Case Study: Sandbourne Santa Monica

The Sandbourne Santa Monica is one of California’s newest luxury beachfront getaways, replacing the former Le Merigot Hotel. After completely reimagining the space, the new property owners realized that the speakers they intended to keep from the previous hotel would not perform how they needed within their newly designed space.

To address this, the hotel partnered with AV Planners to install a new network of speakers throughout the hotel, including the main lobby, the indoor-outdoor restaurant, and the poolside area. These speakers replaced the older, smaller existing units, which provided a dull sound quality that didn’t align with the lively atmosphere the hotel was looking to create, particularly by the poolside.

Sonance speakers, known for their durability, high performance, and high-end aesthetics, were used in all three areas. In the lobby, twenty-nine eight-inch ceiling speakers replaced the previous speakers, and five eight-inch ceiling subwoofers were integrated to create a more balanced, fuller sound. The Sonance ceiling speakers also included a zero bezel, providing a sleek, modern look that blended with the ceiling. Five six-inch surface-mount speakers were used to ensure the audio could be heard clearly on the lobby patio.

Eight six-inch Sonance planter speakers were installed directly into existing planters around the poolside area, making them hardly noticeable to guests. Their placement allowed for a more even distribution of sound throughout the space, ensuring that it wouldn’t be excessively loud in any one area compared to another. Twelve-inch burial and hardscape subwoofers helped enhance the festive poolside environment. Eight-inch Sonance ceiling speakers, replacing the previous four-inch speakers, and two twelve-inch hardscape subwoofers were also installed in the restaurant.

Biamp’s Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and a Crestron control system were kept from the previous audio setup and were configured to work seamlessly with the new Sonance speakers and subwoofers. Biamp DSPs provide adaptive acoustic process capabilities that help survey room acoustics, adjusting echo cancellation, noise reduction, and equalization.

With Crestron’s centralized control, the hotel’s AV manager can manage audio settings, presets, and configurations via touch panels on-site or through a mobile app. AV Planners can also access the controls remotely to assist with any issues or make changes.

With the hotel open to the public at the start of the install process, AV Planners coordinated with the hotel to conduct work in the evenings, which was the best way to avoid disturbing guests. AV Planners would work late into the night and thoroughly clean the work area, ensuring no equipment remained when guests used those spaces the next day. The installation process also involved cutting into drywall, which is known to create a mess. The team had to allocate ample time for cleaning and tasks like setting up and taking down the scaffolding, which was required to install the technology on the 20-foot-tall ceiling in the main lobby.

Now that the installation is complete, the hotel has enjoyed the advantages of an enhanced audio network, bringing the beach-chic vibe they envisioned to life.

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