Cisco Systems reports today that the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg has launched Wi-Fi access throughout the hotel, including guest rooms, conference and public areas. The network, which consists of 47 Cisco Aironet 1200 Series access points, has been deployed by St. Petersburg-based ISP Peterstar in collaboration with Cisco.

"Due to the historic nature of the building, it was a challenge to deploy the latest and high quality technology without affecting the design of hotel interiors," says Marco Correia, Regional IT Manager for Orient Express Hotels. "However, it became an integral part of the ongoing large scale renovation of the hotel."

Now that Cisco and Peterstar have deployed the network, Correia says, it's under the hotel's control. "The system is owned and managed by the Grand Hotel Europe, unlike most other hotels who rely on outsourced solutions," he says.