Six-Property AV Condition Survey, Pelješac & Korčula
Coastal hotel group (confidential)
A coastal hotel group asked us to look at the sound systems in six of its hotels on Pelješac and Korčula. We visited all six in one route, inspected every system we could reach and wrote one report per hotel, plus one summary for management. The vague “no sound” complaints became a clear list of confirmed faults and one phased plan the group could budget for.
One route, six hotels on Pelješac and Korčula: a technical AV inspection that turned vague “no sound” reports into six comparable reports and one phased plan.
Project facts
| Client | Coastal hotel group (confidential) |
|---|---|
| Project type | AV integration (permanent install) |
| Scope | Technical AV inspection · Portfolio audit · Photographic documentation · Remediation planning and budgeting |
The Challenge
Four hotels reported that music was not working, and two more needed a preventive review. The reports were operational rather than technical — 'the terrace has no sound', 'reception cannot change the playlist' — with no documentation, no equipment register and no way for management to compare one property against another.
Our Solution
We visited all six properties in a single route, interviewed management, F&B, reception and technical staff at each, inspected the accessible zones and racks, and documented the as-found state photographically. Each property received its own report; management received one consolidated portfolio summary with a single set of priorities.
What brief did we actually receive?
Four hotels where the music was not working, and two more that management wanted looked at before the season. No zone list, no equipment register, no wiring documentation, and no single person who had seen all six systems.
The reports from the hotels were about what staff noticed, not what was broken: “the terrace has no sound”, “reception cannot change the playlist”. Management also had no way to compare one property against another.
This is the normal state of an inherited hospitality AV estate. AV simply means the audio-visual equipment: speakers, amplifiers, music players and their controls. Systems get extended by different contractors across a decade, staff turn over every season, and the memory of what was installed and why leaves with them.
What did the hotel survey on Pelješac and Korčula involve?
Talking to the people who use it
Each property was visited in person. At every site we spoke to the people who actually operate the system day to day: management, reception, F&B (the food and beverage team) and whoever the property treats as its technical contact. We do that because the reported symptom and the actual fault are often different things. A terrace with “no sound” might have a dead amplifier, or it might have a volume control nobody showed the new staff.
Looking at the equipment itself
We inspected accessible zones and racks. A rack is the cabinet where the amplifiers and music players live. We traced signal paths as far as non-invasive testing allows, which means following the music from the player to the speakers without opening walls or taking systems apart. We photographed the as-found condition of every rack, control point and exposed outdoor speaker.
Why did we separate the findings?
The single most important decision in the reports was to keep three categories apart:
- Confirmed: observed or tested directly on site.
- Reported: described by staff but not independently verified during the visit.
- Assumed: the most likely explanation given the evidence, flagged clearly as an inference.
Mixing those three is how a survey turns into an argument later. Keeping them apart is what makes the document usable as a basis for spending money.
It paid off. Several “broken” zones turned out to be control and training problems rather than equipment failures. One amplifier reported as faulty was no longer physically in the rack.
We also stated plainly what each inspection did not cover: electrical certification, impedance measurement of every 100 V line, hidden cable runs inside walls, and calibrated SPL measurement were all outside the agreed scope. In plainer words: we did not certify the electrics, we did not electrically measure every long speaker line (a 100 V line is the wiring hotels use to run many speakers over long distances), we did not open walls, and we did not take calibrated loudness readings (SPL is sound pressure level, how loud it is).
In plain terms: A zone is an area with its own music and volume.
What did management receive?
- Six individual property reports, all written to the same structure.
- One portfolio summary with a single set of priorities for the whole group.
- A split of the work into MUST DO and NICE TO HAVE, with indicative budgets.
What could management do with it?
Because every property was documented to the same structure, the group could compare them directly and phase the work: fix what stops a zone functioning before the season, defer what is a genuine improvement but not urgent, and plan the rest into the following year’s capital cycle.
The written distinctions let the technical manager assign budget without commissioning six separate opinions. The group now has one comparable technical baseline across all six properties instead of six unrelated contractor views.
That is the difference between six service calls and a portfolio decision.
Need a clear picture of the sound systems across several hotels? See our AV technical inspection and maintenance or contact us.
Client name withheld at the client’s discretion. Property-specific findings are confidential; this case study describes method and outcome only.
Results
- Six individual property reports plus one portfolio summary for management
- Vague operational reports converted into confirmed equipment failures, missing equipment, zoning and calibration faults, and staff-control problems
- Confirmed, reported and assumed causes kept explicitly apart, with the limitations of each inspection stated
- Remediation split into MUST DO and NICE TO HAVE with indicative budgets, so investment could be phased across the group
- One comparable technical baseline across all six properties instead of six unrelated contractor opinions
Planning sound for your venue?
Tell us about the space and how you use it. We visit, check the sound on site and send a written proposal with prices per zone.