Panel discussion: Scaling Secure Wi Fi Across Hotel Properties: Identity, Policy, and the Path to Operational Excellence

Hotels and resorts operate in increasingly complex network environments that must simultaneously support guest Wi Fi, staff mobility, a growing ecosystem of IoT devices, and third party vendor access — all at scale across multiple properties. The challenge is no longer simply providing connectivity; it's delivering a differentiated, consistent, and secure guest experience that becomes a competitive advantage for the brand.

In this panel discussion, Marc Charney, Senior Principal Consulting Engineer – Hospitality Americas Lead at HPE Aruba Networks, moderates a conversation with technology leaders from Nobu Hotels and Van Zandt Hotel on why identity and policy based networking approaches are foundational to both securing hotel networks and elevating the guest experience. The conversation will challenge the industry to think beyond basic connectivity and examine how Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) frameworks and Wi Fi Offload strategies translate directly into measurable business outcomes — including reduced operational overhead, improved network efficiency, and new opportunities to monetize connectivity as a branded service.

A central theme of the session will be what "secure" truly means in a hospitality context. In a Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) framework, delivering secure, consistent Wi Fi across properties requires an end to end approach — from the guest device all the way to the network core. The panel will explore how Carrier-Grade (EAP-SIM) Passpoint, is emerging as the definitive mechanism for delivering that promise: seamless, authenticated, encrypted connectivity that guests experience without friction and operators can trust implicitly.

Attendees will leave with practical best practices for scaling identity and policy based network architectures across distributed property portfolios, a clear-eyed view of the operational implications of these solutions, and a framework for communicating the business value of Zero Trust and Wi Fi Offload to ownership groups and C suite stakeholders