Hotels now understand that it appears guests see getting a decent (hopefully free) wifi connection as important as having clean towels and bedding.

Yet despite so much of a guest’s entertainment and connection to the outside world coming from using their devices, in-room technology still has a role to play.

But, interestingly, perceptions of what that in-room technology should be and how far it should cater to the needs of the guest are reasonably different between the guest and the hotel bosses.

Hotel tech provider ADB recently carried out a major study into those differences between in-room technology services that are provided by hotels and what guests actually want.

For example, hoteliers still see video-on-demand and pay-per-view programming (albeit on a high-spec and modern television) as high priorities for their rooms.

Hotel owners assume, ADB found, their guests want a “home-like TV experience”.

But the reality is, unsurprisingly, different.

Sure, guests consider in-room technology as an integral part of the experience of their overall stay at a property, but it is not seen as important as the owners.

Furthermore, such services are not considered important enough to influence their decision over whether to stay at a specific hotel versus another.

Inevitably, guests are more than happy to use their own devices to watch content (but would still like the ability to stream that content to the in-room television).

Perhaps where there is one revenue-based difference is in the types of services included in the in-room entertainment systems.

For example, guests say they would like to be able to discover information about the local area and the hotel services, but hoteliers see this as less important (potentially missing out on a money-making opportunity if those same services – such as spas or tours – are then immediately bookable).

Interestingly, broken down into age groups, 73% of millennials consider a TV to be a “very important” inclusion to the hotel room, as opposed to 54% of older guests.

In terms of the streaming services often used by guests, just over 60% of millennials, 50% of Gen-X and 17% of baby boomers use their device to watch media during a hotel stay.

Almost all age groups have some kind of account with a content provider such as Netflix, Amazon Prime et al.