Novotel Twin Waters Resort

Australia's Sunshine Coast, known for its pristine beaches, natural wonders and fabulous attractions, is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. Attracting more than 3.2 million visitors a year, it is the perfect location for those looking for a quiet romantic getaway, fun-filled family adventure or corporate event.

Novotel Twin Waters Resort, one of the premium beachfront resort properties on the Sunshine Coast, constantly endeavours to deliver an exceptional customer experience, be it from a service perspective or in terms of amenities. For the latter, it collaborates with AVPartners, an audio visual company which provides a wide range of services including audio, visual, lighting and staging along with conference Wi-Fi access and event styling. Through the appointment of a dedicated "partner" on-site, AVPartners is able to offer professional advice and personalized audio visual services to the facility. 

"AVPartners has recently renewed its contract with Novotel Twin Waters Resort, and we have been installing and upgrading new equipment throughout the resort's many conference and dinner venues to better meet the needs of guests and clientele," said Ritchie Harland, Partner – Novotel Twin Waters Resort. "This includes the upgrade of projection equipment to deliver superior visuals for a wide range of conferences and events held at the property."

Strong preference for laser illumination

According to Harland, the conferencing and events facilities at the resort were previously equipped with lamp-based 1DLP® projectors with a brightness of 5,300 lumens. However, high demand and heavy use of these facilities resulted in escalating maintenance costs. A decision was made to move to a laser-based projection system, which has the advantages of long life, minimal maintenance and a low cost of operation.

"We shortlisted several brands but it was the Christie® GS Series that impressed us the most," said Harland. "The higher levels of brightness, image quality and color reproduction are simply unmatched."

He noted that his confidence in the Christie brand stemmed from the excellent service rendered during a recent purchase of two Christie HD10K-M projectors for its Whitsundays venue.

AVPartners purchased seven Christie 630-GS laser projectors from Christie Australia. Harland said he was very glad to receive a high level of service from Christie. "Due to our install dates, from the day we placed the order, the team at Christie managed to deliver all seven projectors with varying lenses within a week, which was very impressive."

Better than we had hoped

"After taking delivery of the new Christie 630-GS projectors, we performed a shootout with the existing projectors. Being a laser-based option, we had expected the results to be outstanding, but they were even better than we had hoped. The 630-GS is, without a doubt, a fantastic solution for these rooms."

The Christie GS Series eliminates the need for lamp and filter replacements, providing 20,000 hours of low-cost operation. Wireless connectivity, a small footprint, light weight, quiet operation and a full suite of lenses makes the GS Series ideal for boardrooms, conference rooms, education, houses of worship and other small and medium venues.

Deployment in "Lily's on the Lagoon" and Mudjimba ballrooms

Novotel Twin Waters Resort proceeded to install four Christie DHD630-GS projectors in "Lily's on the Lagoon" – a premium overwater function venue with stunning lagoon views, perfect for conferencing, gala dinners, cocktail parties and weddings for up to 200 people. Another three DHD630-GS projectors were fitted in the Mudjimba ballrooms, which has a capacity of 100 guests each.

The installation process at "Lily's on the Lagoon" was particularly challenging due to the tricky throw distances at the only position in the room suitable for the projectors to be installed.

"We had to build customized projector boxes to suit the room's architecture, and this meant that the throw angles were slightly off and the distances to all four screens would vary. Therefore, we had to deploy a range of lenses for the 630-GS projectors to overcome the issues encountered," said Harland. "Thankfully, we were able to solve the problem and the rest of the process went well."

Complete satisfaction​

With the installation issues out of the way and the projectors successfully set up, what was Novotel Twin Waters Resort's feedback on the end results?

"The resort's management team is very pleased with the color replication and upgrade in brightness. So far, all guests in the 'Lily's on the Lagoon' and Mudjimba ballrooms are very impressed with all the upgrades that have taken place, including the outstanding projections made possible using the 630-GS projectors," said Harland.

"Likewise, the AVPartners crew at Novotel Twin Waters Resort are very proud to say we have Christie projectors in our meeting rooms. It is a name that stands out as high quality in the industry and the results speak for themselves."

Michael Bosworth, Executive Director for APAC, Enterprise, Christie, commented, "We're very pleased that the 630-GS has exceeded the expectations of Novotel Twin Waters Resort in delivering higher levels of brightness, image excellence and color reproduction for its conference and events facilities. Our thanks also goes out to Ritchie and AVPartners for placing their confidence and trust in our laser projection solutions designed for high-usage environments without the need for lamp and filter replacements."