Vacation rental owners are losing customers if their property doesn't include a "hot spot" -- or isn't otherwise well-stocked with technology more and more travelers seek.

The hotel industry is about to open a $5.5 billion war chest for capital improvements and most of those improvements will be technology-based, including "hot spots" or wireless Internet connections.

The industry is simply meeting a growing demand from today's travelers who just can't leave home without IT (Information Technology) and a host of other gadget habits.

Vacation rental industry insiders also concede, travelers are blowing by vacation properties that don't have a "Technology Here" sign post up on the Information Superhighway.

The U.S. lodging industry plans this year to up investments on capital improvements by 10 percent compared to last year's $5 billion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Hospitality & Leisure practice.

The 2007 increase reflects continued spending on a host of items including:

• In-room MP3 (a digital audio format used by iPods and other devices) compatible sound and television systems.

• Installation of flat-screen televisions, high-speed wireless internet, self check-in and check-out kiosks and computers and printers in business centers.

• Design enhancements appealing to Generation Xers and Millennials, including informal gathering areas, extended hours for food and beverage operations and wireless Internet access.

• Upgrades of complimentary breakfasts and evening receptions, which serve hot food and more diverse menu offerings.

• Installation of lodging-branded bedding and other proprietary furniture and equipment.

It's no secret the hotel industry has lost business to the booming vacation rentals sector of the second home industry.

Homier vacation rentals are roomier, more family-oriented and often offer more bang for the travel buck, including the option for travelers to prepare their own meals.

That doesn't mean the vacation rental industry can rest on its laurels. The deep-pockets hotel industry will build-in technology-based capital improvements to lure back visitors.

Smart vacation rental owners know that.

More than 85 percent of HomeAway.com vacation rentals answering one of the site's online polls said they either have high-speed Internet or plan to add it in the next year.

"Thirty percent of all our properties offer high-speed Internet," said Christine Karpinski, director of Owner Advocacy for HomeAway.com, a network of vacation rental listing websites.

Karpinski said potential customers using Google.com and Yahoo! searches indicate travelers' yen for technology.

"We are seeing in searches how they get to our site. HDTV is a huge search term. 'Vacation rental and HDTV'. It's just one of those things. If you have to buy a new television for your property, buy HDTV. (A federal communications regulation will require the special TVs or a set-top box by 2009 for those who want to continue to watch TV.) A lot more people are also looking for buildings that have high-speed Internet, " said Karpinski.

Karpinski added wireless Internet connections to her properties. She gives the password for connection out to guests only (so nearby properties can tap in) and doesn't charge extra for the feature.

"Nobody charges extra for it unless it's part of the building's pay-per-use. I've noticed if I stay in a middle of the road hotel, the Internet is always free. In higher end hotels it's pay-per-use. Making it free is a way to set your property apart from all the others, especially, say in a larger vacation rental complex," where the property owners nearby haven't plugged in, said Karpinski.

Published: April 10, 2007

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.