What do hotels and Wi-Fi networks have in common? Both are operating on certain standards and both can be rated by customers based on their experiences. Let’s see how well is the new Extreme networking solution for the luxury Saltic Resort & SPA in Poland, designed and implemented by SimTel, doing in both areas!
Although for most of us, the purpose of vacation is to recover from the stresses and strains of everyday life, including the noise and overstimulation induced by the omnipresent technology, it is difficult to cut off from the web and digital services entirely. Just ask any parent about what would happen if the kids couldn’t watch the Paw Patrol after a long, lazy day on the beach. But it’s not only the young generation that craves connectivity – who among us has never got angry over a spotty connection?
Long gone are the days when a fast and reliable Wi-Fi was treated like a mere addition to the overall hotel experience – today it is one of the most desired amenities for guests, playing a key role in hotel’s rating on travel sites like Tripadvisor or Booking.com. In fact, guest reviews that highlight poor Wi-Fi connectivity are known to result in loss of bookings for both luxury and economy hotels. In extreme cases, some customers may even demand a refund due to a spotty connection.
This is why every hotel operator needs to understand that investing in a high-class Wi-Fi solution is key to remain competitive and, by extension, increase RevPAR (revenue per available room). Saltic Resort & SPA, a chain of luxury hotels in Poland, has been well aware of this fact.
“Saltic Resort & SPA in Łeba, opened in mid-2022, is a modern four-star complex that puts guest satisfaction and the quality of their experience first. Located in the very heart of a pine forest, only a few minutes’ walk away from both the Baltic Sea and Sarbsko Lake, the hotel allows our guests to choose the way they want to relax. Some of our guests prefer to remain fully offline and just take in the surroundings while others combine vacation and remote work. We want everyone to know that whatever the idea of their relaxation may be, they can find it at our hotel”, says Anna Blachowska, PR and Marketing Director at Saltic Resort & SPA.
Smooth operation, even in a raging holiday season
Łeba, one of the locations of Saltic Group’s hotels, is one the most popular seaside destinations in Poland. Every summer season, this little town inhabited by roughly 3,500 people becomes vibrant with life, extending its hospitality to more than 400,000 holidaymakers1 who are “occupying” the local cellular transmitters. A high-density user environment was not the only challenge laid before SimTel, the company tasked with designing and implementing the Wi-Fi network at the Saltic Resort & SPA complex.
“Taking a traditional approach to building hotel Wi-Fis wouldn’t work because of the predicted issues with the radio wave propagation, resulting in strong signal interference. The new network’s coverage also needed to include the open pool & spa area”, says Adam Piekarski, Board Member of SimTel. “Additionally, apart from connecting smart TVs in the rooms, the wireless network was also meant to work as a transport layer for Wi-Fi Calling, a voice service that lets guests place and receive calls over a wireless internet connection, as opposed to using a cellular signal. It would also enable access to the hotel’s IT systems from tablets and smartphones for the employees, as well as POS terminals in the lobby or restaurant”.
So the question was: how to build a hotel Wi-Fi that doesn’t break connection around every corner, may be accessed by hundreds of users and devices simultaneously, and can be managed as easily as a single, standard home router? The answer: by following best practices and standards!
A matter of standards: Wi-Fi 6 in action
Placing Wi-Fi access points only in the common areas of buildings such as lobbies or hallways has been a common standard in many hotels and guest houses in Poland (interestingly enough, including the ones owned by big and esteemed hotel chains) for a long time. Occasionally, some facilities follow a better practice of installing an AP in every second or third room.
The usual result? Interference and spotty connection issues experienced on a regular basis. This is why leading industry organizations and experts have been advising the hospitality business for years to equip all hotel rooms with their individual Wi-Fi access points. Saltic Resort & SPA Łeba decided to follow this recommendation.
“In order to deliver the best possible connectivity in a high-density environment like this and make sure that streaming services such as Netflix or YouTube are running smoothly, without signal interruptions and video quality degradation, we recommended using the new generation of Wi-Fi 6 access points from Extreme Networks, mapped out in a way that would maximize their technological advantages”, says Robert Zdziebło, IT Specialist at SimTel. “The key to minimizing signal interference was implementing the so-called small cells, meaning reducing radio frequency (RF) power output, footprint and range on the access points in a way that would enhance wireless network performance, but also allow seamless guest roaming without losing connection. Additionally, a single network SSID for all guests with a simultaneous separation of the clients further facilitates using the hotel Wi-Fi”.
Extreme Networks AP302W access point
To that end, the project involved installing a total of 136 Wi-Fi 6 access points, namely the AP302W model: a compact enterprise-class wall plate device designed for high density environments which leverages advanced ML/AI capabilities to optimize traffic and ensure best user experience.
The same cost, higher value
It’s worth mentioning here that SimTel proposed a smart solution to counter-balance the cost of a higher number of access points and ensure the customer got the most value out of the investment.
“The integrated Wi-Fi / Ethernet solution allowed us to connect smart TVs and VoIP systems directly to access points in each of the hotel’s rooms securely and cost-effectively, resulting in less cabling and installation on site”, says Adam Piekarski. “Our technical and business know-how was instrumental in balancing the costs in a way that allowed us to deliver an advanced solution, bringing higher value at a fairly standard cost”.
Cloud managed networking: easier means less costly
Apart from the tangible business benefits in a form of satisfied customers (an 8.6 “Excellent” rating on Booking.com based on 369 reviews, with an 8.5 rating in the “Free WiFi” category), another added value from implementing the new networking solution from Extreme Networks is an effortless management of the entire Wi-Fi and LAN infrastructure, without generating any additional costs.
“The entire infrastructure is managed from a market-proven, single pane of glass, cloud management solution called ExtremeCloud IQ which grants the full visibility of both the Wi-Fi network and the LAN part based on Extreme switches. This allows the customer to see the entire picture the network’s health, who is connecting, what’s the Wi-Fi signal’s strength and so on”, says Adam Piekarski. “Departing from the on-prem model on the hand saved us a lot of time that would normally have been spent on installing a virtual machine or a local controller, and on the other hand – freed the customer from having to employ an additional, highly-qualified network administrator on site”.
Another value for the customer in this particular case was also a quick and smooth installation which didn’t delay the hotel’s opening in the summer of 2022.
“The ExtremeCloud IQ Companion mobile app is very intuitive and has helped us a lot to add new devices to the network more quickly. All I had to do was scan the QR code on an access point – next second the device would automatically connect to the cloud, download the necessary updates and security policies, and… it just worked”, says Robert Zdziebło. “What’s equally important, the solution allowed us to do all that remotely. We can diagnose certain things and issues, pre-configure the device accordingly and just send the box to the customer via courier, without ever having to leave our office in Gdańsk – the customer is able to connect it to the network without any problems”.
A flexible solution that scales with the customer
The Wi-Fi network built by SimTel has proven itself so well that the customer immediately decided to go with a similar solution for the next hotel building, which is currently being developed on a plot located just a hundred meters away from the previous one. 161 new luxury apartments with balconies will be built as part of the investment. To provide its future guests with a high-quality access to a wireless network, another 200 access points will be installed. A significant investment, considering the standard practices of the hospitality industry in Poland.
“The opening of the second stage of our hotel investment in Łeba is scheduled for July 1, 2023. Although the building’s characteristic is a little bit different, we wanted it to share the same quality and approach towards our guests – this is why we are investing in the best networking solutions on the market, following the best industry practices”, Anna Blachowska, PR and Marketing Director at Saltic Resort & SPA explains.
„Although we are adding 200 new networking devices, the time and resources needed to manage them will be virtually the same. High network scalability and flexibility, facilitating the planning process for the new infrastructure, can be considered as yet another benefit of this project”, says Adam Piekarski. “By combining the capabilities of enterprise-class networking devices with the ease of management and configurations that could normally be attributed to home solutions, we are providing the customer with something more than just a Wi-Fi. From the technical point of view, it’s a model implementation that meets the world’s best standards and as such, it is one of the key enablers of the customer’s success”.
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About SimTel Sp. z o.o.
SimTel was founded in 1992. The main scope of the company’s services includes designing, delivering, and installing digital ICT systems, LAN networks, Call Center systems, as well as building low power networks. The company is a Gold Partner of Extreme Networks.