Hilton Worldwide is beta testing its much-anticipated Digital Key. The technology allows members of the HHonors loyalty program to bypass the hotel check-in desk and access their room, and any other part of the property that requires a key, using a smartphone to access the HHonors app unlock button.

Digital Key beta testing commenced earlier this month at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, Va., and will continue to roll out through 2015 at select U.S. properties across four brands including Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Canopy by Hilton. Digital Key will first be available on the iOS platform and, later this year, it will be offered to Android users.

By early 2016, HHonors members will be able to use their smartphones as their room key to enter more than 170,000 rooms at 250 U.S. properties within the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Canopy by Hilton brands.

The Hilton HHonors mobile app provides a number of benefits to members of the program who book directly though the app, Hilton.com, the Hilton reservations call center or via Hilton’s corporate travel partners. In addition to checking in digitally, selecting their own room from a floor plan or list and using their smartphone as their key, members can further customize their stay via the app by requesting amenities — extra pillows, snacks or drinks — before arrival or at any point during their stay.

On the day before their scheduled arrival, HHonors members who booked directly with Hilton may select their desired room on their mobile device using digital check-in and will be asked if they’d like a Digital Key during their stay. If the guest elects to use a Digital Key, it is issued as soon as the guest’s room is ready the day of their arrival. When the guest approaches their hotel room, they press the virtual “unlock” button on the app to unlock the door.