
Ibis Liege Guillemins – Style and discretion
Opened at the beginning of March 2020 in the rapidly changing Guillemins district of Liège, the Ibis Styles hotel is ideally located: housed behind the new Liège Office Center, close to the train station designed by architect Santiago Calatrava and the major motorways, and less than 15 minutes’ walk from Liège city center. This 3-star hotel is perfect for those who wish to discover the Cité Ardente, its terraces, shops, museums and restaurants; whether for a shopping weekend or a cultural stay. Composed of 102 rooms, mainly double and twin rooms, the hotel also offers suites for families, which can accommodate 2 adults and 2 children.
The concept of the Ibis Styles hotel is to offer an economical design experience, open to creative minds. And so as not to depart from the rule, the Liège establishment is decorated on the theme of comic books. “You can share your night with Lucky Luke, Natacha and other famous characters” underlines Olivier Rouma, general manager of the hotel. In addition, the ground floor has been completely decorated with a giant fresco by Igor Gabriel, an illustrator of the region, to give a color and a special atmosphere to the whole place.

Discreet sound system
Although it can do without it, a hotel can benefit from having a public address system installed in its reception area. “We needed a quality partner for the sound system in our first floor space,” says Olivier Rouma. Indeed, there is no public address system on the upper floors, in order to promote the calm and sleep of customers. The desire was to have a qualitative sound adapted to the place because “there is nothing more unpleasant than having a poor sound quality”, underlines the owner of the place.
Etilux intervened quite early in the project, consulting the plans drawn by the architect in charge of the project. Acoustics in architecture aims to offer a sound quality adapted to the listening environment according to the configuration of the premises, the acoustic insulation of the room from the outside and the perception of sound sources present in the place. In the case of the Ibis Hotel reception area, a large part of the space is glazed and there are different ceiling heights.
The architect had originally planned to have more than 70 loudspeakers spread over the XX m² of the first floor. After re-evaluating the layout of the premises, this number was lowered in order to ideally cover the surface without overloading the loudspeakers from an aesthetic point of view. In the end, 22 Audac CIRA524 loudspeakers were installed. Thanks to their meticulous design, the loudspeakers fit perfectly into the stylish environment of the hotel.
In addition, the hotel’s terrace has been completely soundproofed so that guests can enjoy a pleasant setting without being bothered by the noise of traffic coming from the street.
Varying styles and atmospheres
As far as sound sources were concerned, the hotel management wanted to be able to choose between several possibilities: FM radio, Spotify or USB source. A choice to be able to switch from one style and ambiance to another depending on the occasion.
Thanks to the Audac Touch application, which works with the 8-zone MTX88 matrix used in the installation, it’s easier than ever to control the entire sound system in the blink of an eye. The application is used both to switch between sound sources and to control individual zones. For example, the volume can be adjusted independently for the reception desk, bar and dining area.
Thanks to the expertise and advice provided by Etilux, the Ibis Styles Liège Guillemins hotel has developed a custom installation that is flexible and easy to use, while offering a high level of performance.
Equipment
To equip the Ibis Styles hotel, Etilux chose to work with the Audac brand, which specializes in professional sound installations. The following equipment was used:

Audac CIRA5
Designed to offer the best value for money, the CIRA series features 2-way coaxial ceiling speakers offering exceptional intelligibility and musical performance. The design offers an easy but solid assembly and an almost seamless transition between the protective grille and the ceiling. The result is a perfect integration in its environment. CIRA5 speakers have a continuous power of 30 watts (RMS) and a maximum power of 60 watts.

Audac MWX65
The MWX65 is an all-in-one wall-mounted device that provides input signal and volume control for a zone. Volume and tone input selection can be controlled using the versatile rotary knob, while the integrated 2.5-inch graphic display ensures a user-friendly experience. The MWX65 has an XLR connector and an additional line input. This allows you to connect any CD or MP3 player as a local music source or connect a microphone for speeches or other announcements.

Audac Touch
Audac Touch is an application to manage your sound system from an IOS or Android smartphone or tablet. All multi-zone systems, audio players and other communication devices are supported. With this feature, the application automatically recognizes and names all AUDAC devices in your system, allowing you to easily add them to your dashboards and create custom widgets.


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