When it comes to security and reliability, your hotel’s wireless infrastructure must meet your guests’ expectations. If your staff is constantly handling complaints about unreliable wireless networks, or if business groups are dissatisfied with wireless access point security for meetings, it’s time to upgrade your wireless network equipment.
The Keating Hotel, a luxury hotel in San Diego, was saddled with an outdated wireless infrastructure that did not have the bandwidth to stream video or support multiple users accessing cloud-based applications. As guest complaints increased, dropped connections tarnished the hotel’s otherwise excellent experience. “The quality of our Wi-Fi® didn’t match the boutique luxury experience we wanted for our customers,” says Shane Pappas, general manager of the Keating Hotel. Additionally, business guests were requesting a secure and uninterrupted access for email and online calls. “Our Wi-Fi was so bad that it had become a detriment to the guest experience,” says Pappas.
In order to deploy a new wireless access point infrastructure, the Keating Hotel turned to Samsung for a reliable, secure solution that could handle the multitude of devices that guests bring to their property. Samsung’s solution provided the following features and benefits for hotel guests and staff:
High Speed and Reliability Throughout the Property
Keating Hotel’s previous wireless system had areas where connectivity was poor or nonexistent. By installing wireless access points throughout the property, the hotel now provides wireless signals and authentication throughout the property. Hotel wireless access points also provide scalability to the network, which allows hotels to add access for newly built wings or amenities, such as a golf clubhouse, without additional wiring or hardware.
Tiered Services
The new network allows the Keating Hotel to offer guests different Internet choices based upon their needs, which ensures high performance. All guests receive access to free basic, complimentary Wi-Fi during their stay. Guests who want faster connections for gaming, streaming or video conferencing can upgrade to a higher-bandwidth connection for an additional charge.
Secure Individual Networks
Instead of using a public network that is not secure, business groups at the Keating Hotel can now have their own secure network. This is especially beneficial for conferences or large-scale events. Hotel staff seamlessly manages private networks and assigns usernames for groups through the property management system (PMS). This reduces security and privacy concerns for groups booking space in the hotel, increasing the number of conference room bookings. In addition, hotel guest information is also more secure because the staff uses a private network for their own communication and data.
Integrated Wi-Fi and PMS Systems
The new Wi-Fi system works with the hotel’s PMS to assign specific network access to employees, guests and business meeting groups. This allows for each user to have appropriate network privileges, and it keeps non-guests off the dedicated Wi-Fi for hotel guests. Additionally, this increases efficiency because all information is seamlessly integrated between the PMS and Wi-Fi without additional steps from staff or guests.
After deploying a Samsung wireless solution of hotel wireless access points, controllers and switches throughout the property, the strong network performance eliminated dropped connections and customer complaints. “At the end of the day, the wireless access point infrastructure brings credibility to the hotel,” says Steven Manners, Keating Hotel Marketing Manager. “It allows us to compete with the larger hotels in the area. We went out and got the Ferrari of Wi-Fi. And that makes a big difference in the unique experience we provide to our customers.”
The Keating Hotel from Samsung Business USA
Read the Keating Hotel case study or visit our solutions page to learn more about Samsung’s Wireless LAN solutions for hospitality.
