I sat down the other day in one of my favorite hotel lobbies and as I opened up my laptop the General Manager arrived and proudly started explaining how his hotel technician had installed and set up a free WiFi service with some simple off-the-shelf equipment.

He was right. I was able to easily connect to the Internet and download all my emails that had piled up over the day. Looking around, I wasn't the only one that was using the WiFi while the waiter was keeping fit traveling back and forth from the bar with drinks and snacks. The lobby had been transformed into a hive of activity.

Whilst I applaud the innovative service-minded hotelier who actually is one of our industry friends, I still have two tips for him and all General Managers out there.

The first tip is, don't deprive the hotel of an obvious revenue stream. Even though it is possibly supplemented by additional traffic at the bar as people take a coffee as they work. However the provision of HSIA is a business essential and as a result guests are ready to pay (sensible amounts) for quality connectivity and security. The term quality is of course open to discussion but one thing is certain, quality must include sufficient bandwidth, VPN support, security for guests, regular software updates and a helpdesk. All of these require an investment by the hotel, which goes beyond the implementation of a few hotspots and free access. New investment will be needed every year as the needs in bandwidth and security constantly evolve and guests become more demanding with their Internet access.

My second tip involves the responsibility of the hotel. Throughout Europe newly implemented laws insist on the tracking of connectivity to ensure that guests that might have partaken in illicit online activities can be identified. The tracking also usually requires the storing of data for a period of 12 months. An EU Directive was published in 2006 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:105:0054:0063:EN:PDF and is coming into effect across most European countries.

 Whatever Internet strategy is adopted by hotels, free or pay, it is important to think ahead to maintain quality service and remain in line with the data retention acts of each country.