Case Study: Ascot Hotel - Buyukada, Istanbul achieves low-cost, flexible VoIP and enhanced guest services with Digium's Asterisk

Asterisk Answers the Call for a Low-Cost, User-Friendly Solution for Ascot Hotel Buyukada, Istanbul

Ascot Hotel Büyükada is a renovated 22‑room historic hotel on Turkey’s Büyükada island owned by the Ferard family. The building had no existing internet or telephony infrastructure and the local telecom market offered few flexible options, so the owners needed a low‑cost, customizable communications solution that could support in‑room phones, link a separate rental property to the hotel reception, and work around unreliable local SIP services and termination quirks.

They implemented an Asterisk‑based VoIP system with a Positron IP PBX and economical Grandstream/Yealink IP phones, using a Swiss SIP provider for outbound calls and POTS lines for incoming calls, plus an outsourced reservations center. Custom web‑based routing, the ability to log in remote mobile SIP extensions, and a simple Linux/Asterisk script to clear hung calls delivered the needed flexibility and reliability — at roughly one‑tenth the cost of proprietary systems and with two years of successful operation and minimal abuse of guest calling.