How to Manage IT Across Multiple Hotel Sites

Managing IT across a single hotel is challenging enough. When you have several properties, keeping every system connected, secure and working effectively becomes even more important.

Each hotel has its own network, staff, systems and operational requirements. But your guests expect the same high standard of service wherever they stay.

For hotel groups, the key is having an IT strategy that provides consistency across your properties while still allowing each hotel to operate in the way that suits it best.

Why is managing IT across multiple hotels difficult?

Hotels rely on technology for almost every part of their operation. From reservations and front desk systems to WiFi, EPOS, payment systems, telephones and staff devices, IT needs to work behind the scenes without getting in the way of the guest experience. When you have multiple properties, there are simply more systems, more users and more potential points of failure to manage.

You may also have hotels with different technology infrastructures because systems have been installed or upgraded at different times. The result can be a mixture of old and new equipment, different suppliers and inconsistent levels of IT support. Without a clear strategy, managing this environment can become time-consuming and expensive.

Create a consistent IT infrastructure

One of the first steps is to understand exactly what IT infrastructure you have across every property. This should include your:

• Internet connections
• Network infrastructure
• WiFi
• Firewalls
• Structured cabling
• Servers and cloud services
• EPOS and payment systems
• PMS and other hotel systems
• Staff computers and mobile devices
• Telephony
• CCTV and access control

Once you understand what you have, you can start identifying where standardisation makes sense. Using consistent network equipment, security solutions and device management across your hotels can make IT easier to support and maintain. It also means your IT team or support partner can resolve problems more quickly because they are working with familiar systems.

Don't assume every hotel needs exactly the same IT

Standardisation is useful, but your hotels are not identical. A large London hotel may have very different requirements from a smaller country house hotel or a property with extensive outdoor areas. Your IT strategy should therefore provide a consistent foundation while allowing for the specific requirements of each property.

This is particularly important with WiFi, structured cabling, internet connectivity and guest-facing technology. The objective is not to make every hotel identical. It is to make sure every hotel has the right technology infrastructure to support its operation.

Manage your network across every property

Your network is at the heart of your hotel's IT infrastructure. If the network is unreliable, the impact can quickly spread across the hotel. Staff may struggle to access systems, payments may be affected and guests may lose WiFi connectivity. For a multi-site hotel group, you need visibility of the network at every property.

Status monitoring can help identify connectivity problems and equipment failures, often before they become a major operational issue. It is also worth reviewing the age and condition of network equipment across your estate. A hotel that has grown through several refurbishments may have infrastructure that no longer meets its current requirements.

Make hotel WiFi a priority

Guest WiFi is no longer an optional extra. It is part of the hotel experience. Guests expect fast, secure and consistent connectivity throughout their stay, whether they are in their bedroom, restaurant, meeting room or another part of the property. Across multiple hotels, WiFi should be assessed as part of the overall IT infrastructure rather than treated as a separate service. This means considering coverage, capacity, security and the number of devices connecting to the network. Here's a guide to determining just how much bandwidth you need.

A WiFi problem at one property can quickly become a guest experience problem. A consistent approach to WiFi design and support can help prevent this.

Protect every property from cyber threats

Every hotel holds valuable information and provides multiple potential entry points for cyber threats. Guest information, payment data, employee records, emails and business systems all need to be protected. With multiple properties, cybersecurity needs to be managed across the entire group. This can include managed firewalls, endpoint protection, DNS filtering, email security, security awareness training, vulnerability assessments and appropriate access controls. It is also important to make sure that security updates and policies are applied consistently. You may find this cybersecurity guide useful.

A hotel group is only as secure as the weaknesses within its wider IT environment.

Know what happens when the internet goes down

Internet connectivity is critical to modern hotel operations. If your primary connection fails, the consequences can include problems with payments, cloud applications, communications and guest WiFi. Each property should therefore have a clear plan for connectivity failures.

Depending on the location and requirements of the hotel, this might include a second internet connection, mobile internet or another form of backup connectivity.

The important thing is not simply having a backup. You need to understand how it will work and what systems it will support if your primary connection fails.

Manage IT centrally, support locally

One of the advantages of managing several hotels as a group is that you can take a central approach to IT. Policies, cybersecurity, monitoring, Microsoft 365, user management and many other services can be managed centrally. But hotels also need access to people who understand what is happening on site. Sometimes an IT problem cannot be solved remotely. You may need an engineer to visit the property, check equipment, investigate cabling or resolve a network issue. If your hotel doesn't have an IT Director, you may find this guide to the benefits of a Fractional IT Director useful.

Having access to both remote support and onsite assistance gives hotel groups greater flexibility when problems occur.

Keep an accurate record of your IT

It is difficult to manage multiple properties effectively if you do not know what equipment is installed at each one. An up-to-date IT asset register should record important equipment and infrastructure across your hotels.

This helps you understand:

• What equipment you have and where it is located
• How old it is and when it needs replacing
• Which systems depend on it
• Where potential risks exist

It also makes IT budgeting easier. Rather than waiting for equipment to fail, you can identify upcoming replacement requirements and plan investment around hotel refurbishments and quieter periods.

Plan IT alongside hotel projects

IT should be part of your planning whenever you open, refurbish or expand a hotel. Network infrastructure, structured cabling, WiFi, telephony, CCTV and other technology are much easier to install when they are considered at the beginning of a project. Leaving IT until the end can result in compromises, additional costs and disruption to the hotel.

A wider IT strategy can help you identify what needs to be upgraded, where investment is required and how technology can support the hotel's future plans.

Do you need an IT partner for multiple hotels?

Managing IT across several properties can put significant pressure on an internal team, particularly when that team is also responsible for strategic IT projects. An outsourced IT partner can provide additional expertise and support across the hotel group. This could include IT helpdesk support, network management, cybersecurity, infrastructure, cloud services, WiFi, structured cabling, onsite support and disaster recovery. The important thing is to work with a provider that understands hospitality.

Hotels operate differently from conventional offices. IT problems can affect guests, staff and revenue, so support needs to be responsive and focused on keeping the hotel operating.

Managing hotel IT as one connected operation

Managing IT across multiple hotels does not mean removing the individuality of each property. It means creating a consistent technology foundation that keeps your hotels connected, secure and supported. With the right infrastructure, monitoring, cybersecurity and support in place, your teams can spend less time dealing with IT problems and more time looking after guests.

At Clarity IT, we have over 30 years of experience supporting businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors. We provide IT support, infrastructure, cybersecurity and onsite services for hotels and hotel groups across the UK.

If you are managing IT across multiple properties, the first step is understanding whether your current IT infrastructure and support are giving every hotel the level of service it needs. Get in touch here to talk more about your IT support needs for your hotel chain.

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