When asked about their favorite hotel “freebie,” in-room WiFi services was listed at number one by 40 percent of survey respondents. Complimentary ground transportation between the airports and hotels was listed second, at 30 percent.
Some 563 travelers responded to the survey conducted jointly by GO Airport Express, Chicago’s premier ground transportation company and The GO Group, an international franchise organization of ground transportation companies.
“I think the survey tells us that hotels create the greatest added value for their guests by offering savings related to WiFi and airport transportation,” says John McCarthy, president, GO Airport Express.
Other favorites, in order, included in-room coffee and tea at 10 percent; free use of a health club and pool at six percent; cocktail hour at five percent; bottled water in the room at four percent and complimentary newspapers and free cookies at three and one percent, respectively.
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. The GO Group, 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.