The Company:
Vered HaGalil Guest Farm, situated on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Israel. Since the 1960s, the farm has offered guests rest and relaxation in cabins, cottages and suites built of wood and local basalt stone. In addition to horseback riding, guests enjoy “close-to-nature” spa treatments and beautiful peaceful scenery.
The Challenge: With the goal of improving the efficiency, security and customer experience, the guest farm owners decided to turn their property into a smart hotel.
The Process in Phases:
- PHASE I:To gain complete visibility of the room status and availability, the hotel management system and room motion detectors were connected to an IoT platform. Any motion within a room that is “checked-out” trigger an alert. In addition, a connected key card system was installed, equipping all guest room doors with key less entry cards. Entry and exit were monitored to prevent unauthorized access and tracked to check-in/check-out hours.
- PHASE II:After the success of the room status monitoring, the hotel decided to expand their usage of the IoT platform, to save on energy as well. They installed sensors on the lights and A/C and integrated into their dashboard. Correlating no-motion, together with the room status and door entry, enables them to automatically turn these out when they are not being occupied. This resulted in a significant reduction in the hotel’s energy consumption.
- PHASE III:The hotel regularly loans saddles for guests taking horse-back riding excursions on scenic trails in the area. Equipment went missing regularly, putting a financial burden on the hotel.
All saddles were tagged using beacons, which were also integrated into the IoT platform, providing full visibility of equipment locations and alerting when the equipment exits the permitted area. - PHASE IV:In the future the hotel is planning to install an array of sensors to monitor temperature and humidity in the lobby and guest recreation areas. They are also looking into sensors that can monitor soil conditions in their garden, so they can reduce water waste and improve their gardening efforts.
Vered Hagalil’s selected Axonize as their IoT platform to carry out the processes laid out above. Here are some tips from the company based on their own experiences:
- Start SmallThe company immediately benefited from monitoring the rooms’ status and availability. Axonize’s ability to connect to any sensor/device laid the groundwork for expansion in small stages, while allowing to them to start with only a small commitment.
- Gradual Planning & InvestmentThe customer added features to their IoT project at their own pace, investing in incremental improvements.
- Unified app & platformAny IoT initiative they choose to undertake can be integrated into the same platform, and fast. This can also lead to cross-application analytics and rules to enable smarter hotel management.
- Energy & cost savingsEquipment and energy savings were significant, therefore they realized a positive ROI on the IoT investment.
- Improved guest experienceAlthough they are a small hotel, they were able to offer convenience & automation, often offered only by large hotels.
To learn more about Axonize’s IoT orchestration platform and how it can benefit your organization, contact us today.