Lord Elgin Hotel
Opens Its Doors to NeoLore
“We were so impressed by the NeoLore team”
Located in the heart of the nation’s capital, Ottawa’s Lord Elgin Hotel opened in 1941. Over the years, the hotel has won numerous awards for outstanding client service. In 1987, the Lord Elgin was acquired by the Gillin family which also owns other Ottawa hotels and multiple downtown office buildings.
“You Should Speak with NeoLore”
In 2017, Lord Elgin Hotel completed a $12-million renovation project. “At that time, we wanted to upgrade our WiFi at the hotel,” says David Smythe, General Manager & Director of Operations, Gillin Hotels. “It initially sounded like a simple job,” he explains, “but it wasn’t because there were so many access points and it’s a pay-to-play system.”
David and his team began to assess their IT requirements. “A couple of quotes came in and the level of equipment that was suggested wasn’t appropriate for our needs. The RFP wasn’t accurate. Fortunately, someone said, ‘You should speak with NeoLore.’”
“Gained Our Confidence”
IT plays a vital, growing role in the hospitality industry. From social networks and online bookings to mobile devices and touchless check-ins, technology is a natural partner for hotels. “We sat down with NeoLore and we spoke about where we wanted to go as an organization,” says David. “They gained our confidence very early on and saved us a lot of time and effort.”
“I have worked with many tech support companies and NeoLore is the very first that has actually lived up to what they promised us. In fact, they have greatly exceeded our expectations.”
“We were so impressed”
It’s been said that a cyber attack not only exposes the durability of an IT infrastructure, but also the competence of follow-up support. The amount of disruption caused by an attack can paralyze operations, impacting everything from single properties to major multinational corporations. “Around this time—as we were getting our IT in place —we experienced a ransomware attack,” David explains. “We contacted NeoLore and they took it very seriously. Their planning anticipated this kind of action and thankfully it was in place. They shut everything down and we ran operations out of their offices. NeoLore provided us with a backup property management system. They had everything up and running in forty-five minutes.”
Additionally, NeoLore cleaned the infected server, removing the ransomware. “After that,” David says,” we were so impressed by the NeoLore team that we just left the IT up to them.”
NeoLore offers a wide range of cyber security services including: anti-ransomware software, desktop encryption, backup disaster recovery business continuity solutions, multiple factor authentication, cyber security maturity assessment, cyber security training, and much more.
“Exceeded our expectations”
A hotel property management system automates and streamlines operations, effectively saving time and better serving guests. “During this period, we were adding two other properties to the property management system,” David says, “and we had one accounting office for all three groups—so it was critical that we have one server in place that had the ability to manage all of that information and the software to support it. Again, we left it up to NeoLore and they were great.”
David sums up his experience with NeoLore: “I have worked with many tech support companies and NeoLore is the very first that has actually lived up to what they promised us. In fact, they have greatly exceeded our expectations.”
