests with no need for staff on-site.”
Travelers and residential renters increasingly prefer the convenience of digital access. These solutions also offer commercial benefits to businesses operating in these fast-growing sectors: it becomes faster and more cost-efficient for them to roll-out new sites and to manage access to them remotely without the need for expensive 24/7 front-desk operations.
City Pop is one short-let furnished apartment rental provider operating in both these sectors. Their growing portfolio of design-led properties covers European cities such as Zurich, Berlin, Prague and Milan. They previously relied on an RFID access-card solution. However, manual handling of credentials created a major challenge to achieving their ambitions. They needed a scalable alternative which would simplify access management and enable their business to grow cost-effectively across international boundaries.
Portfolio of serviced apartments
For this reason, they adopted card-less, mobile access across their portfolio of serviced apartments – installing Aperio® wireless locks integrated natively with an Incedo Pro access management system. Doors to City Pop apartments and some common areas are equipped with these contemporary-styled wire-free, battery-powered Aperio escutcheons.
“We were looking for a future-proof, reception-less access solution that could scale with our growth across Europe,” explains Pawel Gawor, City Pop’s CEO. Integrating access with the booking system automatically distributes entry permissions to customers without manual staff handling. Guests can arrive at convenient times without any need for a reception check-in and have a choice of secure mobile access via the City Pop app or a PIN code to enter directly on the Aperio escutcheon’s keypad.
Manual staff handling
Choosing to standardise locks with the Aperio E100 Wireless Keypad Escutcheon gave City Pop the ability to retrofit buildings without wiring or door damage.
In addition, because reservations software is also integrated with their Incedo Pro system, City Pop automates centralised, real-time, and remote control over time-limited access at multiple sites dispersed around Germany, Czechia, Switzerland, and Italy. Digitalising access in this way gives them the flexibility to offers apartment stays by the month or, at an expanding number of locations, from one night and up. Their ongoing ASSA ABLOY installation project now totals over 2,500 doors… and is still growing.
Smartcard management infrastructure
Choosing this ASSA ABLOY solution also contributed towards City Pop’s sustainability goals. With no key or smartcard management infrastructure, they use less plastic. Eliminating the need for a 24/7 reception reduces unnecessary staff travel: they manage access remotely.
City Pop have also limited their energy use: wireless Aperio locks are powered by standard batteries and draw much less power than equivalent wired access devices. In addition, ASSA ABLOY Signo Readers, installed at external doors, sliding doors, elevators, and some high-traffic interior doors, have an Intelligent Power Mode (IPM) which saves 41% in energy compared to equivalent readers without IPM. “With Aperio wireless locks and Incedo Pro, we now have a fully digital, mobile-first access experience for our guests with no need for staff on-site,” adds Pawel.
