All I want is free Wi-Fi in my hotel room...is that too much to ask for?
While tweeting on a “Travel Tuesday” I asked people what were some of their hotel annoyances. You know those things that made you angry about a recent stay at a particular property or simply made you skip booking a room altogether.
I was shocked at how quickly and passionately people responded. I had told my followers that the biggest hotel annoyance I encounter while on the road is no free Wi-Fi access. I mean it is the year 2010 and there are still many top hotels that do not offer complimentary internet to their customers. What gives?
There really is no excuse for this anymore. What’s more, it seems like the cheaper hotels have been faster to introduce free internet (i.e. Choice Hotels offer it at all their properties) to travelers.
One person in the Twitter conversation stated that he was already paying the hotel hundreds of dollars for a room, so why can’t they give him the comfort of free internet during his stay. I agree 110% with him. When a hotel tells me that they offer free Wi-Fi in their lobby and charge for it in their rooms, chances are I am not staying there.
I believe the most expensive internet fee occurred when I was staying at the Zurich Marriott in 2008. For 24-hours they want around $25 USD for 24 hours. Of course I did not pay for that insane price and instead headed to a nearby Starbucks for complimentary Wi-Fi and a lot of coffee.
The other complaint that dominated the conversation was the awful check-in and check-out times at most hotels. If you’re paying more than $100 for a hotel stay, I believe you should receive a 24-hour stay. Hotels often provide customers with anywhere from 20-21 hours. I even stayed at a hotel once that let me check-in at 4pm and told me I had to be out the next morning at 11am. Yes that is a measly 19-hours!
Besides internet charges, other complaints included bad lighting, outdated furniture and amenities (i.e. tube television with no HD), paying for breakfast, overpriced vending machines, dirty bathrooms and rude staff.
Hotels are complaining that they can not fill their rooms nationwide due to a poor economy. So how about these pricey hotels simply give people more for their hard earned money to lure them in? Provide reasonable check-in/check-out times, add a few extra perks and for the love of god provide free Wi-Fi access already!
Agree? Disagree? What do you dislike about hotel stays? Vent here and let people know you’re mad as hell and you’re not going to book a room at that hotel anymore!
