Today I received an email from a well known national hotel chain as a part of their regular newsletter I subscribe to. The headline was ‘XXXX now offers FREE WiFi to all guests!’

The email marketing had done its job- a compelling headline had grabbed my attention, and I clicked to open. My main reason was this is a hotel chain I frequent a lot, and an existing bug bear I have is they do have WiFi but it is overpriced at nearly $30 per day, which in today’s world I feel is a bit pricey.

Upon reading the article about their ‘newest innovation’, the fine print stipulates that the so called ‘FREE WiFi’ is for 15 minutes per day per guest, and only available in the common area of the hotel ie. The foyer! My initial, and current thoughts are ‘why bother?’ Surely an added value offering such as 15 minutes of WiFi in the foyer isn’t going to entice anybody to stay here versus another hotel nearby? I don’t understand the logic behind the offering and the headline of it being such a great idea to tell the community about. Have I missed something here?

I am constantly frustrated with hotels and the general community at large in Australia with the reluctance to offer free WiFi to the customer. When I travel it is commonplace that WiFi is available and free in nearly any place. On my last two trips to the UK and to the UAE I had this service in cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels, trains, train stations etc etc. I am sure there is some in built cost of this in what I pay somewhere along the line in the business offerings, but I don’t care as it is hidden and built in.

Why can’t we get it right in our businesses here in Australia, or am I being too obnoxious?

What’s it like in America? I am very interested to know! Tweet to me @tony_ozanne.

Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
www.smallfish.com.au