You might think the title of this recent HotelNewsNow.com article says it all: The Inevitability of Free Wi-Fi. However, author Ed Watkins admits that Loews, the most recent hotel brand to offer free Wi-Fi in all guestrooms, “might just be an outlier.”
Despite countless articles and surveys that support free hotel Wi-Fi, the fact still remains: bandwidth is expensive. Hotels need to find a way to offset the high network infrastructure costs associated with the ever-increasing guest bandwidth consumption.
Note that Loews is offering free basic Wi-Fi. Just as indicated in our recent post, 4 Ways to Monetize (Free) Wi-Fi, there are proven ways to monetize your guest network and keep it fair for guests.
For more on managing your property Internet, stay tuned as we share several insights and tips in our upcoming series, Optimizing & Monetizing Your Guest Network.
Do you offer free basic Wi-Fi at your property? Why or why not?