The Dorchester hotel interactive TV project
Costs, revenues and impact to-date! - By David Wilkinson, General Manager, The Dorchester

Faced with a defunct television, the normal reaction would be to go to your nearest electrical supplier and presented with a wall of blaring televisions, take the advice of a badly trained sixteen-year-old. Wide screen, flat screen, digital, Dolby Stereo, NICAM vision - all considerations, but still relatively simple ones when you compare it to the complicated and involved decisions we set ourselves when choosing to renew our 300 odd, ten year old TV sets at The Dorchester.

In 2000, The Dorchester embarked on plans for a major refurbishment following the extensive works carried out to the hotel in 1989 and 1990. As part of the research into what services Dorchester guests would expect in the new Millennium in their rooms, we decided on a two-pronged approach. The first was to remain with the very popular 'English country house style decor' which was the hallmark of the hotel, and had consistently received positive feedback from our guests. The second was to research what guests wanted to have in their rooms from a business and recreational standpoint.

In a sense, we were lucky. Not only were the TV cabinets in the rooms due to be replaced, but our Finlux TV's had reached the end of their normal life expectancy, and needed urgent replacing. We were thus in a position where we could marry the replacement of both furniture and equipment so that we could provide a carefully thought through complete solution which would, hopefully, exceed any expectations our guests might have about their in-room business and entertainment services.

The project started in 2000, and one of the first exploratory visits was to view a demo of a digital interactive system on trial in the Harley Street Clinic. This was running on a 42 inch plasma screen, which was most impressive. We were smitten but at the time plasmas were beyond budgetary reach. We did, however feel that the price of plasmas would fall within two years, and also that the technology involved would improve, both of which have proved to be the case.

At this time we paid a visit to the TV show in Berlin, which is one of the biggest in Europe, and it became clear that the plasma screens were definitely here to stay. No company at that show was able to offer a comprehensive interactive system for a hotel which would provide digital film content. As we had never had movies on demand at The Dorchester, we felt it best to wait for the digital solution to arrive, as we were not prepared to have large banks of VCRs in our basement, offering mediocre picture quality and a limited number of films to a limited number of guests at a time. We wanted a solution for the 21st century.

Discussions were held with quite a number of prospective suppliers of a digital interactive TV service during this research period. At the same time, we worked up our own very extensive and comprehensive specification, which was purposely designed to challenge both our own technical team and also the companies who were pitching for our business. At about this time various companies were also trying to 'sell' the option of a free-standing PC to sit on the desk in a hotel bedroom. Invariably, the company in question would invest in the Cat 5 cabling, but intended to take a large share of the revenue from the system.

We talked to guests, to other hoteliers, and to many different prospective suppliers and concluded that the way forward required the convergence of television and PC so that there would be one co-ordinated unit in the room with an 'all-in-one' solution. This was a critical decision which eventually led us to work with Neos Interactive, who are currently installing their system in The Dorchester, to be completed early in 2003.

What does the system do? - In the first instance, the system works as a TV, either on a Loewe 28" set or on a 42" NEC plasma.

• The NEOS system offers the guest a large number of business and entertainment options. An extensive film library allows the guest to watch a film whenever they wish with DVD quality picture. The guest can fast forward, rewind or pause the movie at will, so they can, for example, stop the movie to take a phone call and then revert to the movie.

• An extensive music library allows the guest to access up to 5,000 music tracks, by category and by artist. High quality sound comes from the Loewe sets, or in the case of plasma rooms, from a Bose system.

• Guests who do not carry a laptop are able to access Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint using a remote infra red keyboard.

• There is high speed connection to the internet both on the TV and at the desk point provided by a 2Mb line into the hotel. The guest can plug their laptop in to the plasma screen using a VGA socket at the desk point. This is particularly ideal for guests who are preparing or rehearsing a PowerPoint presentation.

• A USB port at the desk allows guests to plug their laptop into the printer, which is housed in most rooms in the TV cabinet. This also operates as a fax, printer, photocopier and scanner. Guests can also print from the TV system, using a switch located in the TV cabinet.

• The advent of internet radio allows for a large selection of international radio channels to be available. Thus a guest from New York can listen to his or her favourite radio station, as can a guest from New Zealand or Japan.

• The entire guest room directory has been loaded on to the system, meaning that the printing of a bulky directory is no longer strictly necessary.

• As there is a Compaq P4 PC built into the new TV cabinet in every room, this also operates as a DVD and CD player.

The seamless integration of this high tech, futuristic system into the traditional 'English Country house' atmosphere of the bedrooms and sitting rooms was crucial. The hotel worked closely with Francesca Basu Designs to find a sympathetic solution that had artistic/design integrity as well as being practical. The final solution, which in many rooms involved the building of bespoke cabinets, has been commended for blending perfectly into the surroundings.

Service and education have also been addressed. Whilst many guests are highly computer literate, some are not and The Dorchester has therefore pioneered the position of 'e-butler' to pro-actively advise and assist guests with this new system, both for laptop and non laptop users.

The future - The beauty of the NEOS system is that it is easily upgradeable and can be easily adapted to the needs of the individual hotels in which it is offered. It is, in every sense, a bespoke system. The Dorchester is not a cookie-cutter hotel; nor are the services it offers to guests. We are thus working very closely with Neos Interactive on the future developments of the system, which will be mainly driven by guest feedback once the installation is complete. The infrastructure of Cat 5 and fibre optic cabling which was installed in the hotel to enable the Neos system to operate will allow for additions to the current system; for example, video conferencing facilities in all suites.

Costs - The system was expensive to introduce. But the curtains, the bedspreads, the carpets and the furniture in The Dorchester are equally expensive, in keeping with the standards for which the hotel is renowned. Both the interiors and the system are an investment. Small details added to the cost. As the TV cabinets were specifically designed to house the components of the Neos system, they cost slightly more than a normal TV cabinet. They were designed in two parts so that migration from Loewe to plasma sets can take place if driven by guest demand. The screens and TVs were expensive. Plasma sets are now available for less than £3,000, with the Loewe sets costing under £1,000. The PCs also come in under £1,000.

Revenues - We developed various revenue streams: films, music library, internet access, office applications, advertising, laptop connectivity and, in future, commissions from sales over the system, as well as other avenues, which are still under discussion.

The impact to-date - With three floors already installed, the feedback from Dorchester guests has been extremely positive, and we are sure that the infrastructure we have put in place will allow us to develop the system to meet guests' future expectations for quite a few years to come.