Hotel links with tech giant to create state-of-the-art venue for guests, writes Karlin Lillington.
After a long, dismal period in which guests at low-budget hostels were more likely to find internet access on site than those staying in the poshest hotels, Irish hoteliers have begun to get broadband religion.
And nowhere more so than at the new, €36 million Crowne Plaza hotel, which is located near Dublin Airport, where an unusual partnership with networking company Cisco has resulted in a state-of-the-art wireless hotel - one of only a handful in Europe.
"This was an ideal opportunity to do something different. We wanted to create something special, and create a 'wow' factor for our guests," says Crowne Plaza financial director Mr John O'Connor.
That wow factor includes email-enabled Cisco IP (internet protocol) phones, which offer voice and data services on a single handset; free wireless access for guests in the bar and lounge areas as well as conference rooms; and interactive entertainment delivered via IP to the rooms, which means guests can stop and start films as they please or select from a wide range of music and games.
The pale aqua, grey and black Asian-styled rooms are "enabled" as the guest checks in, turning on a network that lets the guest send emails (as text or with a voice file attached), select a music playlist, launch a film or check a daily changing menu for the restaurant.
Even the mini-bar is wired into the network - lift an item out of the bar and a sensor records it as a purchase.
Each room comes with an IP phone and ethernet connectivity, a large-screen television and wireless keyboard and mouse.
Because all the information connected to you - your calls and messages; phone, internet and video use; and wake-up call details - is on a network, it moves with you if you decide to change your hotel room during your stay.
Mr O'Connor sees offering such services as a definite way of attracting new customers and luring back regulars in the tougher business climate that Irish hotels have experienced in recent years.
"We expect to increase our room occupancy. We actually already know we have customers because of the system we've installed," he claims.
Certainly, the hotel group which owns the Crowne Plaza has been enthusiastic enough about the system in the short time the hotel has been opened that it is rolling out an identical service at its other hotel, Clontarf Castle in north Dublin.
The attraction of such a system is not just the ability to offer a range of services to guests, according to Cisco's business development manager, Ms Josephine Burdon, but the overall efficiencies and cost savings to the hotel.
Hotels need to sustain a competitive advantage, she says, "but we also believe that there are opportunities to gain more revenue from customers while they're there".
Such "upselling" opportunities include offering in-room entertainment for purchase, encouraging customers to linger over drinks and food purchases in the bar or cafe by offering wireless internet access, placing interactive advertising of services on the phone or TV screen, or offering use of video conference facilities.
But the real draw for guests is likely to be high-speed internet access - also known in this acronym-filled industry as HSIA.
It's already seen as highly desirable in many markets. In the United States, hotels in search of a top-class, four-diamond designation must offer HSIA, for example.
Cisco - which these days has moved far beyond its original role of supplying networking hardware - is trying to move aggressively into the hotel services market by showing the industry that it can start with a network to provide HSIA and then add much, much more.
"This is the catalyst application," Ms Burdon says. "It's forcing this industry to wake up and see the power of technology as an enabler."
Some of the efficiencies are fairly straightforward. Because IP allows convergence of voice, data and video, all these services can run off a single server or set of servers and can be easily linked. So if a guest uses a service, it can go directly to the room bill without having to be channelled through some intermediary such as the maid.
The system also allows hotels to manage rooms more easily, because maids can alert registration that a room has been cleaned and is ready for occupation simply by keying in a response on the IP phone. In the past, the maid would phone down to housekeeping, or submit a list of cleaned rooms, and housekeeping would then notify the front desk.
That's why you could end up cooling your heels for 20 minutes when you arrive at a hotel, waiting for the front desk to find out if your room has been cleaned, or when it is likely to be done, Ms Burdon says.
At a very basic level, networking allows hotels to take much greater advantage of regular customers who belong to loyalty schemes, because details about the customer and his or her preferences can be called up as soon as a booking is made.
And there's more, says Ms Burdon.
"We're really trying to educate hotels about what that 'more' could be. There are things that become possible because you can access information intelligently and at the right time."
Some features, such as instant check in and check out, IP television, highly personalised room services and digital video security surveillance in hotel hallways, are still in the future, she says.
"A lot of it is still 'imagine'," she adds.
Mr O'Connor is upbeat about his new network. He expects it will enable him to increase revenue per guest, perhaps charge a higher daily rate and attract conference bookings.
"It's also very easy to add on new developments as they come on the market."
Meanwhile, down in the hotel's bar and lobby area, numerous guests are typing away on laptops, making use of the wireless access. Most have at least a cup of coffee or a drink before them; some are diving into lunch.
The hotel is clearly reaping some add-on benefit from its wireless network.
