Hospitality News

The Price of Staying Connected

WIRELESS Internet access is no longer a rarefied luxury. It’s free in cafes, parks, fast-food chains, campgrounds and gas stations — yes, gas stations.

Yet in some places travelers still must pay for Wi-Fi access, and perhaps nowhere is that more disturbing than in an upscale hotel room.

While many budget and midscale hotel chains have largely given up on charging guests for Wi-Fi, fees persist at more luxurious sister hotels — typically about $9.95 to $19.95 a day.

Many guests agree. Free in-room Internet access ranked as the most desired guest-room amenity in a national survey of 800 affluent travelers conducted in August. That was above premium bedding and flat-screen TVs. A January survey of 6,300 people across 10 countries by the research firm Synovate found that 47 percent of respondents said a hotel must cater to their technology needs before they book it, with wireless access a top priority.

Budget hotels, which have been offering free Wi-Fi for some time, are increasingly calling attention to the service as a way to stand out from more expensive hotels as travelers look for bargains in the recession.

Hotels say Internet charges are driven by what the market will bear. Because travelers have been willing to pay extra at high-end properties, those hotels continue to charge. But that doesn’t much change the experience for travelers who have paid for in-room Internet service at a Hilton, for example, but received it for free at a Hilton Garden Inn.

Restaurant Price Presentation Influences Check Averages, New Cornell Research Shows

Ithaca, NY, A study from Cornell University has found a new wrinkle in one of the restaurant industry's longest running debates-how to present menu prices to encourage the best check averages. The new study, from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research suggests that guests spend more, on average, when menu prices are presented without dollar signs or the use of the word dollar.

The restaurant industry research report concludes: "As much as we might like to believe that we can earn a quick buck by changing the type and presentation of our menus, it is clear that operational factors have a much larger impact on purchase behavior than price typography does. Controlling for other factors, however, we saw a significant spending difference for menus that presented prices as numerals only."

Source Center for Hospitality Research