Many hotels already have a bandwidth crunch in the evening, or during a conference/convention as it is. Free is a big deal in America. Even 0.50 or 0.99 in cost drastically drives down demand. Free will probably result in 1-200% increase in usage, perhaps more.

It's business un-friendly. If your work requires internet, you will be happy to pay a few dollars a day to keep it fast. When I'm traveling, more often than not, I'm on the road for work. Email and googling speed is not sufficient in many industries, I can do that with a cellular connection anytime, anywhere. Fast hotel wifi is important for productivity.

I'm not convinced the premium internet options work, they also become very slow in the evening. Only way to make it work is to block video streaming on the free option. Personally I've never received reasonable internet speeds at a full hotel with free Wifi. The more it costs, the faster it is. That has been my experience.