According to Travel Daily Media,free Wi-Fi remains the most desirable hotel amenity for global travellers, according to a new study.
In its annual guest survey, Hotels.com found that the availability of complimentary Wi-Fi is the top factor for 50% of business travellers. This marks a decline however, from the 56% of business travellers who chose free Wi-Fi in the last survey.
Hotels.com said this decline could be attributed to the increased availability of free public Wi-Fi hotspots and enhanced mobile data plans, which have reduced guests’ reliance on hotel Wi-Fi.
Despite this, free Wi-Fi was the technological amenity that 60% of respondents wished would become standard at all hotels this year.
Free breakfast was the second most highly-rated amenity for leisure travellers (21%), but only third for business travellers (12%), who ranked the hotel’s location as the second most important factor.
In terms of in-room amenities, high-end coffee makers or espresso machines are travellers’ favourite modern offering (23%), and 33% of respondents said complimentary bottled water should be available as standard in all hotel rooms.
But it appears that hotel guests are falling out of love with mini–bars. Almost a quarter (24%) of global respondents said they don’t need a mini–bar, and 17% say they didn’t use them. Bathroom phones (22%) were also considered unnecessary.