“Hello, front desk… there’s no hot water in Room 321, and I have a meeting at 9 a.m.!”
That’s not a welcome phone call at a hotel front desk—especially at quality brand properties like those owned by Arc Hospitality. Hilton Garden Inn and Marriott Courtyard are two of the 11 well-known brands of more than 80 properties the group manages. Their mission is to provide a superior personal experience for guests. Environmental factors impact this experience, so the properties strive to maintain stable ambient temperature and humidity in all interior rooms, hallways and group areas. They also try to maintain set water temperature ranges in all bathrooms.
Maintaining a comfortable environment
Arc Hospitality recently started using environmental monitoring systems to aid this process. They installed Sensaphone Sentinel™ devices at several properties as a trial, starting with a Marriott Courtyard in Gainesville, Florida. They were particularly intrigued by the product’s ability to place status icons on a real-time Google map indicating green or red for OK/not OK at one glance. They now get instant real-time Internet access to temperature and humidity readings as well as lobby and entrance area readings, ensuring the “Marriott Experience.”
At this same location, the system monitors boiler room water temperature using Hi/Lo thresholds and a water incursion sensor. If the system detects a reading outside of the acceptable range, it sends emails, text messages and VoIP phone calls to the local property manager. This early notification provides plenty of lead time to correct possible problems. Alarm messaging that uses delay tiers for longstanding alarms is particularly useful for off-property corporate managers. They now get valuable insight into troubled properties.
Arc Hospitality plans to roll out at least twelve more environmental monitoring systems to their properties that have older HVAC equipment. This is especially important for properties in high humidity areas such as south Florida.
Detecting problems during construction
Recently, a Sentinel system notified workers about a water pressure drop at an Arc Hospitality property under construction. The system was monitoring temperature, humidity, and water pressure. It issued a low water pressure alarm, indicating a problem with the current boiler configuration. The system’s data log also offered records of pressure readings related to time, which indicated periods of demand. This information gave the contractors the information they needed to reconfigure the boiler to respond correctly during peak demand.
Convenient cloud-based solution
In multi-dwelling units like hotel facilities, Sentinel base units can be inconspicuously placed in utility closets. At the Arc Hospitality properties using the Sentinel system, temperature sensors are placed in the lobby, top and bottom floors, and dehumidifier input duct. Humidity sensors are located in the lobby and top floor. Only one Sentinel system is needed to monitor the public areas of the entire hotel and up to 12 different environmental and equipment status conditions. Monitored conditions include temperature, humidity, water detection and power failure. The Sentinel system stores all sensor readings in the cloud, which provides unlimited information storage and protects against data loss. Facility personnel can manage multiple devices from one account via the Internet.
Ensuring a comfortable experience
Arc Hospitality’s mission is to provide the weary traveler only the best experience to recharge, refresh and enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Thanks to the Sentinel system, guests can enjoy consistently hot showers and comfortable environmental conditions, and the hotels see happy, repeat customers.
