Fair Wi-fi: Angry guests to vote with their feet

Hotels that persist in charging guests for wi-fi access are putting their long term business at risk as consumers become ever-more sensitive to the issue of rip-off pricing.

The willingness of more customer-focused hotels to step in with free or competitively priced services is also putting a squeeze on hotels still charging over the odds for wi-fi access.

Exclusive research conducted by silicon.com has revealed 89 per cent of business travellers believe hotels currently overcharge for internet access. Meanwhile seven per cent of respondents claim they will only stay in a hotel if they know it offers fairly priced internet access.

This certainly seems understandable when 57 per cent of respondents said the cost of hotel internet access negatively effects their ability to work while they are on business.

Adding its support to silicon.com's Fair Wi-fi campaign, the Shire Hotel group said all of its properties offer free wi-fi to guests and Jane Waterworth, marketing director at Shire Hotels said this was driven by customer demand.

She said: "Regular focus groups and feedback sessions with customers confirmed access to wi-fi was an important part of the hotel experience for a customer, especially when staying away from home on business."

And the sums were pretty easy, she added. "We took a long term view and saw it as an investment for the future. We always seek to add value for the customer and give them reasons to choose and stay loyal to Shire Hotels and we felt that free access to wi-fi was a strong offering in this respect."

Waterworth added: "We view it as an integral part of the offering within the hotels, similar to the spa or the car parking facility - and therefore would never look to charge residents for this."

Some larger chains also see value in offering free wi-fi. Hotels in the Radisson group for example advertise this service online for prospective customers. But other large chains, particularly in the UK, are less proactive.

Joe Brunoli, vice president of hotspot market development for free-hotspot.com, said: "We agree with silicon.com that the prices charged for wi-fi access in hotels in the UK are scandalously high, and London is the most expensive city in Europe for wi-fi."

He added: "Business travellers are becoming increasingly outraged at the high prices charged for hotel wi-fi. And why shouldn't they?"

Brunoli added that even if hotels are working with a third party provider it is their name above the door and therefore their reputation which is on the line. "When guests fume as they sit in their room typing in their credit card information, it is the hotel that bears the blame," he said. And that damage to a hotel's reputation, in a highly competitive industry, can have long term impact.

Findings of a survey released late last year from Jupiter Research appear to support this claim. Jupiter found free, good quality internet access is now the key criteria for business travellers when deciding which hotel to book.