Picture this: a loyalty guest walks into a hotel of the same brand in Pheonix, London or Singapore, and their device securely and automatically connects every time, no matter the location. This level of Wi-Fi access and instant connectivity uplevels the guest experience, providing frictionless access for guests and better analytics and personalization for hotels.
Passpoint is the technology that makes this a reality in hotels today. And the good news is that hotels are focused on tech upgrades in 2026. The Voice of the GM survey from Hotel Management unveiled where hotels plan to spend a significant amount of budget this year, with technology investments ranking at the top of the list. When asked what upgrades were next on the list, GMs said: wireless infrastructure, along with TVs, PMS and door locking systems.
What is Passpoint, and How Does It Benefit Hotels?
Passpoint allows Wi-Fi-enabled devices to discover and authenticate through Wi-Fi hotspots, a.k.a. instant connectivity. It’s designed to operate similarly to cellular networks by providing seamless roaming across the property or affiliated properties, while at the same time offering the user a secure connection.
Guests only need to download the profile to their device once, and they will stay connected throughout their stay, anywhere across the property, and through any future stays at the same brand.
Traveling through the Guest Experience with Instant Connectivity
Let’s expand this scenario to the entire business or leisure trip. Many areas of travel have already adopted the Passpoint standard, so it would look something like this:
When guests leave their homes, they head to the airport and wait for their flights. Airports, including London Heathrow, Newark Liberty and Eurico de Aguiar Salles, offer Passpoint via partnerships, which allows the traveler to seamlessly connect to the internet on their preconfigured Passpoint device every time they step into established locations.
Next up, the flight: Major airlines, such as Delta, United and American Airlines allow travelers to instantly connect to Wi-Fi during their flight. They also have partnership with hotel chains or car rental companies, so guests are authenticating through one profile and not numerous logins at each step of the travel journey.
After the flight, a guest may take a hotel shuttle or go to a car rental company. Again, they would have access to the hotel’s Wi-Fi Passpoint-enabled network while en route. This means guests could remotely utilize the services that are available to them at that hotel, like food ordering to be ready when they arrive.
Lastly, the guest arrives at the hotel and would again instantly connect and authenticate to the hotel Wi-Fi network with no login required. In addition, once a guest steps into any of the other affiliated or partnered venues (e.g., restaurants, coffee shops, conventions centers, gift shops) at or near the hotel, they would be able to seamlessly connect to the Wi-Fi in these venues as well.
But beyond this, think about personalization. These profiles are typically connected to the hotel’s loyalty apps, so the data can help serve discounts or promote different hotel offerings to up-sell the guests on food or amenities during the stay.
While the above examples require that all venues visited during the journey enable the same deployment of Passpoint, it demonstrates how transformational this technology already is and can be for hotels. Instant connectivity is a huge opportunity to change the experience for hotel guests. Remember, guests have spoken time and again that they won’t stay at a hotel with a poor Wi-Fi experience. Now’s the time to enhance the property’s experience and provide new revenue opportunities for the hotel at the same time.
Interested in learning how to uplevel the Wi-Fi experience for guests and your hotel? Feel free to book a meeting.
Speleos Dravillas is Chief Revenue Officer and responsible for Nomadix’s go-to-market strategy and revenue growth through the execution of technology integration partnerships, strong channel and customer relationships, and industry alliances. He also is responsible for global sales and channel growth strategies and their plan executions.