Easily Accessible and Wireless

Make sure your guest can find your Internet Connection point, be it wired or wireless and it's easy to connect to.  Guests will assume a connection point and or some information at the work desk - you may need to get housekeeping to ensure information is there.

If do have a wired offer, make sure the cable is IN THE room and ON THE desk and NOT  the floor.  A stylish cable holder, possibly with your logo and I strongly recommend simple instructions on how to connect will do the trick.  Assuming you are charging for Internet access, generally a few additional connections and the associated increased revenue will cover the cost of a cable holder.  That's not factoring in the benefit of a happy guest who will return.

There are a lot of products on the market, one of the most popular is the Pull-Thru Pro

There is also the DeskPoint Pro which is really very clever;  

• it will securely hold your cable where a guest can access it
• Provide a wired and wireless signal - the best of both worlds
• has a USB charger so guests can charge a multitude of gadgets
• has the facility to have your logo and connection instructions on it
• is an out of the box solution to provide wireless connectivity without expensive new cabling
• brilliant at eliminating deadspots irrespective of construction material of your property

Fast and Reliable - There is more to this than meets the eye

I am confident, if you analysed the data, you'd find a dramatic increase in the entertainment/video streaming downloaded by guests over the last year compared to the more standard - less bandwidth intensive data of 12 months ago.

This means that over time you will have to increase band width (and your overheads) in order to continue to provide an excellent service.  If your Internet Provider is not doing it yet, you should ask for management software that will ensure all guests get fair access to the available band width.  We are seeing overseas and already in Australasia, properties charging a premium for guaranteed high speed access, this is another way to ensure guests get 'fast reliable' Internet access and you can recover your increased costs associated with this service.  Again, you will need to work with your Internet Provider to ensure their product has the facilities to do this with minimal impact on your staff.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group have the ability to analyse the data from their guests - to find out what Nick Price, CIO/CTO has to say click here.  He feels that if you deliver bad band width it's like food poisoning!