I'm writing an article on the pros and cons of making guests pay for WIFi - is it defensible and makes business sense or is it now a basic requirment of any hotel, regardless of rank/star level and completely ridiculous to be charging for it?
I'd be really interested to hear your views, whether for or against and what you think the arguments on each side of the fence are.
Also what do you think will happen/could be done about this issue looking ahead?
Cheers
I think it's become an expectation now from guests that they have access to free internet
I don't think it's ridiculous to charge for it - it certainly means a big initial investment and then maintenance but I do understand the customers' viewpoint that if they pay £10 for a month at home, why are they paying a hotel £7.50 for an hours internet access?
Also note that I said "internet". I think chargeable wi-fi can be offset by a decent broadband connection, usually through a cable in the wall.
In terms of the future I think hotels need to be mindful that portable devices are going to be so integrated into peoples lives for accessing work, entertainment and social media that the expectation will increase. People watch films, download music, on-demand TV and now read books via these devices. I suspect if they can't do this for free (or reasonable) of charge at the hotel then they'll be in a local cafe or restaurant accessing it, and spending money there instead.
Lastly, I don't think free needs to be free for all. It can be a really useful promotional tool or can be a good benefit for your key clients and channels.
In my opinion Wi-fi should be used as a bonus.. or an extra .. another selling point..so i think it should't be charged.
I'd say an inclusive selling point!
to avoid massive internet access fees, I keep and £8 per month mobile broadband dongle in my laptop bag. I might only use it once per month, but it is cheaper that what some hotels want to charge me for using wi-fi
if they put their rates up £2 per room per night and included free wi-fi, I wouldn't moan!
Calvin Hanks
www.cjgroup.co.uk
Depends on the hotel. It's usually the very high and then budget end of the market that tend to charge and get away with it.
I seen an ad yesterday on the TV for a hotel chain making a big deal about FREE wifi. I forget who it was Will soon see all the other hotels competing in the same market follow suit.
Thanks so much for your replies - I'm interested that basically it seems to now be an expectation that a hotelier should provide, essentially only offset by using it as a marketing tool and a hook to keep guests in the hotel for longer - and consequently buying more f&b (hopefully)
Which leads me to think is it yet another thing that is going to disadvantage the independent hotelier - it's easy for big chains to get this sorted, have the back up/set up costs covered but for an independent it's gonna be costly and potentially a pain to maintain etc while it risks guests getting really annoyed quite quickly if it doesn't work first time...
Any views?
today's wifi is the equivalent essential guest room amenity of sky tv 5 years ago and a trouser press 10 years ago. To charge for it is as ludicrous as to charge for milk for coffee and, more importantly, is to lose out to your competitors who do not charge.
after installation the running costs to a hotel are minuscule and the goodwill derived from cheerily saying '"it's free" is immeasurable.
OUT
So now I'm curious about the best way to explain to demanding customers that they have to pay for this service, without getting all tecky on them - anyone got any good advice/stories/anecdotes related to wifi guest expectations (prinatble ones obviously)
Wi-fi should be a basic service for any reputable establishment like 3* hotels and above, lounges etc. It's already a must for coffee shops and bars. The only places where I can see it being charged are no-frills places like b&b or hotel chains like travelodge (they might even offer it, not sure)