�Hotels with around 100 rooms or less are a perfect match for us,� says Vince Lucci, president of Broadband Hospitality. �We have been installing, supporting and maintaining phone systems for that property size for 10 years. We understand what their communications needs are.�

Lucci says many larger HSIA companies don�t have the time to provide the type of personalized service and support that Broadband Hospitality offers to smaller hotels. Broadband provides tech support via a toll-free number 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

�Our experience installing HSIA in midsize hotels also has made us a perfect match for larger, full-service hotels,� Lucci says. �For example, we have installed HSIA in the 300-room Hilton Garden Inn in Cleveland, the 421-room Executive Plaza/Hotel 71 in Chicago, and the 471-room French Lick Springs Resort in French Lick, Ind.�

Referrals Boost Broadband�s Business

Many of Broadband�s new customers have been referred to the company by members of the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Assn. (OH&LA), an organization the company strongly supports. Many of OH&LA�s members own and operate smaller, limited-service properties.

Vinu Patel, president of OH&LA and also president of Cleveland-based Oakwood Hospitality, has partnered with Broadband Hospitality to install HSIA in three of Oakwood�s Cleveland area properties. They include the Hampton Inn Airport (81 rooms), Holiday Inn Express in Oakwood (66 rooms) and Holiday Inn Express in Streetsboro (72 rooms). 

�Broadband Hospitality is very efficient,� Patel says. �Their customer service is excellent and the staff is very knowledgeable. Our guests like the fact that we offer HSIA. Eventually, all chains will require it. If you have a business clientele, you cannot compete without HSIA. It has become an expected amenity.�

Navin Patel, owner of the Holiday Inn Express in Brookpark, Ohio � the first hotel in which Broadband installed HSIA � agrees that providing guests with HSIA is critical.
�In this country, everything is high-speed,� says Patel. �Check-in is fast. Check-out is fast. Guests want everything fast now. They have HSIA at home and expect it when they are traveling. If you still have a dial-up connection, your guests may use it but they won�t come back.�

Navin Patel says the InterContinental Hotels Group soon will require its Holiday Inn hotels that offer HSIA to provide access to 24-hour tech support.

Installation Blitz Gains Momentum

Broadband Hospitality is about to install more than 2,600 rooms in 10 states over the next 60 days. The company now has more than 11,500 rooms installed or under contract. Hotels soon to be installed with HSIA include: the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Greensburg, Ind. (75 rooms); Hampton Inn, Merriam, Kan. (88 rooms); and the Holiday Inn Express in Columbia, Mo. (66 rooms). 

�We�ve more than doubled the number of rooms we have installed in the past year,� Lucci says. �The demand is definitely there. We expect to reach our goal of having 20,000 rooms installed or under contract by the end of the year.�

Lucci says hotels benefit in several important ways by offering HSIA. 

�Hotels can increase occupancy rates, revenue and meeting space revenue,� he says. �It improves guest satisfaction and retention. Broadband can install a system that will work right over existing phone lines. It provides Internet access up to 50 times faster than a standard modem. A hotel with about 100 rooms or less takes about three days to install. The installation process does not inconvenience the hotelier or the guest.�
To help continue its rapid growth pace, Broadband Hospitality plans to hire four additional sales representatives in the next few months. The company is seeking candidates for positions in Detroit, Cincinnati, Tennessee and the Virginia/Carolinas region.

Visit with a Broadband Hospitality representative at booth 127 at HITEC. The event will be held June 24-26, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

About Broadband Hospitality:

Founded in 1993, Broadband Hospitality�s mission is to help hotels leverage the full power of the Internet by providing complete, high-quality, high-performance Internet solutions.

In addition to providing HSIA solutions for guestrooms, business centers, kiosks and conference rooms, Broadband Hospitality offers print services (printing guest documents via the in-room Internet connection), e-commerce platforms for hotel chains, video on demand, videoconferencing and voice over IP. Broadband is currently testing all available wireless technologies to determine how best to provide wireless HSIA in hotel lobbies and conference centers. Areas where guests can use such service are called "hot spots."

Broadband Hospitality offers a wide range of voice solutions, including local service. The company also is an authorized Mitel dealer that installs and services hotel phone systems. Because of its strategic partnerships with companies such as AT&T, Qwest Mitel and Tut Systems, Broadband Hospitality can offer its customers the best possible telecommunications and network solutions at the best possible price.
Broadband Hospitality is the preferred HSIA vendor of the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Assn. At its convention in April, the OH&LA presented Broadband Hospitality with its Stars of the Industry Allied Member of the Year award. The company meets the brand standards for HSIA for Hilton Garden Inn hotels and most standards set by leading franchisors. For more information about Broadband Hospitality, go to www.broadbandhospitality.com or call Vince Lucci, president, at (330) 629-8848.