

Why Do Expensive Hotels Charge for Wifi? - Kopion
http://priceonomics.com/why-do-expensive-hotels-charge-for-wifi/

======
Gustomaximus
As a rule I never book a hotel that charges for Wifi. It's not just premium
brands but a good litmus test for hotels in general. I've found those that
charge for Wifi try to profit from you at more points, be that charging
directly or cutting corners and generally offer a poorer experience.

------
cge
This seems like a rather nonsensical reason devised by hotels that charge for
wifi. In fact, the quotes they give are actually from companies that do paid
hotel wifi. The argument is very similar to arguments about pricing, monopoly-
protection and net non-neutrality regulations for ISPs: that somehow, high
prices and abusive regulations are _necessary_ to provide decent bandwidth.

It would be very interesting to see an analysis of internet connection quality
at hotels with paid vs. free wifi. In my anecdotal experience, the paid wifi
has often been _worse_. To be fair, paid wifi seems most often to be present
at hotels hosting conferences, and the conferences do bring quite a few
users... but if we listen to this argument, isn't that the situation that we
are paying to prevent?

------
cityhall
Business travel is booked at particular price points, $150, $300, etc. based
on the employee's rank in the company. On top of that there's a daily
allowance for incidentals like room service, parking, and wifi, so the hotels
overcharge to extract as much of it as possible. You're much less likely to
see wifi charges at boutique hotels or at resorts where there are fewer
business travelers.

There's also a budgeting issue. A hotel spending hundreds of thousands of
dollars installing wifi is going to want to recoup that cost directly instead
of assigning it to overhead, and once they start collecting fees the revenue
is hard to give up. A hostel can just add a $50 consumer router to their
existing internet connection.

------
nmjohn
They missed the largest reason completely.

It is because their main customer is there on business, and their company, not
themselves is picking up the tab. And if the company is picking up the tab,
there is absolutely no reluctance to get the wifi.

And the companies don't care, because the employee needs the wifi to work, so
$15 or whatever it is, is a small price to pay for being able to have the
employee work remotely, which a decade ago was all but impossible.

~~~
baha_man
No they didn't:

"The most common explanation for why fancy hotels charge for wifi is that
their customers are not sensitive to price: rich customers, especially
business travelers who charge everything to the company, don’t care about a
$10 surcharge..."

------
theandrewbailey
This same reasoning can be used for why those same expensive hotels don't have
free continental breakfast.

When I was a kid, I went with my dad to union conventions, where the union
would always put us in the nicest hotel. I'm sure it broke my parents'
cheapskate hearts that there was never free breakfast, so we always went to a
McDonald's or something nearby every morning.

------
hartator
I think the analysis of the article is not really well worked.

For example, failure to provise to benchmark. For example, no real statistics
or survey. For example, not everyone cares about internet. For example, paid
internet is usually not really good...

------
mmaldacker
What? A quick google tells me that ritz-carlton, intercontinental and other
luxury hotels like kempinski all provide free wifi. I seriously doubt other
luxurious hotels would charge you for wifi.

------
webmaven
Very US-centric. Article fails to explain why expensive hotels elsewhere in
the world manage to provide free wifi.

~~~
SystemOut
I'd be interested in knowing where expensive hotels tend to provide free wifi?
In China almost none of the hotels provided it for free or as an included
service. That being said, many times I'd get it included in my rate if I pre-
payed or booked ahead depending on the time of year and the promotions they
were offering. But it wasn't just "free wifi" like many of the discount chains
tend to offer here in the US and elsewhere.

------
midnitewarrior
Because they can.

