The luxury hotels offer their customers a wide range
of equipment on the cutting edge of technology but the cost and quality of the
hotel WIFI access is problematic in a lot of hotels around the world. Most
hotels provide free WIFI in the hall but the guests have to pay a fortune for Internet
access in their hotel room. The leader in providing wireless Internet service
is Motel 6, an economy hotel chain which is part of Paris-based Accor.
In January 2012, the Motel 6 deployed the largest
cloud-based network in the United States which is a “data storage system in
which the user receives data, like internet services, by means of a massive
remote storage system that aggregates content from multiple sources, maintains
firewalls between each source and makes the storage available to those sources
on demand”[1].
The advantage of cloud computing is that it’s cheaper for a hotel operator in
terms of upfront hardware costs and it’s a good method of internet delivery. In
our point of view, many hotels should learn from Motel 6 because bad or expensive
Internet access creates lots of frustration for the customers, especially the
business ones. For hoteliers, the concept of fast and reliable WIFI for guests
should be taken seriously.
source: http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/A-room-in-the-cloud/
A recent survey made by J.D. Power and Associates
‘North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study released in 2010, showed
that 77% of hotel guests are now using wireless Internet instead of a cable
Internet connection, versus 55% in the past. This survey also reported, one
year after, that 13% of hotel clients complained about problems with the
Internet connection or speed. This proves that reliable WIFI is a very
important aspect for customers when they are booking hotels. In our point of
view, free WiFi is a must when it comes to hotel amenities. Those days, the
number of tablet computer users is increasing and it has a significant impact
in Internet service in hotels because an Apple iPad, for example, requires WIFI
and almost a quarter of leisure guests own a tablet computer, according to an
Atmosphere Research Groups Study in 2011. According to us, if fast food restaurants and
coffee shops like Starbucks can provide good Internet service, hotels should do
the same because the well being of their clients is a priority and these days,
everyone uses the Internet frequently, either for business or leisure.
source: http://www.motel6.com/
The system was implemented in 620 Motel 6’s all around
the United States, which represent more than 50% of all Motel 6’s in the
country. Meraki is the company who has elaborated the system; with the approval
of Accor the financial details of that collaboration were not revealed.
According to Kiren Sekar, Vice President of Marketing, the costs for Internet
setups are lower with their system. They can easily gain capital as they are
charging the guests who want to use WIFI in their room a fee of $2.99 per
night. Many hoteliers are modelling their systems based on what Motel 6 is
doing by installing the Meraki system but none have come close to replicating
the effectiveness of the Motel 6 system. In our opinion the system is efficient
and needs to be distributed worldwide. The hoteliers need to take into
consideration the new technologies to remain competitive.
[1]
KING Danny, A room in the cloud,
February 1, 2012.
Keywords: clouf, WIFI
Source: King, Danny (2012, february 1st). A room in the cloud: http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/A-room-in-the-cloud/
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