Hotels Invest in Wi-Fi to Improve the Experience of their Guests

People travelling around the globe want to stay connected to the world at all times, especially when they are staying in a hotel. They expect the hotel to have Wi-Fi available for them to use and they may even pay extra to include it in their package. Many people may even select a hotel if they offer Wi-Fi for their guests. Therefore, hotels have begun to invest in Wi-Fi to provide their guests with another service to use on their stay.

NYU’s School of Professional Studies released a study forecasting that the United States hotel industry will spend $6.4 billion on business expenditures, and attaining an internet service is on the top of their lists.

Hotels will need to spend around $40,000 to upgrade their internet service to one that performs better and faster. However, hotels aren’t investing in Wi-Fi for the sole purpose of making money, but to improve customer experience. If the customers do not have access to Wi-Fi or the Wi-Fi in the hotel is slow, their satisfaction and happiness level will decrease.

In the future, they may not even stay at the same hotel again, and book one that promises a faster internet connection. For instance, Marriott hotels offer customers with high-speed internet, which they have made possible by improving routers, wiring, and access points of the local area network (LAN) around a single property. The upgrades have improved both internet reliability and speed.

Another example of a hotel that has recognized the importance of an efficient Wi-Fi connection is Starwood. In 2014, over 50% of hotel guests connected to their Wi-Fi with 75% accessing the internet using their smartphones. In order to meet the growing demands of guests for Wi-Fi, the hotel has kept improving their internet service.

They have replaced their existing Wi-Fi equipment and have expanded their bandwidth in the hotels. Starwood has gone as far as calling in third parties to have guests fill out a survey about the efficiency of the internet service. The results of the survey will allow the hotel to learn if they need to make any improvement to their Wi-Fi connection.

With several guests coming to the hotel to watch movies and TV shows over the internet on their device, it has become Starwood’s primary focus to keep on meeting their guests’ demand for lighting fast internet. Hilton Hotels have also heavily invested in Wi-Fi technology. The hotel provides their guests with the option to stay connected to the online world using their Wi-Fi.

With most guests opting for it, Hilton Hotels have ensured that their internet remains running. However, not all hotels charged their guests for Wi-Fi connection, as some hotels offer it as a complimentary add-on.

Still, there is a persisting problem of the amount of devices connecting to the infrastructure at the same time. Regardless of the improvements hotels are making in terms of the Wi-Fi connection, more work has to be done. In order to accommodate all guests and their internet usage, they will have to continue growing their bandwidth, but this will put pressure on their infrastructure.

In reality, guests aren’t getting a high speed internet, but a medium speed internet. Although the importance of hotels having an internet connection is important, it’s going to be a never-ending investment until we have even better technology available in the future.