Whether or not you should charge guests for high-speed Internet is not the issue. What you should ask is HOW MUCH? High-speed Internet, or HSIA, is now a must have service for hotels. Savvy guests will not return to a property if it fails to meet their need for connectivity.

The answer to this is that the smarter service provider can now differentiate individual bandwidth usage and charge accordingly. Say your guests simply want to send or receive e-mail. In that case, there is little or no cost. Alternatively, if guests want to download larger files from their office or watch You Tube, then they would pay for the appropriate bandwidth.

Both neat and fair...everybody wins.

Two other things:

1. Its all about wireless nowadays.
2. Income levels from HSIA are at their historic highest, so hoteliers should be taking ALL of the income.

The new Sofitel London Heathrow at Terminal 5 is not an airport hotel, says Arora International Hotels chairman Surinder Arora. “It’s a five-star luxury hotel which just happens to be at an airport.” And the hotel’s new digital interactive entertainment system from Acentic is not just TV. It is five-star entertainment, information and enrichment of the guest experience at the Sofitel London Heathrow.

Sofitel’s guests are enjoying a supreme viewing experience on brilliant LCD screens, easy access to all programming with an enhanced graphical user interface, cutting edge content from digital channels to satellite to live news and weather, the ability to keep in touch with high-speed Internet and international channels to make global travellers feel right at home no matter where they hail from.

With a refreshing focus on guests’ needs, Acentic Panorama’s digital broadcast, on-demand and interactive TV services go beyond TV to bring the hotel closer to its guests.