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News for the Hospitality Executive |
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| NEW YORK, NY –
JUNE 8,
2010 – Providing
hotel guests with in-room entertainment used to be “simple.” Plug
in a 19” CRT (color!), offer a handful
of channels and pay-per-view from one of the “usual suspects” and check
back in
10 years. With rapid changes in consumer
electronics and entertainment systems, however, that’s no longer the
case. After all, millions of homes now feature huge
HD sets equipped with hundreds of channels and interactive TV services
and
connected to amazing surround sound systems.
And if that’s what you’re accustomed to at home, having anything less
when travelling just won’t do. So when
Rex Hakimian of The Hakimian Organization was planning for the Andaz
Wall
Street Hotel in New York City (one of the latest properties in Hyatt’s
new
lifestyle brand), he knew he had to find an in-room entertainment
provider that
would deliver an entertainment experience that was out-of-the-ordinary
and much
more in line with the expectations of today’s guests.
“We went through an exhaustive review and selected KoolConnect for a number of reasons,” said Hakimian. “We were certainly impressed with their client list and references. What really sold us, however, was the way in which they were willing to customize their system to our tastes. We have been extremely pleased with KoolConnect’s performance and the response from our guests,” he added. In addition to assisting in the selection of HD free-to-guest TV channels and assisting in the integration of those services, KoolConnect also created a completely customized TV “portal” that is unique to the Andaz Wall Street in terms of design, features and functionality. “Starting from the moment when the guest first enters the room and they encounter soothing music and museum-quality HD images emanating from their TV. We’ve helped the Hakimian Organization to make their guest experience truly exceptional and unique to their property,” said KoolConnect CEO Dave Tahan. Movie content remains a critical component of a VOD system and the Andaz Wall Street also provides an impressive array of offerings in that regard for their guests as well. “Unlike other systems in place at some hotels in New York City, Andaz Wall Street will have the latest Hollywood movies, including many that are still in theatres,” said Tahan. When asked for an example, Tahan noted that in April “Avatar” was playing in full HD at the Andaz for several weeks before it was released on DVD. “Not all hotels get movies in the ‘hospitality window’ and not all VOD providers have access to this exclusive window. Since KoolConnect has this premier access, we’re able to offer Andaz Wall Street movies that guests could only see in theatres and that won’t be on DVD for several more weeks and won’t be on cable TV for several months. Movies in that ‘window’ are still very popular and also profitable for hotels and help to deliver a positive ROI, which many other systems without that same content can’t do,” said Tahan. In addition to being pleased with the KoolConnect system, Hakimian also had good things to say about KoolConnect’s professionalism and service during and after the installation. “KoolConnect’s staff has been extremely responsive and flexible. We’ve been extremely pleased and would highly recommend KoolConnect to another hotel,” said Hakimian. The Andaz Wall Street opened on January 11, 2010. ABOUT KOOLCONNECT TECHNOLOGIES KoolConnect Technologies Inc. is the longest-running fully digital provider of interactive TV services to the hospitality industry. KoolConnect was the first company to offer HD VOD in the hospitality industry and today, the company’s Intrigue solution – the most customized and fully integrated VOD system in the industry - serves nearly 20,000 rooms in prestigious properties in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Qatar and the Caribbean. To learn more about KoolConnect, visit www.koolconnect.com. |
| Contact: KoolConnect Michael DiLeva 215-519-6447 [email protected] |