"While the hospitality industry produces more and more sophisticated means of administrative management, technical hotel management is often considered of second-rate importance. Nevertheless, technical hotel management is just as important as administrative management to make hotel guests satisfied."

This statement was made by Jacques Levy-Bonvin, author of about 50 technical papers on "Hotels –Technical Management, Needs and Solutions" and consultant for hotel management, who made a presentation at the Eurhotec 2000 conference in Lausanne.

Talking about "intelligent hotels", Jacques Levy-Bonvin and two other speakers confirmed that new solutions permitted the optimization of hotel services without swallowing large amounts of energy and operating costs. All resources must be put to work to satisfy the guests’ comfort needs.

It can also be queried why, for example, administrative matters are left exclusively to marketing operations? Today’s means in the fields of informatics and technology allow them to be used in services and reception as well. And, in business travel, this certainly helps enhance customer satisfaction.

Jacques Levy-Bonvin, the specialist for technical hotel management, advocates customer-oriented technology

A certain comfort idea
"But what does comfort actually mean?" says Jacques Levy-Bonvin. The whole environment and, of course, indoor air quality! Comfort can be perfectly controlled and defined, aimed at matching the guest’s individual needs while giving consideration to his / her requirements in terms of thermal, olfactory and technical comfort and offering the hotel economical advantages. This means that a well managed and optimized customer database greatly helps from a technical point of view, not only in independent hotels but also in large hotel chains. And to the business traveller who wants to find his / her little "kingdom" at each location, this is of great importance, be it in London, Vancouver or Dubai, representing an essential element of customer satisfaction.

Still, from the hotel guest’s point of view, every technical system has its limits, especially when it is not user-friendly. It should be considered that the guest must be able to adjust his / her environmental conditions, that is, his / her comfort, to suit the needs on a particular day. The main restriction is that encountered in the hotel itself, insisted the speakers – how many travellers have complained about the operation of the room fan coil units so sophisticated that it necessitated several pages of operating instructions? Or about a complex in-house communications system that was put out of operation by accidental manipulation?

This is very unfortunate, considering that the hotelier made substantial investments for the renovation of his hotel.

Of all the buildings that exist, hotels are undoubtedly those with the most complex management. Every day, the hotel must satisfy the needs of temporary guests with all their individual wishes regarding comfort, safety, telecommunications, etc.

Nowadays, hoteliers want integrated room management systems to be part of their modern hotel, to the benefit of all – guests and hotel investors alike.