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Interview realized by HOTEL & TECHNIK magazine in 1998
(Dedicated Building & Room management System ALADIN)

HOTEL TECHNOLOGY, INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY IS THE ALPHA AND OMEGA FOR A HOTEL

Hans-Georg Dobler, Co-proprietor of the „Schloss Schwarzenfeld" hotel in Germany
Hans-Georg Dobler is a building contractor and joint proprietor of the Schloss Schwarzenfeld Hotel, which was completed in late 1996. With his father, Hans Dobler, he left nothing to chance at the planning phase. That is why they decided to equip their hotel with a dedicated Building Management System

H&T: Mr Dobler, what principles did you and your father apply to the construction of your hotel?
Hans-Georg Dobler: We travel a great deal and therefore have personal experience of a great many hotels. In time, you gain a clear idea of guests’ dislikes and know how their comfort can be enhanced. We implemented this personal knowledge in our own project. Economic viability is the alpha and omega of any hotel operation and you can already do a great deal to achieve this goal when the initial plans are drawn up. When the first plans are prepared, mistakes are often made. These result later on in a loss of comfort, functional quality and efficiency.

H&T: One decision that you took was to equip your hotel with a dedicated Control System.
Hans-Georg Dobler: Yes, just imagine that a total of 98 km of cable were laid in our hotel. The technology behind the scenes is incredibly sophisticated. We chose „Hotelgyr" by Landis & Staefa and are completely satisfied with the System. It controls heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the rooms and also supervises access by magnetic cards.

H&T: One feature of Hotelgyr, as you said, is a Room Management System, which is dependent on bookings. What does that actually mean?
Hans-Georg Dobler: It means that when rooms are vacant, the heating is automatically turned down. That keeps heating costs low. A sophisticated System also ensures that no rooms are overheated or excessively cold. Each room is to some extent computer controlled and offers the guest optimum comfort in terms of room climate and other convenience features. Another important point is that the hotelier enjoys substantial energy cost savings. For instance, the lighting is also controlled to optimize energy use. Drinks taken from the minibar bar are automatically recorded and billed on checkout. One touch of luxury for guests is that they can activate a digital „Do not disturb" sign from their bed by pressing a button.

H&T: As you already said, energy saving is a very important factor in a hotel along with guest comfort.
Hans-Georg Dobler: Normally, daily energy costs per room are 8 to 10 marks. In the Schloss Schwarzenfeld Hotel, our intelligent technology means that they only cost 3 marks. So for our total 90 rooms, this is a big overall saving.

H&T: What about monitoring the installed technology. Do you have a house technician who checks and supervises everything?
Hans-Georg Dobler: No. We do not need such a person because the system is so easy to understand that it can be controlled and monitored by any employee. We have eight interfaces at the reception desk which enable all sectors such as the door closing System or the fitness zone to be monitored. We are also connected on line to our headquarters site 40 km away and can intervene if necessary.

H&T: What other benefits does the System bring?
Hans-Georg Dobler: One thing which I greatly appreciated in my very first discussion with Landis & Staefa was the fact that our very special needs can be easily implemented and respected with this System. We welcomed the effective energy management and good Control. After all there are always two sides to be considered. Firstly, management and profitability of a hotel and secondly, guest comfort. With us, guests feel at home not least because of the intelligent technology. Perhaps one other thing should be mentioned. The technology does not clash with the design and furnishings of our hotel; in other words, the switches in the bedrooms match the general design and even carry the name and logo of our company. That is perfection down to the last detail.

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Technical Hotel Management

All right, the book, Technical Hotel Management, by Jacques Levy-Bonvin might not have been among those exhibited in the Swiss pavilion at the Frankfurt Book Fair ...

... but for the modern-day hotel proprietor and builder, this publication is nevertheless a must!

For millions of years, termites have been building their nests in such a technically perfect way that experts can only look on in amazement. Not only the organisational procedures in the construction of the mounds are optimal, but also the way the sun shines on them and, in particular, the air-conditioning! A veritable masterpiece of structural engineering!

In comparison with termites, we humans have only started in recent years to develop a style of building technology which is in harmony with the latest findings in the field of engineering. Even today, the interior of a car has a much more sophisticated design than, for example, a hotel room...

With Jacques Levy-Bonvin's new book, the hotelier, architect or building engineer has a vade mecum to hand which does not just contain clearly presented ideas for new and renovated buildings, but is also packed with tried-and-tested tips on how to save money.

So why don't you gain another qualification star for the technical fixtures in your hotel - your guests will stay longer, will be prepared to pay for the added value and will return over and over again!

Swiss International Hotels
Dominik Betschart,
founder and delegate to the
Board of Directors

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Eurhotec '98

Moving on the issue of the guest's hotel environment, Jacques Levy-Bonvin pointed out that hotels were sophisticated buildings and heavy energy consumers. Despite this, many four star, five star and deluxe hotels either have no Building Management Systems (BMS) or are still managed according to obsolete standards (restricted to thermal comfort only). A BMS was no longer located in the basement, but directly linked to the front office.

By integrating controls over security, indoor air quality, light, communication and energy management, a Room Management System (RMS) ensured the guest a number of obvious benefits (peace of mind, well-being, satisfaction) while being cost-efficient for management. It was essential  that guests were able to operate these controls. Before wishing a guest pleasant dreams, a hotel had to offer him a good night's sleep!

Looking to the future, hotel management would integrate RMS and BMS in a single system. This was not a matter of investing more money, but rather of saving considerably more.

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"HOTELS" magazine
October 1998

New Building Management Book

A new book discussing the history, philosophies and strategies of hotel building management was published earlier this year by Jacques Levy-Bonvin, director of hotels marketing, Europe, for Landis & Staefa, an energy management system supplier based in Zug, Switzerland.

This one-of -a-kind, 210-page book provides an educational analysis and overview of the hotel industry, the guest experience, the evolution of building management and the strategies behind managing energy costs.

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World Travel & Tourism Development '98  

Converging technologies, guests control over their own in-room environment and the millennium bug were some of the many IT issues raised and discussed at the International Hotel & Restaurant Association EURHOTEC '98 conference and its think-tank on technology.

The guest's control over his or her environment was also at the centre of a presentation by Jacques Levy-Bonvin, hotel consultant at Landis & Staefa. By integrating controls for security, indoor air quality, light, communication and energy management, a Room Management System (RMS) will provide customers with a number of obvious benefits while saving costs.

Mr. Lévy pointed out that hotels are sophisticated buildings and consequently heavy-energy consumers."Despite this many four star, five star and deluxe hotels either have no Building Management System (BMS) or are still managed according to obsolete standards," he said. "In the future," he predicted, "hotels will integrate RMS and BMS in a single system resulting in significant cost savings."

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