A comfortable room and a hot breakfast are fine but what most hotel guests want is more technology-oriented: free Wi-Fi.
So says J. D. Power & Associates in a survey of 53,000 travelers.
That preference was shared by both luxury and budget travelers.
The survey also found that the most expensive hotels were the least likely to offer free Wi-Fi.
“Of guests staying at mid-scale hotels, 96 percent said they got free Wi-Fi, as did 64 percent of guests at budget hotels, according to the survey of guests who stayed in hotels from May 2009 to June 2010,” the survey found.
Hotels are beginning to feel more pressure to offer the service free of charge, said Stuart Greif, vice president and general manager of the global travel and hospitality practice at J.D. Power.
He noted that travelers can now get free Wi-Fi from many businesses, including Starbucks coffee shops and McDonald’s restaurants.
By Charles Kao
