Times are changing for hotels – for years, hotels were judged for the quality of their toiletries, or how many stars their restaurant managed to score, but hotel guests are increasingly paying attention to the high tech features at the hotel.
Reuters surveyed over 6300 people and asked them how they pick a hotel, and which features mean the most to them.
A whopping 47% of those interviewed said that they’ll only pick a hotel if it offers the technology they need.
What this means to the hospitality world is that hotels can no longer afford to only offer WiFi in the lobby, or dare charge $29.99 a day for wired Internet access (you’d be surprised how many hotels still do this).
Hotels that have not yet made the investment in up to date equipment will have to start playing catch up real soon, because the survey proves what I’ve known for years – being able to get online at your hotel is more important than the industry thinks.
And yes – there are still a lot of hotels out there that do not offer any kind of high tech amenities, and it isn’t in the expensive hotels where these services are lacking, surprisingly its mainly in the higher end chains.
You can check into a $69 Holiday Inn and find perfect speedy free WiFi access, then check into a $199 Marriot the next day and have to pay $14.95 for slow wired access.
The cheap hotels paid attention to the needs of their customers while the upscale properties assumed people who’d be willing to pay for their rooms wouldn’t mind an extra $100 a week just to get online.
As the economy changes, more and more people will prefer a low price room with free tech, over an expensive hotel with chique toiletries and paid Internet access.
(via: Switched)