Irish hotel guests would rather have fast Wi-Fi over food and water

29 Jul 2014

Irish hotel guests are increasingly becoming more interested in the quality of Wi-Fi over breakfast or hot water, with more demand for faster broadband, a recent survey suggests.

The survey undertaken by public Wi-Fi provider Bitbuzz shows that the vast majority of survey respondents have long put exorbitant prices for hotel TV behind them, with 70pc of those staying in hotels admitting to ignoring the TV altogether in favour of streaming content through their smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Likewise, 70pc surveyed are also willing to forego that cup of tea with the not-so desirable UHT milk sachet in favour of having a reliable Wi-Fi connection. Twenty per cent said they could easily do without a cooked breakfast.

Less than 5pc admitted they believe the need for hot water is not as important as being able to watch House of Cards on Netflix over a reliable internet connection.

Irish hotels could do better when it comes to providing good quality Wi-Fi to its guests, according to more than 50pc of survey respondents, who said the standard is slow (31pc) or of poor quality (25pc).

Sixty-two per cent of those surveyed went as far to say they would pay extra just to access fast and reliable broadband in their rooms.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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