Hyatt will offer free unlimited wireless internet at its properties worldwide starting in February. The goal is to draw travelers in to a marketing portal, and also to out-do rival chains in the amenity wars.
Earlier this year, Marriott pledged free wifi, but only for members of its loyalty rewards program.
Hyatt is instead taking the tactic of treating wifi as a standard utility, like a hair dryer or a phone, by offering it to all guests. That may help it avoid the problem Marriott faces from people who say its wifi perk is anti-corporate travel.
Each Hyatt guest will log in with a unique identifier, so Hyatt will know where the guest is but also some information about who the guests is--setting the stage for targeted marketing messages.
With so much demand on the basic free wifi, it seems likely that a premium, faster service will soon be dangled in front of customers for a modest fee. Until now, elite members in Hyatt's loyalty program had the complimentary wifi as a perk.
The real question is how Hyatt will keep non-guests from parking at its lobbies just to use the free wireless connection.
Joking aside, the trend for wifi's prevalence has come a long way since May 2013, when Tnooz's editor Kevin May was interviewed by the BBC on the topic.
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