Which hotel amenities do travellers most and least desire? This was the question posed in surveys by two recent travel-related companies and the results provided some interesting findings.

 

The most valued amenity was Wi-Fi internet access, according to both sets of research.

 

Free Wi-Fi overwhelmingly figures when travellers are deciding which hotel to book, according to the research by hotel booking site Hotels.com.  According to its findings, 38% of travellers said that free Wi-Fi played a part in their decision in making a specific hotel a must stay. In addition, 35% reported it is the simple amenity they want to see more in hotels, while 31% said they wished it would become a standard in all hotels in 2012.

 

“Given the explosion of mobile use in the past few years, it is no surprise that travellers are requiring free and fast Wi-Fi,” said Taylor L. Cole, APR, director of public relations and social media for hotels.com. “Many guests never travel without their tablets, smartphones and laptops. It’s as intuitive as packing a toothbrush. Guests use these items in their rooms to plan activities for the next day. We are also seeing an uptick in mobile booking the day of a stay. Guests are creating their trips while on-the-go with Tonight’s Local Deals on our site and the hotels.com mobile apps, which feature exclusive mobile deals – it is only natural that they’d want to stay connected while in their hotel rooms.”

 

Research by online travel review site TripAdvisor also found that guests have firm expectations of free Wi-Fi Internet access with 88% of travellers stating they expected it to be free of charge in all lodging types.

 

Other than technology, breakfast included with the booking and loyalty points were also shown to be highly valued by travellers, while turndown service topped the list of least important hotel amenities in the TripAdvisor survey.

 

The research by Hotels.com, meanwhile, found that iPads were a favourite in-room amenity ranking above air purifiers/humidifiers, high-end coffee makers, iPod dock, massage chairs, video game systems, universal remote rooms, and workout equipment/DVDs.