From Wet Concrete to Welcome Guests: What It Takes to Launch a Modern Hotel
From Wet Concrete to Welcome Guests: What It Takes to Launch a Modern Hotel
12.06.26
A conversation with John Dickson, Crowne Plaza Geelong, and Loiy Kailani, Infinet.
When guests walk into a new hotel, they see beautifully designed spaces, welcoming staff and seamless service. What they don’t see is the technology ecosystem working behind the scenes to make every interaction possible.
For the team behind Crowne Plaza Geelong, delivering a premium guest experience meant ensuring every technology system was ready from day one. From guest connectivity and communications to operational systems and hotel infrastructure, success depended on building a strong foundation long before the first guest checked in.
We sat down with John Dickson from Crowne Plaza Geelong and Loiy Kailani from Infinet to discuss what it takes to launch a modern hotel from the ground up and why technology has become such a critical part of the guest experience.
Interviewer: John, when you’re opening a brand-new hotel, where does technology fit into the overall project?
John Dickson:
Technology is involved in almost every aspect of hotel operations today, so it needs to be considered much earlier than many people realise.
Guests expect reliable connectivity, seamless service and convenience as standard. At the same time, our teams rely on technology to manage operations efficiently, communicate effectively and deliver a consistent experience.
When you’re building a hotel from the ground up, you have a unique opportunity to get the foundation right from day one.
Interviewer: What were the key objectives for Crowne Plaza Geelong?
John Dickson:
The goal was to create an environment that delivers an exceptional guest experience while also supporting our team behind the scenes.
We wanted technology that was reliable, secure and scalable. Not just for opening day, but for where the business will be five or ten years from now.
Hospitality continues to evolve rapidly, and we wanted confidence that the hotel could adapt as guest expectations and operational requirements continue to change.
Interviewer: Loiy, Infinet became involved while the hotel was still under construction. What makes these projects different from a traditional IT deployment?
Loiy Kailani:
A hotel opening is one of the most complex technology projects you’ll encounter.
You’re coordinating multiple stakeholders, construction teams, hospitality vendors, communications providers, network infrastructure, guest technologies and operational systems, all while the building itself is still being completed.
Technology needs to be carefully integrated into the construction process rather than simply installed at the end.
The challenge isn’t just deploying technology. It’s ensuring every system works together seamlessly on opening day.
Interviewer: What are some of the technology considerations that guests might never see?
Loiy Kailani:
Almost everything.
Guests see Wi-Fi, room entertainment and perhaps digital services, but behind that sits a significant amount of infrastructure.
You have networks supporting staff operations and guest services, communications platforms, property management systems, security systems, payment systems, entertainment services and back-of-house applications all working together.
When everything works properly, guests don’t notice the technology. That’s exactly how it should be.
Interviewer: John, how have guest expectations changed over the years?
John Dickson:
Technology has shifted from being a convenience to being an expectation.
Guests arrive with multiple devices and expect seamless connectivity throughout the property. Business travellers expect to be productive. Leisure travellers expect convenience. Event attendees expect reliable access and communication.
The reality is that technology now forms part of the overall guest experience. It directly influences how people perceive their stay.
Interviewer: Loiy, when you’re designing a technology environment for a new hotel, what principles guide your decisions?
Loiy Kailani:
Future readiness is probably the most important.
A hotel may operate for decades, but technology evolves constantly. We focus on building a foundation that allows the property to adopt new technologies and services without having to redesign core infrastructure.
That means considering performance, resilience, security and scalability from the very beginning.
The objective is to create an environment that supports today’s requirements while remaining flexible enough for tomorrow’s opportunities.
Interviewer: Can you tell us about the technology foundation that was designed for Crowne Plaza Geelong?
Loiy Kailani:
The solution was designed around enterprise-grade infrastructure aligned with global hospitality standards.
At the core of the environment is an HPE ProLiant Gen11 server platform, providing the compute power needed to support hotel operations, virtualised workloads and critical hospitality applications. The infrastructure includes dedicated production and backup environments, combining high-performance solid-state storage with business continuity capabilities to ensure reliability and resilience.
By implementing a virtualised environment, the hotel can efficiently support multiple operational systems while maintaining flexibility for future growth and technology adoption.
Most importantly, the infrastructure was designed to provide the performance and availability required in a hospitality environment where operations run around the clock and guest expectations are always high.
Technology Foundation
To support both guest-facing services and hotel operations, Crowne Plaza Geelong was built on an HPE-powered hybrid cloud deployment with workloads running both onsite and off. The infrastructure platform designed for performance, resilience and future growth.
Core Infrastructure
HPE ProLiant DL320 Gen11 Production and Backup Servers
Gen11 Production server with high-performance SSD storage supporting critical hospitality applications
Dedicated backup and recovery infrastructure
HPE Tech Care Essential 24×7 support services
Interviewer: Why is resilience so important in a hospitality environment?
Loiy Kailani:
Hotels operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Whether it’s guest check-in, room access, communications, payments or operational systems, there is very little tolerance for downtime.
That’s why resilience was a key design principle from the outset. The HPE infrastructure provides the redundancy, performance and recoverability needed to support business continuity and ensure guests receive a seamless experience at all times.
Interviewer: John, looking back on the project, what stands out most?
John Dickson:
The collaboration. Launching a hotel requires many different partners working together towards a common goal. Success comes from having people who understand both the operational and technical requirements and can bring those worlds together.
The outcome we’re most proud of is that guests can simply enjoy their experience without thinking about the technology supporting it.
Interviewer: Loiy, final thoughts?
Loiy Kailani:
The best hotel technology is technology that feels invisible. When guests enjoy a seamless experience, staff can focus on service, and the hotel has confidence in its ability to grow and evolve, then the technology is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
For us, Crowne Plaza Geelong represents what can be achieved when technology planning begins early and is aligned to the long-term vision of the property.
About Crowne Plaza Geelong
Located on Geelong’s revitalised waterfront, Crowne Plaza Geelong brings premium accommodation, conferencing and hospitality experiences to one of Victoria’s fastest-growing regional destinations. Designed to serve both business and leisure travellers, the hotel forms part of the city’s continued transformation into a major tourism and events hub.
About Infinet
Infinet specialises in designing, deploying, and managing technology environments. With extensive experience supporting hotel openings and ongoing operations, Infinet helps hospitality businesses create technology foundations that support exceptional guest experiences.
Sponsored by HPE
From guest connectivity and operational systems to business continuity and future scalability, modern hospitality experiences rely on a strong digital foundation. HPE solutions help hospitality organisations build secure, reliable and scalable infrastructure that supports both exceptional guest experiences and long-term business growth.
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