Is your Wi-Fi fast enough?

In last week’s blog, we discussed online reviews and the top 8 things guests complain about.  Topping the list as the #1 complaint from hotel guests was extra costs for internet access.  We’ve all heard lately that free Wi-Fi has become an expectation for guests when staying at your property.  But someone has taken it to the next level by creating a new website that serves the purpose of “shaming” hotels for their costly or slow Wi-Fi.

Guests and travelers can now head to www.hotelwifitest.com to see how your hotels Wi-Fi speeds compare to that of other hotels.  Once your property’s internet connection has been tested through the site, you’re forever listed on the website with an “expected speed” in megabytes per second (mbps).  But the fun doesn’t stop there; alongside your property’s expected Wi-Fi speed lists your room rates and online reviews courtesy of Hotels.com.  If that isn’t enough, the results can also be shared to Social Media so people can tell all their friends how awesome or terrible your property’s internet is.  For those traveling on business, a strong internet connection can make or break a guest’s stay.  Business travelers are known for repeat business so this website can be very damaging to hotels which rely on this type of customer.

The website does suggest that most hotels offer free Wi-Fi, but many also still charge for access.  A survey released by Telegraph Travel  suggests over 90% of European hotels currently offer free Wi-Fi access.  Free internet access alone is no longer enough, as the website reads, “Nothing could be more disheartening than turning on your laptop, only to realize that the hotel’s Wi-Fi is so slow it will take four hours to view the thirty-minute video.”  Now imagine that thirty-minute video is part of a business traveler’s presentation that he has to give that afternoon?  Needless to say, he won’t be back.

While the chatter of guests expecting free Wi-Fi seems like it just started last week, at the rate technology progresses it’s no surprise they’re already expecting more.  Free Wi-Fi is great, but now it’s only as good as your connectivity.

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Source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10995868/Hotels-named-and-shamed-over-slow-costly-Wi-Fi.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/10797654/British-hotels-among-worst-for-Wi-Fi-charges.html

Top 8 Guest Complaints

“More than one third of consumers will not book a hotel room without reading (online) reviews first.” – LateRooms

Discussion of hospitality trends is a constantly changing one that’s usually very unpredictable.  “Online Reviews” is one of those “trend” words that we’ve all been hearing a lot lately.  Online reviews have become directly related to the success of your property.  With the number of online users only increasing as time goes on, these reviews will come to determine the future success of hospitality businesses.  Monitoring and interacting with online reviews has become a cornerstone of successful hospitality business practices.  The engine for which these reviews are shared and posted will always be changing.  Right now, the popular sites are Yelp and TripAdvisor, but in 5-10 years, it could be anything.  Regardless of where people go to post these reviews in the future, they will forever and always be doing it.  It’s your job as a hospitality professional stay on top of these reviews.  One can try to avoid negative reviews from occurring altogether, but if that doesn’t work, then you need to be online fielding these customer reviews; good and bad.

How can you stay on top of your hotel operations to make sure bad reviews aren’t posted in the first place?  HotelInfo.com published a multiple year study detailing the comments and causes related to a negative online customer review.  Here are the top 8 things guests complained about:

1. Extra costs for internet access, parking, breakfast, etc.
   1. Free WiFi has become an expectation. If something as simple as free parking will provide your property with positive customer reviews, it’s worth it.
2. Lack of service
   1. This isn’t always in your control, but making sure your staff is happy and knowledgeable can combat this issue. With emphasis on happy; a happy employee is a happy guest.
3. Breakfast choice
   1. Again, if it gets your property a good review, it’s worth providing some additional breakfast options.
4. Uncomfortable beds
   1. If your beds are uncomfortable, it’s not an easy/cheap upgrade. But to remain successful in the longer term, guest comfort is essential.
5. Dirty rooms
   1. This is no different than lack of service. If your rooms aren’t clean enough, your housekeeping staff needs to be re-evaluated.  Keeping your staff happy is the best preventative measure.
6. Unfriendliness
   1. Same as dirty rooms and lack of service.
7. Quality of breakfast
   1. A cheap breakfast with multiple options is no better than a good breakfast with no options.
8. Hotel does not offer what it promises.
   1. Keep track of your online/print listings and descriptions. If your hotel doesn’t offer listed options, get the info changed to appropriately market your property.

As you can see, a lot of these negative reviews stem from issues that can easily be prevented from occurring in the first place.  If you’re constantly seeing negative reviews for unfriendliness, dirty rooms or general lack of service, you may need to re-evaluate your staff.  Keeping your employees happy and making sure to keep yourself open to them is an easy way to prevent these issues.  If they can knowingly come to management with their questions and issues, they’ll be sorted out much quicker and hopefully help avoid negative reviews in the first place.  Besides issues with your staff, the majority of these complaints come from additional charges for services.  These charges may bring extra income to the property, but they cause negative buzz to your online community and ultimately harm your establishment.  These extra charges should be carefully reconsidered in your future hotel operations.  Extra benefits like this can generate positive reviews and ultimately loyal customers.

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To see the full article including percentage statistics on these top complaints, please visit the link below.

http://www.eturbonews.com/48354/tips-hoteliers-what-do-about-negative-hotel-evaluations?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Eturbonews-TravelAndTourismIndustryNews+%28eTurboNews+-+for+the+global+travel+professional%29

Role of Reviews and Reputation on Buying Success

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2012/07/27/americans-biggest-complaints-about-hotels/