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Hotel CEOs talk about Wi-Fi and other tech issues
— -- Hotels face new challenges as they continue to recover from the recession, including tech-savvy, Web-surfing travelers who have different expectations as guests than do prior generations.
USA TODAY assembled five of the industry's top executives last month at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles in the LA Live JW Marriott hotel for a discussion of the industry's latest developments. They were: Marriott International CEO J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr.; InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) CEO Richard Solomons; Carlson CEO Hubert Joly; Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce; and Eric Danziger, CEO Wyndham Hotel Group.
The discussion ranged from hotel Internet fees to iPad apps, new lobbies and chainwide hotel renovations. The hour-long event was moderated by USA TODAY's Barbara De Lollis. The text has been edited for clarity and length.
USA TODAY:Internet access is a top amenity for travelers. With the iPad revolution, bandwidth use is growing at a faster pace. What are you doing in response?
Marriott: Well, we're working to try and get down to a few (Internet) suppliers, because in the past we had a bunch of suppliers, like 80 or 90. We have 3,700 hotels and everyone's hired their own supplier, so we're trying to narrow the number so we can increase bandwidth and improve the service. It's a huge problem. Everyone wants to talk in the room and they want to download everything they can. It's getting to be quite a challenge.
IHG: I also think we're going to have to look at things like differential charges. (For instance,) basic wireless you could get for free and maybe you pay more for high speeds so people who really want it can get it. We all see it as an issue. It's one of the big dissatisfiers that you see in a lot of hotels.
Carlson: Free Internet is the greatest demand in terms of amenities of the travelers. It's almost like having water or air conditioning in the room. So we have a strategy of offering this for free at an increasing cost (to hotel owners).
Wyndham: We offer it for free in most of our brands, though not all of them. But whether you charge or whether it's free, you'd better have some dependability and reliability because it will become the single source of complaints. By the way, truck drivers who stop at Super 8 are using mobile devices, so it is widespread.
Choice: We have been free for a long time. It is interesting that the last remaining places where hotels are getting away with charging for it are at the upper-upscale and luxury levels. I think the expectation is that it should be provided free.
USA TODAY:Can offering free Wi-Fi help differentiate a hotel chain from others?
IHG: The question is not whether (free Internet) becomes a differentiator. I think the bigger issue you're going to see is the small chains or the unbranded hotels are going to find it just continually harder to compete. You see sales of iPad devices and mobile are up, so (providing free Internet) is very hard if you're a small player.
USA TODAY:How has the iPad revolution changed the way travelers book rooms?
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