In this report, a hotel judged as having adequate WiFi must provide an expected download speed of at least 3 Mbps (the Netflix recommendation for SD-quality streaming) and an upload speed of 500 kbps (the Skype recommendation for high-quality non-HD video calling).
Hotel WiFi Test has released a new report that ranks hotel chains by WiFi quality. Two characteristics of hotel WiFi are considered: the quality of the WiFi and whether in-room WiFi is free. The report contains a global ranking and separate rankings for the United States, Europe and Asia.
The chain to which a hotel belongs is one of the best predictors of WiFi performance. Therefore, when travelers know how hotel chains are ranked overall, they can choose a specific hotel with better WiFi even if they don’t have information about the WiFi quality in that hotel.
In this report, a hotel judged as having adequate WiFi must provide an expected download speed of at least 3 Mbps (the Netflix recommendation for SD-quality streaming) and an upload speed of 500 kbps (the Skype recommendation for high-quality non-HD video calling). The Free WiFi percentage is calculated as a ratio of hotels that offer free in-room WiFi to all hotels for which the WiFi price structure and availability is known.
Key takeaways
– Nordic Choice is the number one chain in the global rankings, with 85% of its hotels offering adequate WiFi and 100% of its hotels offering free WiFi.
– The Marriott took the top spot in the United States, but the results are not that impressive compared with the top hotel chains from the global chart. In addition, only 17% of all Marriott hotels in the United States provide free WiFi.
– Hilton has much better WiFi quality in Europe (73% of its hotels offer adequate WiFi) than in the United States (25%).
United States
For the chain rankings in the United States, Hotel WiFi Test took the 25 most-tested hotel chains worldwide and sorted them according to WiFi quality. Thus, some hotel chains are not on the list because they do not have enough tested hotels, not because of the poor quality of their WiFi. Further, each position in the ratings is relative to the other most-tested hotel chains and not to all hotel chains.
For example, Best Western is ranked fifth out of 25 hotel chains, which means that it is in the 82nd percentile: 18% of all hotel chains have better hotel WiFi, and 82% of them have worse hotel WiFi. Therefore, if Hotel WiFi Test ranked over 25 hotel chains in the United States, more than four could have better hotel WiFi than Best Western, but some of them were not tested thoroughly enough to be ranked in this report.
Key takeaways
– The Marriott took the top spot in the United States, but the results are not that impressive compared with the top hotel chains from the global chart. In addition, only 17% of all Marriott hotels in the United States provide free WiFi.
– The Hyatt ranked third, and it is quite close to the Marriott and the Westin in terms of WiFi quality. However, the big draw for this chain is that it offers free WiFi at all its hotels.
– In general, most chains have worse WiFi quality results inside the United States than outside.
Europe
For the chain rankings in Europe, Hotel WiFi Test took the 25 most-tested hotel chains worldwide and sorted them according to WiFi quality. Thus, some hotel chains are not on the list because they do not have enough tested hotels, not because of the poor quality of their WiFi. Further, each position in the ratings is relative to the other most-tested hotel chains and not to all hotel chains.
For example, DoubleTree by Hilton is ranked fifth out of 25 hotel chains, which means that it is in the 82nd percentile: 18% of all hotel chains have better hotel WiFi, and 82% of them have worse hotel WiFi. Therefore, if Hotel WiFi Test ranked over 25 hotel chains in Europe, more than four could have better hotel WiFi than DoubleTree by Hilton, but some of them were not tested thoroughly enough to be ranked in this report.
Key takeaways
– Because Nordic Choice is an entirely European chain, it is no surprise that in addition to taking first place worldwide, it took first place in Europe.
– Hilton has much better WiFi quality in Europe (73% of its hotels offer adequate WiFi) than in the United States (25%).
Asia
For the chain rankings in Asia, Hotel WiFi Test took the 15 most-tested hotel chains worldwide and sorted them according to WiFi quality. Thus, some hotel chains are not on the list because they do not have enough tested hotels, not because of the poor quality of their WiFi. Further, each position in the ratings is relative to the other most-tested hotel chains and not to all hotel chains.
For example, Hilton is ranked 8th out of 15 hotel chains, which means that it is in the 50th percentile: 50% of all hotel chains have better hotel WiFi, and 50% of them have worse hotel WiFi. Therefore, if Hotel WiFi Test ranked over 15 hotel chains in Asia, more than seven could have better hotel WiFi than Hilton, but some of them were not tested thoroughly enough to be ranked in this report.
Key takeaways
– The Marriott has much better quality WiFi in Asia (82% of its hotels offer adequate WiFi) than in the United States (47%) or Europe (64%).
– The situation is opposite for ibis; it offers adequate WiFi in 40% of its hotels in Asia compared with 65% in Europe.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.