Comments on: How long will hotels keep charging for Internet connections?

By: martin

martin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:01:32 +0000

This thread may be dead now but as a small uk hotel owner I am faced with expensive broadband lines having installed wi-fi and wired access, The problem I am experiencing with the free access that i give are the high banwidth users that have caused me to pay the ISP large overcharges. The way the uk appears to be going is to offer a basic e mail service, limiting the bandwidth, and a business user service with high bandwidth and data amounts downloaded which will be chargeable (but at a fair price) . The level of charge is the difficult thing to peg, get it right and people will think its fair…get it wrong……..

By: Steve K

Steve K — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:56:14 +0000

I’m in the Courtyard at Orlando right now. Wireless is free and the bandwidth is so low as to be useless. Paid service is $10/day and is about equal to a 50K modem. (Just barely OK for email/blogs).

I don’t mind paying for service I can use, but am totally ripped off here. This isn’t the first time that’s happened, and the problem isn’t unique to Marriott.

By: Vi @ Travel Tips

Vi @ Travel Tips — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:46:22 +0000

Surprisingly it is usually free in cheaper accommodation options like hostels and etc. Are they thinking that if you can pay $100 instead of $30 for a room additional $10 won’t hurt you? May be not, but I am just skipping hotels which charge for internet when l am looking for accommodation.

By: Tim L.

Tim L. — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:22:50 +0000

Bruce is right: most business travelers who are peeved about this have bypassed the hotel services completely, just as we all did as soon as cell phones became a far better value than the hotel phones, which now sit there collecting dust. Sorry Laurel, but the “we paid for it so we should be able to charge extra for it” is a flawed argument. The hotel paid for hot water pipes and the means to heat the water too—something that was option a century ago—but that’s long been part of the rate except at $5 guesthouses. Internet is the new hot water and any hotel that doesn’t include it in the rates is going to find it harder and harder to win customers. Like others on here have stated, I refuse to book any hotel that charges for this when I’m on my own dime. There are too many alternatives out there that are more customer-friendly, often right next door.

If McDonald’s can give it away while charging $1 for a cheeseburger, I think a hotel charging $400 a night can manage it as well.

By: Carrie Charney

Carrie Charney — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:21:03 +0000

I’d love to know why the cheaper hotel brands offer the free wi-fi connection (and breakfast) when the more expensive brands don’t. Even within a brand, where hotels are franchised, there is a difference. The Hilton at Penn Station, Newark, NJ would not allow me, as a gold card guest, free access. (But I did get breakfast.) The Anchorage, AK Hilton had me authorize a charge for it, but the charge automatically came off my bill.

By: Michael Anisfeld

Michael Anisfeld — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:31:36 +0000

I view Internet access as another utility. In the same way that I do not expect to pay for water (to take a shower), or electricity (to shave), I do not expect, in this day and age, to pay for Internet access. And, yes, it does impact the choice of hotel that I make.

By: Chris in NC

Chris in NC — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:53:54 +0000

I too, ditched Wifi and went with a WWAN card years ago. In fact, I was one of the first customers of WWAN. Initially, the service was somewhat spotty, but in the last 1-2 years, coverage has become almost universal. Granted, speed is still variable, but in most urban areas, it is very fast. Even in the rural areas, you can at least get enough speed that you can check e-mail and access other critical data. As Bruce said, the connection is stable enough that when traveling on the interstate highways, you can stream music or surf continuously without interruption.

I use an unlimited plan that costs $59.99 + taxes. Its been worth every penny. On the road, I don’t worry about whether the hotel offers Wifi or how reliable it is. The best use of the Wifi card occurred a few months ago when our internet connection in the office went down (when a contractor cut the fiber optic cable by accident), the WWAN card allowed us to continue business as normal.

@Laurel
No offense, but your argument of the cost of establishing a network as a justification for the cost doesn’t hold water. Hotel infrastructure should be continuously in order for the hotel to maintain its competitive edge. By the same argument, hotels should not replace carpet, beds, furniture, etc, because they can’t “recoup” the costs. Every business class hotel that I have stayed in, proudly displays the date of the last renovation, and how much it cost (ie “Million Dollar renovation done in 2009!”) on its brochures/internet page. You are right though, hotel that starts losing business to its competitors because of “free WiFi”, will adapt! Also consider that midrange properties like Courtyard by Marriott offer complementary WiFi, whereas full service Marriott’s don’t, so obviously, it must not be THAT expensive!

@Steve
You seem to have bought into the “un-bundling” Kool-Aid that the airlines seem to have mastered. I (among many others) do not object to reasonable fees for WiFi access, but when hotels and resorts are charging upwards of $15-25 per day for access, that seems steep. How much of that is covering “overhead” vs pure “profit” will never be known, but I suspect its more on the profit side. By the same argument, what is to stop a hotel from charging you by the towel, frequency of housekeeping service, use of the pool, use of the fitness center, the soap in the room, etc. When I book a hotel, I expect a package, rather than being nickle and dimed.

By: Ned Levi

Ned Levi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:44:19 +0000

Karen is certainly right about Europe and Asia. Like the airlines, they are not looking to bundle up hotel services any time soon, as long as they can keep the fees coming in.

Here in the US, upper end hotels may start to include Internet in the room charge in the future, but I’ve found that most road warriors don’t really care anymore. They’ve already gone the route suggested by Bruce InCharlotte.

I’ve got a WWAN card myself. I’ve had it for several years. I got it originally to have Internet access at clients when their connection was out, and while traveling during those long waits we always seem to have, and while in the train traveling in the Northeast (On the Autotrain last year I had service most of the way, and was able to get a lot of work done.). It is a bonus to thumb my nose at the hotel fees for Internet access.

More and more in train stations, and at the airport I see these cards in use, rather than pay the absurd fees charged for “hotspot” access.

Bruce is also right about access in Europe.

By: Charlie Leocha

Charlie Leocha — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:29:04 +0000

Personally, I have a Verizon Internet card. It has been a lifesaver. Cost: about $60 a month. I’m waiting for AT&T to open tethering for the iphone, but then again, AT&T coverage stinks compared to Verizon.

By: SpotLight

SpotLight — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:24:03 +0000

Whether traveling on the company expense account or on my nickel, I will not stay at lodging that charges extra for internet services when there is any reasonable alternative. I try to spend the company’s money and mine the same way.

The suggestion to invest in wireless services of a telephone carrier is a good and often less expensive alternative for the frequent traveler.