Mercator provides IT infrastructure for latest Premier Inn

Dubai, U.A.E., 14th February 2010 – Mercator, the award-winning business technology provider, has completed its third project with Premier Inn in Dubai. Premier Inn Hotels LLC, an Emirates Group joint venture with Whitbread, officially opened its newest hotel, located opposite Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, last Thursday.

Premier Inn now operates three hotels in Dubai, this latest one adding to the existing hotels at Dubai Investments Park and Silicon Oasis. Mercator used experience from projects it completed on the previous two Dubai Premier Inn properties as a foundation to create the deliverables for the latest hotel. The physical work involved in building the infrastructure remained the same, but the lessons learned previously were useful in accelerating the project and providing significant efficiency gains and cost reductions.

To ensure hotel guests staying for business and leisure alike have access to the very best connectivity, the Mercator team was challenged with the design and installation of crucial IT infrastructure. This included the provision of both wired and wireless access points - no fewer than twenty wireless access points on each floor – to ensure Wi-Fi coverage throughout the hotel. This affords Premier Inn guests the convenience of reliable internet access and enables them to use laptops computers, not just in the 281 bedrooms, but wherever they are in the hotel. This service is provided to guests free of charge.

Another essential element of the project was for Mercator to install Opera Property Management System – an electronic door locking system using KABA-SAFLOK door lock software. This allows the hotel staff to create and delete access keys on the system, smoothing the check-in process and allowing guests trouble-free entry into their room.

On the opening of the latest hotel, Patrick Naef, Head of Mercator said: “We are pleased to have worked on this, the third Premier Inn property for which we have supplied the IT infrastructure. The optimised business systems we created and provided were tailored with the overall guest experience in mind. Once again the Mercator team worked efficiently and with great skill and commitment to ensure the project was completed on time.”

Darroch Crawford, Managing Director of Premier Inn in the Middle East said “I am delighted with the high quality of service provided by Mercator, who have delivered each project on time and on budget, despite a very tight timescale. It was absolutely the right choice to select Mercator for this project and I look forward to working with them on our future sites in Abu Dhabi and throughout the region.”