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Is it time for a “Free The Wi-Fi” campaign for hotels?

November 12, 2009

wifiShould wireless Internet access be free at hotels? A vast majority of guests think so, and now a UK-based blogger is ratcheting up the pressure on hotels to free their Wi-Fi signals once and for all.

Rajul Chande, the editor of LondonHotelsInsight.com, yesterday published an open letter to hotels, demanding they no longer charge for their wireless access points. It seems to be gaining some traction online.


Chande lists eight reasons for freeing Wi-Fi. He argues that wireless access is a basic utility and that charging for it angers guests and devalues a hotel brand.

What’s more, Chande argues, influential social media types will go out of their way to avoid a property that charges for Internet access.

If your hotel charges for WiFi, the news will spread rapidly. Moreover, the profile of people who use hotel WiFi is similar to those who write online reviews on sites like TripAdvisor.

By charging for WiFi, your hotel is alienating the world’s most influential online community.

Asking guests to pay for wireless Internet access is denying the future, too.

You cannot reverse a technology trend (the growing use of internet-connected devices) nor can you swim against an irresistible consumer tide.

I’m convinced that universal free hotel WiFi is inevitable and it’s only a question of “when”. Do you want to be the last hotel left standing, letting your competitors reap all the benefits to the detriment of your reputation?

So is it time to join the “Free Wi-Fi” campaign? Yes. Then again, it was time two years ago, when I declared that wireless access was a basic right for hotel guests.

We all know that the cost of providing wireless access has very little to do with what we’re charged as hotel guests. Why else would a full-service property bill you $9.95 for a day of Internet access, but the budget motel offer the signal for free?

This has everything to do with a hotel wanting to help itself to more of your money, the way it did with phones in the 80s and early 90s, before guests got smart and started to use their cell phones.

I’ve spoken with hotel revenue managers about this issue. They don’t want to give up the money. They know it’s the right thing to do, but they just can’t bring themselves to doing it.

Maybe this campaign will persuade them to change their minds.

(Photo: slambo_42/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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41 comments

  • http://www.eurapart.com John

    I stay at the cheap hotels with free WiFi. Its a deciding factor in my purchasing decision. Many of the budget hotels I stay in don’t have a telephone in the room. However all of the more expensive hotels have a telephone in the room. Guess what? They have always charged a fat fee for you to use them.
    When guests use Skype or similar applications to make calls using the WiFi the hotel loses out on this revenue. Its probably another reason they charge for WiFi.
    I would suggest that if lots of guests contacted hotels before booking and asked if the WiFi was free then the message would get through. The conversation would go something like.
    Guest: “Do you have free WiFi?”
    Hotel: “no, its $10 per night”
    Guest: “I’m sorry but I’ll stay at the —— Hotel they are $5 a night more than you but their WiFi is free. I will save $5 a night”

  • David Z

    They know it’s the right thing to do

    The right thing to do? Or…what certain places can afford to do?

    IMHO it boils down to the latter above. It’s arguably unfair to rather “force” a hotel or motel to offer it simply because another does, more so if there isn’t sufficient demand to warrant investing in such a utility.

    But…I guess life’s unfair enough as it is.

  • Larry

    My wife and I returned recently from a very lovely trip to London and Paris. We found the UK, specifically England, to be generally backward with respect to Wi-Fi. Free public hotspots were very hard to come by – even Starbucks charge for Wi-fi access, and the hotels charge also.

    Paris was much more like the US. Free Wi-Fi seemed ubiquitous, and was free in our Hotel as well.

  • Marc

    Be careful what you wish for. The same hotels that offer WiFi for $10 a night will “eliminate” that charge and fold it into a “resort fee”.

  • jen

    It is a purchasing decision for me too. I have never paid for wifi but I have chosen not to stay at hotels that charge. I’ve seen prices up to $14.95 per day. That is absurd. Chances are I will only use wifi for a couple of hours per day max. It is a basic right when you can walk into most cafes and public buildings and have free access.

  • http://www.sheilasguide.com Sheila Scarborough

    No question, given a choice between comparable properties I will always go with the one offering free WiFi.

    I’d rather stay at a mid-range chain anyway – the breakfast is usually free (and at the Hampton Inn & Suites in particular it is generous and pretty tasty) and the WiFi is free. I don’t give a rat’s patootie about your swanky bath toiletries and “Turkish towels” when you rob me blind as soon as I open my laptop. I’m outta there.

    Get it? You. Are. Not. Worth. It.

  • Doug

    Wi-Fi should be free in hotels, particularly since the hotels that are still charging for Wi-Fi usually are the ones that already are charging high rates.

    Airports are another place where Wi-Fi should be free. Wi-Fi is as essential to some travellers as restrooms.

  • http://www.authenticseacoast.com Authentic Seacoast Resorts

    We include free WiFi with our properties as we feel it is just plain hospitable. And this is the hospitality industry, right? Also, by removing all these additional fees consumers can have a better idea of the real cost of a room. Too often we see folks offering “discounts” while adding on lots of extra fees at the end.

  • http://www.ffocus.org Bruce InCharlotte

    I’ve been using a Verizon WWAN card for over a year. It’s the best thing I ever convinced my company to provide. It’s paid for itself many times over, not just for hotels, but for airports that don’t offer free wifi and even on planes when we’re stuck on the tarmac. I’ve even used it at Interstate rest stops when I needed to answer an email on the road.

  • http://AmateurTraveler.com Chris (Amateur Traveler)

    I always check on whether a hotel charges for wi-fi. If it does that is considered part of the room rate for me. It is absurd that the less expensive hotels and hotels have free wi-fi and the high end ones charge.

  • David Z

    It is absurd that the less expensive hotels and hotels have free wi-fi and the high end ones charge.

    Now that would be the more understandable scenario. I’d imagine the high-end ones charge as part of their business model. (or wanting to make more money, which many people want to do anyway…)

  • Lianne

    I recently needed a room in a hurry and ended up staying a Hilton $129 a night, no wifi included. The next time I planned a little better and got a room at a Hampton Inn 2 blocks away that included wifi & a hot breakfast for $89. I found that there was zero difference between the rooms, other than the Hilton charged me more. Does that makes any sense at all?

  • Eric Smith

    I agree with Doug. Even more so than in hotels, airport Wi-Fi should be free. You’re already paying a PFC, not to mention that the airport will ding you for $10 for 24 hours of access, knowing full well that 99% of travelers will only get to use it for less than 2 hours.

    BTW. Kudos to the airport in Pensacola, FL for offering free Wi-Fi.

  • Carver

    Anyone who believes that they are getting free WI-FI in any hotel clearly failed high school economics. The only question is whether WI-FI is included in the bill or segregated out as a seperate charge. All this talk of rights is meaningless drivel.

    Yes, hotels make money from Wi-Fi. The horror. Imagine that. A business making money from a service that it provides.

    Moreover to compare the business model of a budget or midranged hotel to a higher end hotel is downright silly.

    I recently stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn in Arcadia, CA. “Free” business center, “free” wi-fi, “free” parking. But, the trade off was, no luggage assistance, no concierge, no restaurant, no room service, and a far away location. All of these things would have cost money. The HGI saves money by not having to pay salaries and benefits for bell staff, concierge staff, parking staff, waiters, premium locations, etc, thus by reducing these cost centers, capital is freed up for other items such as free Wi-Fi.

    Hence the comparison between the different types of hotel is apples and oranges.

  • http://mlbx@hawaii.rr.com Mort B

    It seems to me that hotels either need to provide internet access as a free service (along with the bathroom goodies and the morning newspaper), or else they need to charge for all of these perks and allow guests to pick and choose those which are of interest to them. As for me, as long as there is a bar of soap in the bathroom, I would be content, and I never use the (payable) in-room movies, but internet access is important to me, and like many of those who have commented, I take this into account when choosing a hotel.

  • Chris in NC

    I have been using a wireless internet card for almost 4 years now. BEST DECISION EVER. It frees me from depending on Wi-Fi, and the card anywhere my cell phone works. Its funny, I’ll go to Meetings and people will ask me how I got my Wi-Fi signal because they can’t connect to anything. My reply that I am using a wireless internet card is often met with envy.

    Beyond hotels, I can connect at any airport (whether they have wi-fi or not), and hold a meeting just about anywhere (without having to worry about wifi access). If available I can always switch to wifi, but why bother? Oh, and it doesn’t really use that much battery power (compared to wifi).

  • http://velvetescape.com/blog Keith Jenkins

    YES!!! I’m really excited about the increasing attention this campaign is receiving. I totally agree with you that internet access should be a basic right. I really hope hotels will sit up and take notice.
    Thank you for posting and supporting this campaign.

  • Ian

    “Yes, hotels make money from Wi-Fi. The horror. Imagine that. A business making money from a service that it provides.”

    Amen, Carver!

    I’m not sure when internet access became a “right” equivalent to clean sheets, USA Today (!) and a door that locks. I agree that it is the directon we’re moving in and look forward to it, but I certainly don’t think any hotel should have to give it to me for free. If it comes down to two hotels (and I will be travelling with a computer) I choose the one with free wi-fi. Guests voting with their wallets will do more than an open letter.

  • Marla

    I have a problem with people calling free internet access a “basic right”. It is not needed to survive. But I do agree that it seems to be better business sense to offer the service for free. I will definitely always choose a hotel that offers free wi-fi over one that charges. And it is definitely true that almost all budget hotels offer it for free and the higher end hotels charge. One hotel website I visited said that they already have to pay for the service for their own use, so it just made sense to offer it free to their customers.

  • Soren

    Maybe its not so much the fact that Hotels charge – but the outrageous and usury mark up applied to an already ‘price-harassed’ traveler.
    We live in an evolving tech world. WiFi is no longer the exotic commodity it once was. It’s a necessity today.

    Not all people who stay in Hotels are on expense accounts. Many small business owners travel, for whom WiFi is the lifeblood of their communication.

    Hotels, if you’re reading this – IF YOU CHARGE ME 1000% markup for WiFi.
    I’m gonna boycott you. – plain and simple.

  • Jim J

    Being in the wireless phone business, I applaud those who have purchased a wireless card for their computers and contracted with their carriers for service. However, unless one travels frequently for business, having a wireless card may not be economically justified. The typical monthly fee to use a wireless card is $60.00. Usage taxes and fees usually add about 20% to the bill. The total is about $864 per year. Not everyone wants to spend that much money to stay connected, especially when wi-fi technology is available in many places at no cost to the user. I think that low and medium priced hotels have to have free wi-fi or they run the risk of losing customers to their competitors. It is only a matter of time before one of the large chains such as Marriott, Hilton, etc. starts advertising free wi-fi in all of their U.S. properties as a way of attracting more business. Once that happens, their competitors will have to match their offer of this free amenity or risk losing business.

  • Lianne

    @ Carver

    I have no problem with hotels making money. But the economics of WiFi in hotels is nonsensical and there is a perception that higher priced hotels are jacking customers.

    Seriously, when a Comfort Inn can to their customers inclusive of their $69 a night rate but a Hilton charges $150 a night plus a $15 a day service charge for Internet, yes it seems as though the Hilton is ripping the traveler off. Heck, I wouldn’t even object if it were a 1 time fee, but per day? Obviously they are making money off of people on an expense account.

    Someone in marketing would call this a false price point, but consumer perception can equal reality. I admit to being a little illogical in this regard myself, if I had a choice of a Hilton with no internet or a Comfort Inn with no Internet I would choose the Hilton because its a nicer hotel even at the extra cost, but I won’e shell out for extra internet fees.. If I have the choice of a Comfort Inn with internet or a Hilton with no Internet I would choose the Comfort inn because I feel like I’m getting more service for my money (and I’m an internet junkie :-)

  • Anna

    The ultimate solution to 10$/hour WiFi: Stay somewhere else.

    But WiFi is not actually free in hotels with “free internet access!!!”. It’s just included in the bill – just like towels, water (of the shower kind), door key, etc. It’s pretty much the same story with airlines and bags: there’s always a baggage fee, sometimes you just don’t see it.

  • Carver Farrow

    I think that Jim J is basically correct. Free internet (whether wired or not) won’t come to full service hotels until one of the majors decide that it would give them a competitive advantage.

    The problem is that if one major chain, say Hilton offers free Wi-Fi, that puts pressure on Marriott, then Starwood, Hyatt, etc. Soon, the competitive advantage is lost.

    Therefore, what is the incentive for a major chain to offer free Wi-Fi at its full service properties.

    More likely, each property will offer free Wi-Fi to certain types of customers. Perhaps one offers it on the concierge level, another to all top tied customers, another with certain types of rooms. This way its tailored to the customers that are most important (i.e. profitable).

    I believe a fair anology would be breakfast. Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, and Hyatt, each have different criteria for providing free breakfast. Thus no full service chain gives breakfast away to all guests.

  • David Z

    I have a problem with people calling free internet access a “basic right”. It is not needed to survive.

    Indeed. We might as well force everyone to provide something we consider a so-called basic right, even if it’s something others don’t necessarily agree with.

    Whatever they are.

  • Bill

    I prefer free wi fi, but can live with a $10 charge if I have to. What really burns me is when my wife travels with me, wants to hook up her laptop, and they want double. I do use a travel router where the hotel has wired access – but when it is wireless, there’s no way to reasonably hook up both machines. I will not pay double.

    There is a hotel in Houston that’s going to lose a $700 reservation mostly because I see they have wireless only and my wife is coming with me. Actually, they will lose the $700 plus any food I eat plus the internet? I charges for one computer. Do the math, they will lose more than they gain over their charges. Am I the only one who does this? I don’t think so…

  • Carver

    @Jim J

    I agree that the only way that full service hotels will offer free Wi-Fi would be if a major full service hotel offered it, most likely to get a competitive advantage. But then if everyone did that the advantage is lost so I doubt it will happen.

    I think the more likely scenario, at least in the short term, is that different full service hotels will offer different options to different classes of high revenue customers. Perhaps all elite members, or members on the concierge level, etc.

    The analogy would be breakfast. Each major chain provides “free” breakfast to elite members, but each does it slightly differently. For example, at Marriott, Platinum and Gold members get a hot breakfast during the week, while at Hilton free hot breakfast is provided 7 days a week to elites, but only if you are on the concierge level. Sheraton also provides breakfast 7 days a week for elite level members, but the offering may only be a continental breakfast.

    To my knowledge, none of the major chains provides breakfast for everyone at the full service hotels.

    I suspect that the first incarnation of free Wi-Fi will be similiar. Each hotel toying with a different version for a select group of high revenue guests.

  • Chris in NC

    @Jim J

    You’re correct: Wireless internet card is NOT inexpensive. The costs are around $800/year with a 2 year contract.

    However, for the frequent business traveller, it makes a lot of sense. In fact, I don’t understand how any business traveller that spends more than 30 days on the road can live without it (unless they don’t want to be connected)

    While its true that free Wi-Fi is available in many places, coverage is far from being universal. Worse, some places that used to offer free Wi-Fi are now charging for it (like McDonalds).

    Also, with the mobile internet devices, wireless isn’t required for connections.

    Let me clarify my point, hotels SHOULD offer complementary Wi-Fi. But to say that the more expensive and luxury hotels should offer more complementary services because the price is higher is simply not how it is. I love a specific Best Western we stay at. Its around $60-80 a night and has clean rooms, free parking, free Wi-Fi, full cable, and continential breakfast included. When we stay at a business hotel, we don’t get breakfast, it costs us $20+ to park, the wireless internet free is $15/night, and the hotel rates are double, triple or quadruple. Expensive hotels have never offered much complementary services. Its because it is catering to a different group of travellers.

    So, bottom line, like Carver said, only if a hotel determines that offering free Wi-Fi will boost its bottom line, it won’t happen

  • http://none Brahms Lee

    Hmmm, if I travel within the states, I use my Tmobile blackberry as a modem via bluetooth. Yeah kool huh? The data package includes ALL data. Other cell phone companies, you have to buy a data plan. Web/SMS/MMS/Email is not considered data. GO figure. Tmobile, data is data. Overseas, it’s about the same price as in the states. Hard to find a hotel that offers free wi-fi. Gotta bite the bullet.

  • Mark

    My experience is that “full service” hotels look at their guests as a profit center, and charge as much as they can for all kinds of services you’ll get at for free at the mid-priced hotel down the street. Internet is $12 a day. Breakfast is $30. Parking is $14. The fridge is a mini-bar and if you put your own water bottle in there, you’re liable to be charged $6 for moving the stuff inside. The 2.5 and 3 star hotel chains are getting better all the time: you’ll get all of those services for free, better channels on the TV, and maybe even a microwave.

    Of course it’s not a “right” to have free Internet, but I have the right to go somewhere else…and I will.

  • Shari

    It’s long past time that hotels should be having free wi-fi. It isn’t a matter of economics, it’s a matter of greed. Most of the cheaper hotels and motels, like Motel 6, all offer complimentary wi-fi. So when a place that’s charging $45 can do it, you know that a place that is charging $120 can. Same with amenities such as refrigerators. I’ve stayed at several hotels, Mariott and Doubletree, where they charge $10/day (!) for a mini-fridge, and over $10/day for wi-fi. That’s with me already paying over $100/night. Ridiculous.

    Usually, I end up doing without the wi-fi and the mini-fridge. Quite often I head to the nearest coffee shop, get a cup of coffee, and use their free wi-fi instead.

    When I’m writing reviews of hotels, I do mention things such as those abusive charges. If I’m making reservations for a hotel in an area, I’ll ask about charges for parking as well as wi-fi, and I usually ask if they have a mini-fridge in the room (which I do tend to use a lot.) I will look for the hotel with the best combination of price and value, and I often let hotels know when they’re being greedy and losing my business. I don’t think that it matters – there are too many travelers for them to care about one unhappy customer – but if nothing else, they’ve been forewarned that they’re going to lose my business as well as everyone else that I talk to.

  • David Z

    It isn’t a matter of economics, it’s a matter of greed.

    Without intimately knowing various hotels’ business models, is it arguably fair or subjectively reasonable to conclude it’s just greed rather than economics or business sense? I recently discovered 2 hotels near my brother’s place where A offers free Wi-Fi at a higher room rate, B charges Wi-Fi at a lower room rate, yet both are seemingly doing good.

    Or I guess some people don’t really care other than their own interests, anyway?

  • Barry Graham

    It’s ridiculous, nobody expects a hotel to offer free food or free phone calls. this is service that not everyone uses. If they give it for free then they will need to up another charge, or perhaps the service won’t be as fast as it could be.

  • Rae

    Anyone besides me remember a 50¢ charge to activate the tv or telephone in a room? TVs are now considered a basic amenity everywhere. Perhaps WiFi will eventually be seen the same way.

  • http://londonhotelsinsight.com/ Rajul

    As author of the blog post Christopher refers to, I believe free WiFi hotels are just smartly accepting the reality of two trends they cannot control:

    1. Usage of web-enabled devices continues to grow explosively.
    2. An increasing number of guests see WiFi as necessity not luxury.

    As some have stated in the comments, competitive pressures will likely make free WiFi happen anyway. So why resist and let it damage your brand?

    See for example how the Lanesborough (London) is revitalising its image by reinforcing free WiFi with free Sony Vaios in rooms, tech butlers, etc. This in my view just makes competitors at similar room rates look out-of-synch.

    It would be great to crunch some numbers on the reputational and competitive damage of charging for WiFi vs. ancillary revenues generated.

    Anecdotally, I don’t think hotels that have moved to free WiFi have any regrets. I’ve had emails too from a few that haven’t to say they’re rethinking.

    I’m optimistic the dominoes will eventually fall.

  • Pingback: Free Hotel WiFi – it is becoming the norm « SF WiFi Latest News

  • NJ Traveler

    I hate having to explain why my expense account has all of a sudden gone up in the last year ($10 here and $10 there adds up quickly when you have multiple stops or hotels in a trip). I have a laptop that I travel with now and find that it is really annoying when I have to sign in at an airport or hotel for wifi. I don’t consider it a right but I am now choosing my hotels based on whether wifi is included or not. It seems to be the deciding factor between locations now. Hotel management need to smarten up in this economy or will find themselves with many empty rooms. Airports are another story as there is usually little choice in the matter.

  • Sharon

    I, too, choose my hotels with the availability of Wi-Fi, being a major factor in my decision. However, what irritates me more than having to pay for internet service, is trying to connect to some of the hotel WiFi sites. So many times, the passcodes don’t work, the connections won’t connect, or are poor, or I end up calling a “tech service” number that seems to connect in India, or somewhere else where English is a third or fourth language, and get little or no help. If hotels, (and airports) are going to provide WiFi, they need to insure that the service is actually available, and secure.

  • http://www.thegallos.com kg2v

    It’s amazing that the “Business” hotels can get away with this, but I have paid it

    I’m no longer a serious business traveler, that said, last summer, I took fairly long trip with my family. With the exception of ONE place, all had WiFi (the place that didn’t have it was SO far in the boonies that wasn’t even cell phone available, so)

    The interesting factoid? The “Higher end” business type hotels charged for WiFi/wired internet, the Mid of the line were 50-50, and the couple of small little “tourist” hotels? Free wifi! (and at one,the diner next door used the same access point) – Yep, the little tourist hotels with 9-10 total rooms had free wifi, every one of them. No, you didn’t get a conference room. Heck, you didn’t get room service, but the rooms were nice, clean, and the help (usually one of the owners most of the time) were more than helpful

  • http://search.hotelroundup.co.uk/browsebycountry.aspx hotel comparison

    Finding a good hotel can be difficult, especially at short notice. While each hotel offers a unique experience for travellers, the best hotels share certain characteristics that enhance the comfort and enjoyment of their guests. Whether planning a long-awaited holiday or seeking a last minute accommodation for business needs, certain elements must be present in order to enjoy the best hotel stay possible.

  • Claudes31

    I’m getting so tired of people asking for free Internet. This is so far out of what is important. Wake up people. What you should ask for is SAFE Internet. You may not realize how risky it is to use these free Internet connections. No client-to-client blocking, no access code, no smtp, no vpn access, etc… Yeah, it’s free, but it’s so cheap and dangerous!
    The real problem is paying too much. I agree that over 5$ is too much.
    But frankly, I would prefer to pay 4.95$ for a secure inrnet connection than get it for free. When I go to a free internet hotel, I don’t use it, I use my 3G connection instead. Yu should do the same.
    Instead of looking for cheap, look for safety. Select your hotel based on security, not price dummies!

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