Now, it seems, we are more likely to spend our time away catching¹ up online with friends and acquaintances than gaze at the horizon or the contents of a good book.

 

A new study has found that the average holidaymaker spends at least an hour a day of their down-time logging on to social media portals or checking other favourite websites.

 

In fact, so obsessed² are we with the online world that a new holiday annoyance³ - hotels and resorts charging for wi-fi access - has joined the more familiar worries that can have travellers reaching for complaint forms and their booking terms and conditions.

 

The survey was conducted by accommodation group Thistle Hotels, which asked 2000 people about their regular holiday peeves⁴（气恼）.

 

The top frustration⁵ was still the issue symbolised by the manic（躁狂症者） face of Basil Fawlty, with 69 per cent of those questioned saying rude hotel staff were their key bone of contention⁶.

 

Arriving at your resort to find that your room is still being cleaned, and is not ready, was the second most common concern - suggested by 45 per cent of respondees.

 

But a sign of changing times is there at number three, with a very modern complaint – being forced to pay for wi-fi - causing grumbles⁷（抱怨） with over a third of people (38 per cent).

 

Other widespread holiday flashpoints included a poor selection of food at the resort buffet⁸ (37 per cent of those questioned) and a hotel being further from a destination's attractions and restaurants than advertised (32 per cent).

 

Our determination to be tweeting and liking⁹ even when we are supposed to be taking a break from the norm is also apparent in the survey's list of what are considered to be the most important elements of a stay at a place in the sun.

 

Over half of the respondees (51 per cent) said that free wi-fi is crucial to their enjoyment¹⁰ of their escape – ranking higher than a hotel having a swimming pool (49 per cent), being close to a destination's attractions (41 per cent) and offering in-room TVs (37 per cent).

 

"It's crazy to think that, in 2014, hotel chains are still charging for wi-fi," says Mike DeNoma of Thistle Hotels.

 

"Our research shows that free wi-fi is very important to holidaymakers."

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