At the luxury Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London, 187 Samsung cameras have been installed to enable security personnel to monitor activity in all its public areas.

The Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, which, as its name suggests, is within walking distance of Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, has 370 rooms and suites spread over 14 floors. Ultra modern in design, it has facilities to attract both business people and tourists, with several restaurants, 10 conference rooms, a half Olympic size swimming pool and a spa area. The hotel incorporates renewable solar and photovoltaic panels, and has an on-site borehole to reduce water consumption – making it one of the most energy-efficient hotels to open in recent years.

The cameras were specified by Moni Dhanjal, Facilities Manager for the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, after extensive research. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our guests and we will never hesitate to invest in technology which will help us detect and deter criminal activity,” said Moni Dhanjal. “We nevertheless need to ensure that we get the best value from our investment in any capital equipment and so I was tasked by our senior management to source cameras that had all the features and functionality we required, but which were affordable.”

Like most hotels, the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, wishes to project a warm welcome to its guests and allow them to flow freely around all public areas. “Our video surveillance is one of a range of measures which we have put in place to detect unwanted visitors,” said Moni Dhanjal. “It sends out an important message to would-be thieves and vandals who might be tempted to try to steal guests’ personal property or hotel equipment.”

The video surveillance system is also being used to ensure health & safety compliance. The monitoring of the hotel swimming pools, for example, can allow hotel management to ensure that there are enough staff on duty during busy periods and to respond appropriately if an emergency occurs.

The images from all the cameras are transmitted back to the hotel’s control room where they are monitored 24/7 by security personnel. “With a large number of areas open to the public, as well as multiple floors, corridors, staircases and lifts, we needed to install a relatively large number of cameras to ensure there are no blind spots, and particularly so in locations where thieves are likely to be active,” said Moni Dhanjal.

“In the few months that the video surveillance system has been in operation. it has become clear that we have achieved our objectives and that our security personnel have a very powerful tool to help them carry out their responsibilities effectively.”