Key Cards vs. Metal Keys

One hostel had what looked like glass doors to the lockers. Maybe it was bulletproof glass, but it looked like someone could break it. I liked the lockers with solid doors much better.

You can open anything with a large screwdriver, no matter how solid it looks.
If something is broken up, the insurance will cover the theft.
Glass doors have an obvious advantage: some people lock their lockers when they check out and often leave trash in there. If you don´t want your cleaning staff to be able to open lockers, the next guest might find some rotten food in his locker.

I guess the point of some of the commenters is that the magnetic cards are more prone to failure than keys - probably chip cards are better - tho more expensive for the hostel I imagine. Whilst normal locks can fail too, they are easier and cheaper to replace.

Chip cards ARE better. I don´t think they´re too expensive. They´re still much cheaper than what we used to pay for key replacements every year.

It happened only once in our hostels that we had to replace an electronic lock because it died. No big deal.

From a guest point of view, I object to those hostels that have one key for a dorm room. Guests are instructed that the last person out must take the key to the desk. He takes it, meets a friend, takes 5 minutes to deliver the key. Meanwhile a new guest is walking up the stairs to the room, finds it locked, has to go back down to reception. Or, I go for a shower while a roommate is still in the room. When I come back, roommate has gone out and the door is locked. Next time I anticipate a problem and ask roommate to leave the door unlocked if he goes out. So no security, and a malicious person could even steal the key. All in all, a continual gross irritation for the guests, at the cost of making 5 new keys.

i noticed one weird thing with your new cards though klaus - they would work for the front door and doors in the stairwells (the common access doors) from within my wallet but i always had to take my card out to get into the room. didnt really make a difference, just one of those things...

I totally agree. It might be an option for small rural hostels, but there are hostels in Munich doing this. There´s a complaint about it in every other review.

We have those. Very convenient, I always leave the card in my wallet and the lock still works, even if the card is buried in a load of coins.

I am considering having dorm rooms with up to 12 beds (6 bunk beds).

Given that there might be 12 strange people sharing the same room, new people checking-in and checking-out of the room every day and at different hours, (so, making the dorm rooms almost a common area) and given that each guest has a secured locker, is it necessary have a lock on the dorm door?