Wireless connectivity has become an essential amenity for the modern traveller and Grand Millennium Dubai, one of the foremost 5-Star Hotels in Dubai, has successfully deployed a property-wide Wi-Fi network utilising solutions from Aruba Networks.
This high speed wireless network has not only drastically improved Internet speeds across the hotel’s numerous public areas and 340+ rooms and suites, but also enabled the management to install wireless IP telephones to meet all internal communications requirements.
“We strive to offer the highest level of satisfaction to our guests and telecommunication is a vital aspect of their everyday activities. We wanted to ensure that this service was provided to them in a convenient way and this is mainly why we decided to implement Aruba’s solution,” said Anas Ezzi, IT Manager at Grand Millennium Dubai. The vendor’s strong references in the regional hospitality sector gave Anas and the hotel’s management the confidence to select Aruba for the implementation.
“Our goals were clear and precise,” he said. “We needed to enhance our guests’ internet experience and find a cost-effective and reliable way to facilitate internal telecommunications. A fast, secure and reliable Wi-Fi solution would allow us to do all this while also providing ample room for innovation in guest and staff services in the future.”
Aided by Aruba integration partner Precedence Technologies, the IT team carried out the trouble-free deployment in under a month, and without any disturbance or inconvenience to guests. The implementation included the installation of two Aruba 7210 Mobility Controllers, 270 Aruba 103H Hospitality Access Points (APs) and 42 Aruba AP-205 Wireless APs.
The selection of Aruba’s AP-103H and AP-205 access points has meant that hotel guests can enjoy the best coverage even as their roam through the property. This is because these APs utilize Aruba’s patented ClientMatch technology which transitions the connected device to the best AP without the guest having to manually intervene.
The mobility controllers allow the hotel’s IT staff to configure, update and manage all the APs from a single location and offer comprehensive protection to wireless network users with features that include authentication, encryption, the Aruba Policy Enforcement Firewall™ and Aruba RFProtect™ for wireless intrusion protection.
According to Anas, the system’s performance has more than met expectations and there has been a noticeable increase in guest satisfaction.
Graeme Kane, Sales Manager, Hospitality at Aruba Networks said, “To remain competitive, hotels in the region need to leverage a smarter, adaptive network infrastructure that delivers stable, simple, smart, secure Wi-Fi access to thousands of devices at a time and supports mobile collaboration for guests and staff. Grand Millennium Dubai understood this need and has implemented a solid, future-proof wireless network architecture from Aruba. It is encouraging to learn that the solution has ticked every box on the customer checklist and the results have been more than satisfactory.”
Farook Majeed, CEO, Precedence Technologies said, “A revolution has taken place, from the days when we had one Ethernet port in the room with the hotels offering guests a wired connection, or a dedicated hotel business centre often found in the lobby. A couple years ago, the typical traveller would have carried only a laptop and a phone.
With the mass adoption of smart phones and tablets in the last three years travellers now use their devices anytime and anywhere – for business, personal entertainment, social media engagement and other such purposes. And when they arrive at a hotel, they expect to connect to everything all the time. Guests now demand always-on Wi-Fi across the hotel complex, access to self-service apps and content streaming without delay. Essentially, providing a memorable guest Wi-Fi experience is now a fundamental part of customer satisfaction.”
“We are happy to have been able to implement a state-of-the-art wireless network infrastructure at Grand Millennium Dubai that provides the highest levels of performance and security and is sure to delight all users – whether they be hotel guests or staff.”
