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Is Free WiFi Having a Negative Effect on the Social Atmosphere in Hostels?

The Ideal Hostel

Josh started this discussion 14 years 3 months ago

In the San Francisco Bay, coffee shop owners are torn between having to offer free WiFi to customers, and their coffee shops turning into boring study halls:

A Cup of Coffee With Your Wi-Fi?
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/a-cup-of-coffee-with-your-wi-fi/Content?oid=2155880

...while some coffeehouses have no qualms about marketing themselves as wi-fi shacks, an increasing number of cafe owners feel ambivalent about the effect that too many laptops can have on their business — and not just because a freeloading laptop user might take up valuable real estate while nursing a single cup of coffee for as long as seven or eight hours.

Catherine Keep, the manager at the Berkeley Philz, says that on busy weekdays as many as 80 percent of the customers in the cafe's main second-floor seating area are there with laptops, presumably working. "At the beginning we were here and it was like, 'Geez, it's a library up there!'" Keep said. "And that's not fun."

I thought the article might be interesting to hostels because of a possibly similar situation with offering free WiFi.

What do you think? Is the free WiFi having a negative effect on the atmosphere of hostels, or not really? The increasing number of laptops in common areas is definitely noticeable...

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uktrail

14 years

A number of hostel managers have commented to me that, yes, it does have a negative effect.

Many travellers, quite reasonably, need to spend SOME time on a hostel evening on computer, whether it is their laptop using wifi, a fixed computer provided by the hostel, or (if neither is available) an internet centre in town.

If the common room is occupied by people all using computers, the social life will indeed suffer. Even if you use one for half an hour then take a break, everyone else will do the same at different times so no one will look as if they want to talk.

At least you do not have to join in with someone's computing, and you can do your own thing, such as read. TV has the same effect, but worse because you are effectively forced to watch whatever programme the TV watcher has chosen.

With 2 different hostels in Launceston in mind, I suggest that: There should be one common room, perhaps attached to the kitchen, where TV and computing are outlawed. If people SEE that there is good social interaction going on, they will be attracted there, and will go there when they have had enough computing or TV. If the hostel is large enough, it can have a TV room and a computing area elsewhere, and all can be satisfied. But trying to make one room into social plus laptop plus TV is a dead loss.

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balibali

14 years

Or maybe you need to establish certain times when you can use the internet. In my travels at least restaurants or coffee shops that offer free wifi generally aren't the best places to eat. They in effect need to offer free wifi to draw customers in.

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byron

14 years

It's not only the affect of WiFi in the common area. There is also a question of weather to offer WiFi in the rooms as well. You don't people to sit in their room all evening long, but on the other hand, offering WiFi in the room is an advantage that attracts people to the hostel.
Maybe even it will help, since people can do their emails/skype from the room any tiime and not wait for the evening for the common room or especially go to an internet cafe.
We have decided to go this way in the new Abraham Hostel Jerusalem opening November 15th. I'll let you know how it goes after a while :)

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uktrail

14 years

If people are going to use a computer anyway, then using it in the rooms sounds at first like a good idea, leaving the common room for those who want to talk. But Skype??? Talking??? This would only be acceptable if no one was sleeping or reading. I am happy to talk to people in the dorm up to say 11pm, but to listen to someone's personal conversation which goes on and on would soon give that hostel a black mark in my book.

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Roi

14 years

I have WiFi all over the compound.
People who want to talk using skype can choose doing so from the rooms or elsewhere so they don't interfere with other people.

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footprints

14 years

You have to respond to the market and the market is demanding fast internet access in the hostels. If you look at the current trend the hostel is being elevated to a higher standard.

Crusty hostels with so so facilities questionable maintenance and backward communication are being challenged by the flashpacker hostel. The market is evolving and growing to some extent and this trend will only be set to continue.

I am not saying it is great that we have plugged in backpackers who would rather spend their Friday night on the hostels internet connection rather than discovering the sites and sounds of their destination but this is a reality in many cases.

The new breed of backpacker want first class accommodation, modern facilities and a feeling of total security and awareness of their needs.

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Rucksack Brian

14 years

There is also a question of weather to offer WiFi in the rooms as well ... Maybe even it will help, since people can do their emails/skype from the room any tiime and not wait for the evening for the common room or especially go to an internet cafe.

That would be the option I would choose. The common areas are for socializing and the dorms are for private matters. When I travel I prefer to write my emails and talk on skype in a quiet place like my room. It's too distracting for me in the common areas, and I don't want to derail everyone else's fun by being That Guy with the laptop. (and as soon as one person pulls out the computer everyone else follows suit) I'm a considerate backpacker though, and I won't work on anything when people are trying to sleep.

Another option might be to provide a designated computing area, instead of outlawing laptops in the common room. I saw a hostel with a writing desk tucked under their stairway that a lot of people used to write postcards. Something like that could work for email/skype if there were barriers to block the sound of their voice from reaching the dorms.

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canhostel

14 years

Totally agree with the library effect of laptops. Does anyone know if there is a pay service that can be used that would give the first 30 minutes free and then charge a fee for time after during each 24 hour period? This would attract those that need WIFI quickly for emails and such but for those that just become couch cushions after a while it will generate a little more revenue but maybe encourage the fence sitters to talk and explore instead of just mindlessly tap Facebook!

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Josh Hostels

14 years

Another option might be to provide a designated computing area, instead of outlawing laptops in the common room.

Good idea... If I were building a hostel from scratch I would consider even creating a separate room for laptops and making sure the wifi didn't reach the common area. Maybe even remove power outlets in the common room?

I'm at Starbucks right now (the only free WiFi in the neighborhood) and they have an interesting table designed for laptop users. It has four seats, two lamps, and two power strips in a depression in the middle of the table. Check out the photo:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1246[/ATTACH]

Coffee shops lose money when each of their tables is taken up by just one laptop user who spends many hours there. This arrangement has 4 laptop users sharing one table. It's also easy to start a conversation with a stranger at the table.

One idea is to have a couple of tables like this off to the side of the common area and have them be the only place where laptops are used. I wonder if that would separate the laptops from the rest of the common area.

Does anyone know if there is a pay service that can be used that would give the first 30 minutes free and then charge a fee for time after during each 24 hour period?

I don't know, but I like it :)
I might give them at least an hour free though.

The one other thing I dislike about laptops is that sometimes people will bring out their laptop or netbook and use it to play music. Often the music is something that not everyone likes. E.g., someone will put on techno music in the middle of a good late night philosophical conversation and it often just kills the atmosphere :)

A couple of other ideas:
If there were a separate location for laptops, either off to the side or in another room, maybe put signs on the other tables in the common room something like this?

[INDENT]Laptop-free Zone
Travel is about meeting people and seeing new places. Don't spend your whole trip plugged into your computer. If you want to use your laptop, please use the WiFi area over there.[/INDENT]

[It would need better wording, but that's the basic idea.]

Another idea:
Make a list of nearby cafes with free wifi and put them on the wall in the common room. Something like: "Looking for great cafes with free wifi? Here's a list:"

Would they work, or would some guests be offended by the suggestions? :)

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Rucksack Brian

14 years

Another idea:
Make a list of nearby cafes with free wifi and put them on the wall in the common room. Something like: "Looking for great cafes with free wifi? Here's a list:"

Would they work, or would some guests be offended by the suggestions? :)

I don't think anyone would be offended at all by that. You would probably just hear a lot of, "Gee, thanks! That's really nice, but you have to buy something to use it there. Hey, you have free coffee and tea here, don't you? I'll just make a cup here and use the wi-fi in the common room where it's comfortable." (They still kill the atmosphere in the common room, and now YOU'RE paying for their coffee too because you suggested it)

If you DON'T offer free wi-fi then this is a great thing to do though!

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