Your goal is to meet your guests’ expectations in all areas of their visits — including check-in, guestrooms, customer service and providing crucial information like the Wi-Fi password. But guest expectations are a moving target. In the 2016 Lodging Technology Study by Hospitality Technology Magazine, hoteliers ranked “keeping pace with guest expectations” as their second-highest challenge, at 43 percent.
To add to the puzzle, guests now have another important expectation — technology. More specifically, guests want easy and reliable access to wireless Internet through the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). Because our lives are so intertwined with technology, guests want to immediately ensure that they can continue with their typical tasks while staying at your property — including checking email, participating in work video calls, watching their favorite television shows or posting vacation pictures to social media from their mobile devices.
Majority of Guests Log on to Wireless Within Seven Minutes
In order to meet these expectations around wireless technology, it’s essential to know exactly how strong your guests’ desire for wireless is and their habits regarding wireless use. By understanding these four statistics, taken from a UK-based survey by the serviced aparthotel provider Roomzzz, you can create an experience that exceeds your guests’ expectations.
- Nearly two-thirds of hotel guests attempt to connect to the property’s Wi-Fi within seven minutes of arrival. All you have to do is look around the lobby to see guests immediately connecting when they arrive on the property. Since guests often want to connect even before they get to their rooms, consider implementing signage or push notifications through hotel apps using beacons to provide the lobby wireless password to guests. Not only will the guests be happy, but your front desk staff can focus on providing service in other areas.
- A third of hotel guests will ask for the Wi-Fi password during the check-in process. No one wants to get to their room and not have the password. This is another area in which being proactive is the right strategy: When you provide the room’s wireless password early in the check-in process, guests feel like you understand their needs and anticipate what’s important to them.
- Nearly 10 percent will have a sense of panic if Wi-Fi isn’t available. A portion of your guests have such a strong dependence on the Internet that they will become distressed if it’s not available, which illustrates the importance of having a reliable and high-bandwidth network, and the ability to fix any outages quickly.
- One-fourth of guests ignore the TV and are instead concerned with connecting to the Wi-Fi when they get to their rooms. It used to be that turning on the in-room television was the first order of business when a guest retired to their room. But according to Roomzzz spokesperson Mark Walton, 25 percent of guests now ignore the television set and focus on connecting to wireless. By providing an easy sign-on process as well as clearly marked troubleshooting details, hoteliers can reduce connectivity issues and increase satisfaction.
Your guests’ lives will become even more entrenched in technology as we move forward, and wireless expectations will only grow. By starting to understand your guests’ technology needs today, you’ll be ahead of your competition and able to deliver a top-notch guest experience.
Hotel guests aren’t the only ones expecting quick wireless access. Guests at large business locations such as convention centers also expect uninterrupted connectivity. Here’s how some facilities are providing Wi-Fi for guests in large, open floor plans.
