Why Should Hotels Have Free Wi-Fi? Pt 2

If you missed our last post about “Why Do Hotels Need Free Wi-Fi?”, this is a follow up in addition to it. We left off with the choice some hotels make by charging for their Wi-Fi services. As this is an excellent way to earn extra profit, it can also be a way to discourage guests from staying with you. People like to get more bang for their buck, and charging them will make them think twice before booking.

Depending on the hotel and demographic, this paid alternative can work well and to their advantage. This practice works best when usually dealing with business relations. When people travel for business, they look for a place that can accommodate their need for speed. Often, the cost to them is no problem and will kick down an extra few bucks. Hotels that provide free Wi-Fi usually lack the bandwidth to give each hotel guest that may be taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. Not all will use your bandwidth just for Facebooking and Google searches. You must prepare for video streaming and other rich media activities, which bog down the network. Keep bandwidth hoggers down by setting time or capacity limits on free access.

The only thing that bothers guests more than not having free Wi-Fi is having slow Wi-Fi. People with low patience can quickly get irritated because of the internet speed, which can ultimately lead to them having a bad experience and leaving a bad review. All of this can be avoided and converted into a positive relation by biting the bullet and pay that extra cost to get premium Wi-Fi for every hotel room. It may seem like a burden to pay for that service, but in the end, it will do more good for you to provide access to free Wi-Fi than if you were to lose out on additional opportunities.

HotelChatter analyzed the cost of a hotel to install and maintain a decent network connection. “We’ve spoken with a few Internet service providers and some candid hotel executives about the cost of Wi-Fi, and for a 250-room hotel, the cost is about $2.50-$4.50 per room, per month. Hotels, on average, charge $13.95 a day for Wi-Fi. You do the math.” They were also kind enough to include a brief infographic describing the cost of installing Wi-Fi for a 250-room hotel.

There’s nothing like being able to have your cake and eat it too. Why make it difficult for hotel guests when you can just give them exactly what they want. Think of it more like an investment that can create a more long-term relationship with your guests. You can’t put a price on customer satisfaction.