Wi-Fi Fees Drag Hotel Satisfaction Down | CNN
Hotel guests across the continent are not happy. At least that's the conclusion from a survey released Wednesday by J.D. Power and Associates.
Right down the line, the 2012 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study ticks off a laundry list of items that are dragging the industry to its lowest satisfaction level since 2006: check-in/check-out, food and beverage, hotel services and facilities.
One item in particular – Internet costs and fees – is pressing some guests' buttons, churning up "resentment, frustration and anger," says Stuart Greif, a J.D. Power vice president. "At the luxury level, where they're paying for a lot more, there's a feeling you should be giving more freebies, like Internet Wi-Fi, which many lower priced hotels offer for free."
The anger is rooted in this cultural shift: We're at a tipping point where hotel guests value Internet access as they would a bed and hot water, says Greif. "You can't live without it."
