Top 5 Hotel Market Integrators

These innovative, market-leading firms share dos and don’ts when approaching this high-profile vertical.

Tom LeBlanc

Think of the CI Industry Leaders as power rankings.

We recognize the top integration firms serving 12 vertical markets, not purely by revenue but by a variety of factors including reputation, innovation and market approach. Put another way, these are companies that are making waves and worth watching.

CI spoke to five hotel market integrators about what helped them succeed (or fail!) at every step along the way. Check out what they have to say and click here to download the complete report, Meet the 2014 CI Industry Leaders.

On Success:

“One characteristic that sets us apart is our ability at all levels to thoroughly communicate with our clients, our team and our vendors. Understanding only comes from in-depth communication with internal and external teams. The result is a ‘wow’ end-result for the client, plus delivering on time and on budget.” —Roberta Perry, VP of Business Development, Edwards Technologies

An integrator must understand that automation is a major priority for hotel customers, says NTX Marketing Professional Mariana Lino. He recently described the approach NTX took when tackling an ambitious CI & TD Integration Award winning project at Secrets The Vine Cancun in Mexico.

“We basically automated and integrated all of the systems … throughout the entire hotel including its world-class spa. All of them [are] easily controlled by a custom interface we created for the hotel with the use of touchpanels.” —Mariana Lino, NTX

Related: Electrosonic’s Simpson, Bowie Look Back on 50 Years of AV

On Failure:

“A good example of a red flag is when the hotel customer calls us to ‘fix the problem’ or has already fired the other group. This may result from lack of communication and understanding of the needs and wants for the project; personality differences; or capabilities of the integration firm [being] different from deliverables based on new or changed business direction — for example, handling a one-off versus a roll- out. Not every company is set up to do rollouts.” —Roberta Perry, VP of Business Development, Edwards Technologies

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An integrator unwilling to work long and sometimes odd hours isn’t likely to cut it in the hotel market. In the Secrets The Vine Resort project, long hours went into such a complex automation system. One moment that stands out during the project was seeing the final result of designing a hybrid CATV system.

“It took us a few nights to have it finally working, but until the on-command guys jumped in and started messing with it, we finally came together and had over 600 CATV connection points working,” recalls NTX president Manuel Suero.

NTX considers the project’s greatest achievement to be the implementation of the lighting control system. Far from a series of recessed lights, this system illuminates the dressing rooms, the hydrotherapy cabins, the reception and offices of the spa, as well as all of the rooms, halls, restaurants, bars, and boardrooms. The company was also pleased with its installation of mobile lighting and audio equipment for the theater.

“The client was completely satisfied with the project,” says Lino. “A contemporary, adults-only, elegant hotel needed an automated system practically invisible that went along with the unlimited luxury of a world-class resort.”

Click here to download the complete report, “Meet the 2014 CI Industry Leaders.”

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