Free WiFi tops list of favorite hotel amenities

Free connectivity is more important than free caffeine according to a recent survey conducted by GO Airport Express. When the ground transportation company asked its customers, what, aside from breakfast, is their favorite hotel freebie, 57 percent listed WiFi.

GO Airport Express, which provides airport shuttles to and from O’Hare International Airport and Midway Airport, polled travelers nationwide. More than 600 people responded.

The second top answer, at 30 percent, was free transportation between the hotel and the airports. Following that response were in-room coffee and tea, at 25 percent; health club and pool at 17 percent and complimentary newspaper at 15 percent. Fourteen percent of respondents said their favorite freebie is airport and baggage check in during check out and 13 percent enjoy happy hour.

Free cookies and other snacks were the favorites of 10 percent, and an ironing board was marked by nine percent. Just six percent said complimentary umbrella usage during rainy weather; six percent like their free bathrobes and, ranking last, at just under three percent, was on-site bicycles for guests to borrow.

“Today’s travelers are increasingly more savvy and are demanding more from their choice of lodging,” says John McCarthy, president, GO Airport Express. “In order to differentiate from other properties and build loyalty, hotels need to be responsive to traveler needs in their offered amenities.”GO Airport Express, one of the oldest companies in Chicago, traces its founding to 1853 and the Parmelee Transportation Company, which provided a carriage service between Chicago’s railroad stations and the downtown hotels. It is a founding member of The GO Group LLC, the nation’s largest airport transportation provider, serving some 60 airports in North America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe and transporting more than 13 million passengers per year.