Seems travelers expectations keep changing with time. Decades ago people liked free local phone calls to be a perk with their room. The advent of cell phone technologies has totally changed that demand.
What do travelers want included their room costs now-a-days? Seems free breakfast, free parking and Wi-Fi are at the top of their lists. Here’s a link for an article containing more info.
I’m curious what you think? Should Wi-Fi be free with your room, or do you think it reasonable to pay for it?
A new article reiterating the overwhelming sentiment of most people on this thread. Here’s that link.
Free wi-fi is a nice perk that should be a part of the standard room fee. Years ago the introduction of coffee pots and coffee packets in the rooms were a big step in the right direction. Some chains offer a free breakfast, so why not wi-fi. Free wi-fi is just another step in the right direction.
Maybe it’s the old capitalist coming out in me, but I think “should” is a strong word. Free access to wi-fi certainly helps me determine where I’ll stay, just like free breakfast is…but if a hotel has enough other amenities so that people are willing to pay for it’s wi-fi then so be it…although it is easy enough to get free somewhere, I don’t value it enough to pay for it.
Good discussion! WiFi has for me become an indispensable part of traveling. It allows me to stay in touch with family easily and cheaply (remember how hard it was even 25 years ago — a phone call could run you $5 a minute? And there was no email). It lets me spend evening hours clearing out a hefty email que, and doing research on what I am going to see tomorrow and the next day. And with “Gumbo on the Go”, it lets me share my travels as they happen with fellow Gumboites!
I echo PHeymont’s comments completely. Someone has to pay for it, but the real cost of wi-fi probably is about a buck a day per room or less, so just make it part of the rate, like electricity and water usage. And “cheaper” hotels are the ones that offer it for free. That must mean I stay at cheaper hotels because when I make a reservation, it is something I look for when I book (free wifi everywhere in the hotel — make sure its not just the lobby). The upscale hotels often will give free internet access to their preferred members, just for full and honest reporting.
If I were a business traveler having to send large quantities of data back and forth, I’d certainly be willing to pay $10 for high speed broadband. but that’s beyond the needs of most travelers.
Maybe it’s the old capitalist coming out in me, but I think “should” is a strong word. Free access to wi-fi certainly helps me determine where I’ll stay, just like free breakfast is…but if a hotel has enough other amenities so that people are willing to pay for it’s wi-fi then so be it…although it is easy enough to get free somewhere, I don’t value it enough to pay for it.
I agree with you John, that market forces will drive this. But the demand for “free” wifi (understanding there is a cost to this perk) is so huge I think it will be the standard in a few years. Those hotels that don’t want to offer it will see a drop in their occupancy. Like you, I pick hotels that offer if at no added charge. I also like to look for free parking and free breakfast. “Free” is so tempting, isn’t it? But I dislike unbundling of charges in all forms. Set a price that includes everything a room usually comes with and then let people decide what they want.
I am amazed at how internet access to tourists vary by city.Not only WiFi but libraries.Some cities libraries either sell a one hour guest pass or won’t even let a visitor on the computer.While other cities are generous
Technically, it would be possible to create very large WiFi zones, whether free or paid. But since someone gets paid (either on the meter, or a fee for the project) and there is a cost to constructing/installing the equipment to broadcast that signal…it won’t happen unless someone is paying.
In the case of the hotel, picking up on rbciao’s point about breakfast–have you noticed that the free WiFi and the free breakfast tend to come with the budget chains, while the high-end places charge for both, expecting expense-account travelers to not care? And it’s a pure profit item. It simply does NOT cost $10-to-$20 a day for a hotel to provide WiFi, just as you don’t pay $300-$600 a month for it at home.
Actually, privatized toll roads are the coming thing these days! Some states have sold off roads; others have allowed private companies to build from scratch. The road to Dulles Airport near Washington is a prime example.
But the comparisons to WiFi here don’t really work. No one charged extra for electric light in hotels when it was new; it simply replaced the gas lighting. It took 70 years of broadcasting to create a pay system.
As for WiFi, or internet access in hotels generally, it’s not that new. It’s a mature technology, the costs are known, the R&D is paid off, and—key point—the high prices charged by some hotels to use it profit the hotel, not the developers or the providers of the technology. It’s more comparable to $20 charges for reprinting a boarding pass.
Free room wi-fi is one amenity that influences where we stay here or in Europe. We’ve noticed more and more Italian hotels and b&b’s are offering this free service. In fact, we’ve seen free wi-fi zones in small Italian towns.
Let’s hope the expansion trend continues because it certainly makes attending to home and business much easier.
And in not-so-small Italian towns as well! Piazza dei Signori and Piazza del Erbe in Verona are covered.