Preventing hotel towel theft is very difficult. In fact, some estimate that between 100,000 to 200,000 towels are stolen from hotels yearly. One of the ways hoteliers are combatting theft—tracking their towels. Matt Chang is CEO of Towel Tracker, a company that provides RFID towel tracking technology. He offers these tips for hoteliers looking to keep better track of their towels.
1. Keep it simple.
“We integrated our towel tracking capabilities into hotels’ lock systems, which allows us to track the towels coming in and out of guestrooms without an extra step,” Chang describes.
2. Add serial numbers.
Chang explains, “With a unique serial number on each RFID chip in each towel, we can track not only when the towel was last seen, but also details like its size, color, and weight.”
3. No towel free-for-alls.
This is especially important for hotels and resorts with a pool area. “If the hotel leaves towels out and unattended, guests can take one towel or ten towels. The key is to either hand out towels as needed, or use a device that shows that towels are being tracked,” Chang says.
