At one point or another, nearly all travelers have dealt with poor wireless internet connection at airports, hotels or cafes. When unsuccessfully trying to connect to an open Wi-Fi network, one of the worst feelings is to realize that you are waiting in line while other guests finish browsing.

Representatives of premium hotels note that smooth internet connection is as indispensable as water or power supply and has to be offered free of charge. The rule applies not only to the lobby or rooms, but to all other hotel spaces as well.

Hotel Wi-Fi Rank, a system developed in Great Britain, measures the quality of wireless network in different hotels of the world. A recently published survey turned out to be surprizing, since it revealed that wireless download speed in some hotels in the centre of Paris is only 0.35 Mbps. Connection speed in hotels located in the centre of Vilnius ranges from 9 to 54 Mbps.

Tomas Maknickas, Director of IDW Esperanza Resort, a five-star hotel located near Trakai and a member of the international Small Luxury Hotels of the World network, says that, when ensuring the quality of services provided, it is important to take into account the habit of guests to use mobile devices in various spaces. “Good wireless internet connection has to operate smoothly throughout the resort: in rooms, restaurants, playgrounds or on the beach. To achieve this goal we have invested in high-quality Wi-Fi solution deployed by the specialists of Penkių Kontinentų Komunikacijų Centras”, said the Head of the luxury residence.

According to him, popularity of social networks and internet not only places certain obligations, but also offers new opportunities. “We offer the opportunity for our guests to view restaurant menus, read about SPA and a variety of other services of the hotel online. This helps us improve communication and our guests can comfortably plan their leisure time while sitting in a restaurant, relaxing by the lake or in their rooms”, T. Maknickas lists the benefits of modern technologies.

This February, the hotel received Guest Service Gold status awarded by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. The status is defined by seven principles determining top quality of customer service: trust, intuition, hard work, sincerity, the ability to constantly surprize one’s customers, initiative and carefulness. Not long ago, global travel site TripAdvisor included IDW Esperanza Resort in the list of top 25 European hotels.

Changing habits drive the changes of equipment

A study conducted by Cisco Systems Inc. revealed an average of two network devices per capita in Europe. “Now, hotel guests bring with them several laptop computers, so meeting the need of high network capacity is facilitated by wireless internet connection offering the appropriate technical possibilities”, explains Robertas Ragauskas, Head of Commercial Department of Penkių Kontinentų Komunikacijų Centras, UAB. “Before installing a wireless network infrastructure, we communicate extensively with the customer and find out their needs in detail”, he adds.

T. Maknickas sees few more undisputed benefits of the wireless internet connection: smooth work during conferences and the fact that hotel guests are not tied to the business center. “With the deployment of high-quality wireless connection in the hotel, business clients who organize conferences encounter no problems here. Moreover, there are no guests who visit the business center to check their e-mail or browse the internet, because the quality of internet connection is equally good in all spaces of the residence”, the Director of IDW Esperanza Resort shares his experience.

The fact that the quality of Wi-Fi connection is one of the criteria of customer evaluation observed in hotel booking systems is yet another reason to be concerned about the network capabilities. Various tourist destination guides and sites also provide feedback of guests about different services and the internet access.