The value of free internet

April 4, 2012

One of the feaures of travel these days is the (usually-met) expectation of high internet charges in your hotel. It’s common in Europe, for instance, for hotels to charge eye-watering rates to let you get online: charges of £20 or equivalent per day aren’t unusual.

Some hotels include internet costs in their room rates, treating it as part of the plumbing, as it were. Even if room rates are elevated to cover the cost, it’s perceived as a good deal when your experience in the hotel is “free internet.”

That’s been the case in my hotel, the Luxor in Las Vegas, where I’ve been staying during this week. They say quite clearly that unlimited internet access is included in the room rate.

But I wonder what the Mandalay Bay Hotel is thinking with its pricing – just look at the screenshot of their website showing their rate when I visited the site on my smartphone. The screenshot shows $525. Not a typo!

I have no idea what the Mandalay’s pricing goals or philosophy are, and the place where I accessed their website was in the convention centre attached to the hotel. But the price is eye-watering nevertheless, don’t you think?

I wonder when it will become a common competitive differentiator for hotels and other public places to offer you “free internet.” It might be the difference for a connected traveller to choose your place instead of another when he or she can get online with wifi or a wired connection without fuss or concern.

Perception is everything.

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