Wireless Internet access brings new freedom for business travellers at top hotel

The Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, Switzerland has launched a Public Wireless LAN service, granting its guests round-the-clock wireless access to the Internet, company emails, and business-critical enterprise applications from virtually anywhere within the hotel. All guests need to do is install a standard Wireless LAN card, also available at the concierge desk, into their laptop.

"A lot of our guests, including many from the Middle East, are decision makers who need instant Internet access at any given time, and for them the new wireless facility is extremely valuable," said Christian Marich, general manager of the Beau-Rivage Palace.

"Instead of being restricted to their rooms or the business centre, they can now connect to their company emails while moving freely within the hotel and the hotel grounds."

Named as the country's top hotel by the leading Swiss economic magazine, 'Bilanz', for three years running, the Beau-Rivage Palace has become an increasingly popular conference and meetings venue for Middle East corporate clients, including leading names from the oil, gas and finance sectors.

They are attracted by the hotel's reputation for exquisite service, and a discreet but convenient location at the crossroads to Europe, between France, Germany, and Italy.

Specially tailored packages for meeting, incentive and convention organisers capitalise on the hotel's superb lakeside location overlooking the Swiss and French Alps, and a state-of-the-art conference centre, which was built as part of a $70 million renovation.

Event options include chartered cruises on Lake Geneva for groups of 35 to 400 people, and Alpine excursions for 100 to 1,000 people, taking in folklore music, crossbow shooting, and a variety of other traditional Alpine entertainment.

An added attraction is that the hotel can now offer private functions aboard the lake's oldest steamboat, "Montreux", which was built as far back as 1904 and relaunched recently after a $6.8 million refurbishment.

The Beau-Rivage Palace has telephone (00 41 21 613 33 33) hotlines for those seeking more details of its meetings programme.

The conference centre offers the latest audio visual facilities including video conferencing and two rooms for simultaneous translation. A relaxed and discreet setting, in a private, ten-acre lakeside park, makes the hotel a superb venue for business and leisure, while golf, tennis, mountain bike riding, and swimming are among a long list of pursuits available to guests.

Geneva International Airport is just 35 minutes away by road or rail, and the hotel boasts a fleet of chauffeur-driven limousines for transfers.

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