FREE WI-FI reigns as the most desired hotel amenity, according to travellers polled by Hotels.com.
Trumping free parking and complimentary breakfasts, complimentary Wi-Fi is the most crucial factor in choosing a hotel even for leisure stays, said 34 per cent of respondents. Some 56 per cent rated it the number one must-have when on business trips, while 66 per cent want free Wi-Fi to become a standard at all hotels this year.
For modern amenities, 23 per cent said they would like in-room high-end coffee makers.
For simple amenities, 43 per cent chose free bottled water as the most welcome, though travellers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Brazil rated free power adaptors above water.
In food and beverage, 31 per cent of travellers want to see breakfast become a standard at all hotels, making it the favourite non-tech item.
Happy hours, wine tastings or any other time with free food and drinks is 42 per cent of global travellers’ favourite newly offered hotel service amenity.
Travellers voted the high-end fitness centre and/or spa (26 per cent) and designer toiletries (21 per cent) their first and second favourite amenities at luxury hotels respectively.
While 54 per cent of respondents said they would like to experience the complimentary use of a Rolls Royce Phantom as an “outrageous” luxury hotel amenity, 26 per cent and 24 per cent said they were not interested in the promotion of bath menus/bath butlers and turn down service respectively.
Survey results were based on responses from over 8,600 respondents from across 28 countries including Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
