Adding room automation to an operating hotel
How to retrofit guest room management into a hotel that stays open: wired or wireless, what changes in the room, and how to phase the work.
Most hotels in India that want room automation are not new buildings. They are trading hotels with guests in the rooms, finished interiors and no appetite for chasing walls. The good news is that a guest room management system (GRMS) can be added to an operating hotel without closing it. The work is planned differently from a new build.
Wired or wireless
In a new building, everything in the room is cabled back to a room controller, usually above the bathroom ceiling or in the wardrobe. That is the most robust arrangement, and the cheapest to install while the walls are open.
In an operating hotel, running new cables to every switch means damaged walls, repainting and rooms out of service. Wireless devices avoid most of it:
- Switches and keypads that fit the existing wall boxes and talk to the controller by radio (RF) or Wi-Fi.
- Battery or mains-powered sensors that mount on the ceiling and door frame without new wiring.
- A controller that sits where power is already available.
Many retrofits are a mix: wired where the cable already exists (the AC unit, the main lighting circuit), wireless for everything else. Leo’s wireless retrofit kit is built for this.
What changes in the room
For the guest, the visible changes are small:
- New switch plates or keypads in the same positions as the old switches.
- A key card switch or RFID energy saver by the door.
- A courtesy panel outside the door for Do Not Disturb and Make Up Room.
- Often a new thermostat, so the hotel can set limits on the AC.
Behind the scenes, the controller connects these to the lights, the fan-coil or split unit and the curtains, and reports the room’s state to a room status dashboard at the front desk.
Phasing the work
The usual way to retrofit without upsetting guests:
- Survey. An engineer looks at the wiring, the AC type, the existing switches and the network in a few typical rooms of each type.
- Sample room. One room is fitted completely, so management, housekeeping and engineering can try it and change what they do not like before anything is ordered in bulk.
- Floor by floor. Rooms are taken out of inventory a few at a time, usually on low-occupancy days, fitted and tested, and handed back.
- Connect the systems. Once enough rooms are live, the GRMS is linked to the property management system so check-in and check-out reach the room. See PMS and BMS integration.
- Train the teams. Front desk, housekeeping and engineering each use the dashboard differently and need their own short session.
Questions to ask a supplier
- Can the devices fit our existing wall boxes and switch positions?
- Which parts are wireless, and what happens if the network or a battery fails?
- How many rooms can be done a day without affecting guests?
- Does it work with our PMS, door locks and AC units? Ask for the interface by name.
- Who maintains it after handover, and how are faults reported?
Is a retrofit worth it?
The energy saving in an operating hotel is the same as in a new one: rooms stop cooling when they are empty. Because nothing else in the building changes, the return can be estimated before you start. Try the savings estimator with your own room count and tariff, then book a site survey to check the figure against your rooms.
