How the 5‑Star Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s Hotel Reinvented Its Guest Experience with Wildix and Axians

From Missed Calls to Seamless Service at the Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher's

In the luxury hotel industry, communication is far more than a technical function. It is a direct extension of the guest experience. For the iconic 5-star Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s hotel in Brussels, flawless communication is essential to upholding its reputation for excellence.

By replacing an aging telephony system with the Wildix unified communications solution, implemented by Axians, the hotel modernized its entire communication environment. This transition was achieved without disrupting daily operations while significantly improving efficiency, responsiveness, and service quality.

Adopting the Wildix solution with Axians has simplified our communication, increased our operational efficiency, and given our teams the tools they need to deliver service excellence, without ever compromising the guest experience.

Chiernor Malik Jalloh

Cluster IT Manager for Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher's Northwest Germany and Belgium

The Challenge: Modernizing a Landmark Hotel Without Disturbing Guests

As a member of the prestigious H World group, the Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s holds the exclusive “Icon” status, reserved for only its most exceptional 5‑star properties. Catering to a highly discerning international clientele, the establishment operates in an environment where every interaction counts. Telephony serves as the operational backbone, connecting the front desk, reservations, events, maintenance, and management.

However, the existing infrastructure had become a liability. Fragmented, lacking mobility, and increasingly unreliable, it resulted in a growing number of missed calls, especially during peak periods.

“We were operating with an outdated telephone system, while our guests’ expectations were constantly rising. In the luxury hotel business, missed calls are simply not an option.”
Chiernor Malik Jalloh, Cluster IT Manager for Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s Northwest Germany and Belgium

Each unanswered call represented not only a lost business opportunity but also a risk to the hotel’s brand image. The objective was clear: to eliminate missed calls while upgrading the communication system, without impacting guests or daily operations.

A Strategic Partnership for a Risk‑Free Transition

To address these challenges, the Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s selected its trusted partner, Axians to rethink its communication landscape. After a thorough evaluation, Axians recommended Wildix for its simplicity, robust mobility features, and seamless integration with existing systems.

This decision paved the way for an evolution focused on reliability, flexibility, and ease of use, perfectly aligned with the demands of a high‑end hotel environment.

From the outset, Axians’ approach was grounded in a deep understanding of the hotel’s daily reality.

“Our first step is always to listen. You have to understand how the teams work together, identify the friction points and grasp what is truly critical to their daily operations. In a hotel, everything revolves around people and service.”
Guillaume Procureur, Business Manager, Axians Belgique

Based on these insights, a high-performance and intuitive communication solution was deployed. It integrates naturally into existing workflows and requires no technical expertise from employees, ensuring rapid adoption and immediate added value.

A core priority was ensuring service continuity during the transition.

Axians implemented a parallel migration, allowing the old and new systems to coexist.This strategy enabled a gradual and completely transparent switchover for guests, even during periods of high occupancy.

“We were concerned about disrupting our daily operations, but the migration went flawlessly. Everything continued to run smoothly, even during our busiest times.”
Chiernor Malik Jalloh

The new IP solution integrates both the existing analog infrastructure in the rooms and the hotel’s Property Management System (PMS). This protected past investments enabling new, more efficient ways of working through web interfaces and mobile applications for the front desk, reservations, and events teams.

The Results: From Stability to Business Agility

The new communication platform quickly demonstrated its value, notably by cutting telecom costs in half. Missed calls have been virtually eliminated, teams have become more responsive, and internal coordination has significantly improved.

Operationally, the hotel achieved a 5% to 8% efficiency gain in overall call management.

The hotel also gained flexibility in daily management and event organization, a critical asset in the luxury hotel sector where last-minute requests are common.

“We were able to install and configure additional extensions in several meeting rooms in a single day for an international client.That level of agility was unthinkable with our old system.”
Chiernor Malik Jalloh

Beyond voice, the Wildix Collaboration application has transformed teamwork. Employees now communicate via a single, secure platform, combining calls, messaging, and video sharing to resolve technical issues faster and more effectively.

“Before deploying the new solution, the maintenance teams used WhatsApp to communicate. Today, they use the Wildix app for internal calls and can even share videos to show a technical problem in real time. It makes collaboration across the hotel much more efficient”, says Guillaume Procureur.

With greater visibility, increased responsiveness, and enhanced control over call flows, the hotel now has a communication platform that actively supports operational excellence and guest satisfaction.

Building on this success, the Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s is already exploring new enhancements, such as AI‑powered voicebots, to automate routine requests and further improve service availability.

The solution is also being considered as a benchmark for other hotels in the group, confirming that the hotel has built a communication foundation that is both robust today and scalable for tomorrow.

Requirements

Outdated Telephony System: An aging and unreliable infrastructure that was becoming an operational bottleneck.
Significant Number of Missed Calls: A growing volume of unanswered calls, posing a risk to the brand's image and resulting in lost business opportunities.
Lack of Mobility and Flexibility: Teams were limited by a fixed system, which was unsuitable for the agility required by the luxury hotel industry.
Non-Optimized Internal Communication: Use of consumer-grade tools for maintenance, raising security and efficiency concerns.
Requirement for a Zero-Downtime Migration: The need for modern technology without disrupting the hotel's guest experience.

Value Gained

The solution has been provided by the Wildix Partner

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