The Notary offers a balanced and luxurious hotel experience

After 2.5 years of intensive renovations, The Notary, an exclusive boutique hotel in the heart of Bruges/Belgium, opened its doors in 2023. The 19th-century building, once home to a notary's family, has been transformed into a unique city palace where guests receive a royal welcome. Home automation with smart technology ensures it is always picture-perfect.

Master decorator Pieter Porters gave each of the eight suites a distinct and unique style – some more opulent than others. But each suite has a home automation system with scheduled ‘moods’. “We wanted to automate as much as possible to maximise our guests’ comfort” explains Thomas Ulenaers, who co-owns The Notary with Marnik Minelli.

An experienced technician

When the hotel owners sought information about the possibilities of smart home technology, installer Electro Pyfferoen recommended a TELETASK system. “They have been working with TELETASK automation for a long time and have installed it in other luxury hotels, including Guesthouse Cabosse in Antwerp and Hotel Heritage here in Bruges,” says Ulenaers. “We visited them to have a look, but in the end, we relied primarily on the expertise and experience of the system integrator.”

A ‘Wow’ effect

When guests enter their suite, a pre-programmed mood is activated as soon as they insert their access card into a card reader. The lights come on, in autumn and winter the gas fireplace lights up, the music starts playing,... all according to the mood that suits the season, time of day and the amount of natural light in the room. The integrated HVAC system automatically ensures a pleasing room temperature.

“We had four standard moods pre-programmed for when guests enter - that is a very important moment which generates, the one-time, first impression of the room,” explains Thomas Ulenaers. “There are also about three other light scenes, for example when you get up at night to go to the bathroom.”

Of course, guests can also customise the settings themselves if they wish. There is a SuitePad tablet with the TELETASK app in every room. This way, they can easily change the settings of the air conditioning, lighting, fireplace and Sonos system playlists.

Comfort and a feel-good atmosphere

In other parts of the hotel, the TELETASK system provides comfort, as well as a feel-good atmosphere. For example, the lighting on the ground floor changes constantly depending on the amount of daylight entering. Thomas Ulenaers: “Basically, the staff don't have to do anything manually. Every five minutes, a light sensor measures the brightness and the lighting is adjusted accordingly, very gradually so you don't even notice it.”

In the hall area, a TELETASK OPUS touch screen hangs on the wall. The first employee to enter in the morning activates the standard scene settings, and those who exit at night set the ‘night atmosphere’. In addition, things like the fountain pump can be managed as well.

Card reader overview for housekeeping

“All employees can also adjust settings on the PC at the reception desk or with the app on their smartphone,” says Ulenaers. “But that doesn't happen often since everything is automated - which was exactly our intention. Very useful is the overview we had made of all card readers. We can see in the app which guests are in their rooms: extremely practical for housekeeping, to be sure when they can go in to clean.”

Always the right music

Thanks to automation, staff can focus on customer service, and everything runs very smoothly. The music on the ground floor is managed by the system. The playlist in the morning is different from the one in the evening, and the volume also changes according to the time of day. In the garden, the music fades down in the evening and completely fades out later in the night. The choice of music is even tailored to the season. Thanks to the integration of the music in the home automation programming, there are no mistakes such as continuously repeating the same playlist or playing music that is too loud.

“Music defines the atmosphere. Breakfast requires a different music style than dinner,” states Thomas Ulenaers. “The same goes for lighting: at the aperitif, you don't want bright light but dimmed lights. We carefully thought about all these settings, because we wanted to be a real cosy hotel. Beautiful, appropriate lighting, gas fireplaces, music,... everything contributes to the experience we offer our guests. The mood settings and the extensive integration capabilities were therefore an important reason for choosing TELETASK.”

Enhanced safety and reduced energy consumption

The system is also good for keeping energy consumption under control. In the rooms and on the ground floor, temperature sensors manage the integrated HVAC system. In the toilets, stairwell and garages, motion sensors activate lights only when needed. And most importantly: when guests leave their rooms and take the access card out of the card reader, everything goes back to default settings - the gas fireplace, music and TV switch off, the air conditioning shifts to a low energy level... Good for energy consumption but also for safety.

“We are very happy with our TELETASK home automation,” concludes Thomas Ulenaers. “Both for the staff and our guests, it is a convenient system that contributes to the exclusive “The Notary” atmosphere.

Images: © The Notary – Marinella Geerts Photography