I think internet should be free at all hotels. With the high prices we are paying that should cover it.

Posted By Debo Hobo on September 19, 2008, 3:33 PM

Hotels what charrrge for the Interrrwebs ought to be forced to walk the plank, mateys! Arrrgh!

Posted By Marilyn Terrell on September 19, 2008, 4:10 PM

Here's hoping that Marilyn is celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day and has not herself come down with scurvy! :)

I wrote about this issue last year in my post "Hotel Ratings from Consumer Reports." The article illustrated that lower-priced hotels (such as Microtel) actually score the same in customer satisfaction ratings as well-known mid-priced brands like Best Western, Ramada or Radisson! This comes as no surprise, and "freebies" -- be it internet access, pet allowances or microwaves -- are part of this satisfaction equation.

I asked my economist friend Seth Gitter to look at this issue on his blog. He points to a 2006 Slate article on the same topic. Both conclude it comes down to customer differentiation and profit margins. I think an important factor at higher-end hotels are business accounts that pay for anything and everything -- add-on fees are an easy way for them to rack up additional profit on a group that doesn't directly bear the brunt of that cost. It is, however, an important consideration for leisure travelers contemplating "upgrading" their hotel stay.

Posted By poetloverrebelspy on September 20, 2008, 2:25 AM

I prefer to have free internet access generally however I am willing to have a tiered system where I can log into a secured internet connection for a fee when conducting business transactions not so much because of security issues (I have a good firewall etc) but the un-secured free ones tend to max out quickly and the connections become slow because so many are trying to access and the generally don't have enough power (bandwidth?) for everyone. But I tell you what really bugs me...it's when I pay for the wireless internet in my room but I'm told I can't access that anywhere else in the hotel. I mean I've actually stayed places where I needed a separate log on in the lobby and they expected me to pay for that as well.
Nia

Posted By Nia Frieson on September 22, 2008, 11:59 AM

Residents Inn should be corrected to Residence Inn.

Posted By BMK on September 22, 2008, 12:08 PM

While I'd like internet access to be free, I don't mind paying for it - but at least at a reasonable price. I was in Europe this summer and paid between $15.00 and $30.00 a day. That's more that regular access for most people for a month!

Posted By bleedingnickel on September 22, 2008, 12:14 PM

This is one of my big travel gripes and I always leave negative feedback with the hotel if they charge for access. I'll sit in the lobby if it's free there (and IF I have my laptop with me) or go to an internet cafe before paying for access.

Posted By Martrese on September 22, 2008, 12:21 PM

I have been complaining about this for years. And I agree that the Marriotts and Hiltons of the world charge this fee because they can get away with it since expense account travelers aren't paying the freight. Those of us leisure travelers who want a little nicer accommodations are the ones getting gouged. Some hotels charge up to $30 a day for internet access. That is simply robbery. The Marriott I stayed at recently in London charged that much. So we just went to the internet cafe around the corner and paid $2 an hour since all we needed to do was check email and look up a couple of things on the web.

I did manage to get free internet at the Sofitel Philadelphia a couple of years ago because the rate description on their website indicated that internet use was included in the rate. The front desk staff tried to tell me that was not what they had meant but agreed that it was misleading. So they waived the charges when I asked to speak to a manager.

Quite often your only option in a city center are these types of mid- and higher level "full service" hotels. You end up paying their over-inflated room rates to start with and then they add on all of these ridiculous fees for every little thing.

And don't get me started on the local phone calling charges. Those are another way for them to steal from their guests.

Posted By Glenn on September 22, 2008, 12:26 PM

Internet should be included in the price of the room. The fact is, you expect certain services that come with your room such as coffee, a hairdryer, tiny soaps and cable TV. Charging for Internet is a ridiculous as charging for cable TV or heat or AC in the room.

Posted By Cherie on September 22, 2008, 12:52 PM

Absolutely NOT! Charge for internet is as annoying
as surcharge for electricity or a "facilities charge". I avoid hotels that charge for internet
use.

Posted By Mary-Gene Rubin on September 22, 2008, 12:52 PM

Free internet access is one of those things that the market will work out. If a hotel charges, and if employers of business travelers will pay for it, then it's likely the practice will continue -- unless, of course, there aren't enough travelers with generous employers to offset the lost business and lost good will such charges generate.

Posted By Jack on September 22, 2008, 12:58 PM

I can't stand when hotels charge for internet. They don't need to do it, they do it just because they can. I always ask and if I have the option of multiple hotels I take the one with free wifi. It's also maddening how they charge - if it were, say $10 for 24 hours (as I once experienced), well, I could deal with that - I could sign on and sign off, and the clock stopped. So for $10 I got a week's worth of internet because I wasn't on that long each day. But other hotels have charged that (or more) for 24 hours straight. Who's going to get on their computer and stay there for 24 hours nonstop? It's just stupid and exploitive.

Posted By lera on September 22, 2008, 12:58 PM

I think internet access should always be free at ALL hotels no matter how much or how little the room rate.

Posted By DD on September 22, 2008, 1:07 PM

I was outraged to go to a Marriott Resort at Waikoloa on the Big Island on vacation that offered free wi-fi but charged $39 or 65 cents a minute to access the net in their business center.

We did not want to take our laptop because we were on vacation so the free wi-fi didn't do us any good. Luckily we asked the bartender if there was another option and there was a mailing business across the street charging $15 dollars an hour.

Fifteen is expensive but looks cheap next to almost $40 per hour.

We are from New Orleans and were on vacation during Hurricane Gustav and the approach of Ike. We needed information not available on TV and we needed the internet for over an hour checking flights and making contingency plans.

I will say this I will avoid Resorts for the rest of my life. There was nothing worth staying in the middle of no-where with $40 dollar an hour internet and no place to eat except a mall across the street. Only go to Marriott Waikoloa if you want to eat at the hotel or a strip mall, anything else is a half an hour drive.

We had stayed in a B&B before the Marriott with free everything and better accommodations. I am over it.

Posted By MsAnnaNOLA on September 22, 2008, 1:49 PM

I think that, at the very least, members of loyalty clubs (e.g., Marriott Rewards) should receive free Internet access. Omni Hotels does this and it is a definite reason for booking there rather than at Marriott or other brands that do not provide this benefit to their members.

Posted By Sheila on September 22, 2008, 2:00 PM

I always choose a hotel that has free internet service other features being equal such as free airport shuttle, free breakfast, free parking. The parking fee is an even more important consideration for me. These things are not always of equal importance but the internet service is always a factor.

Posted By Virginia Lucido on September 22, 2008, 2:31 PM

I have long been amazed that the more expensive the hotel, the fewer amenities they provide (i.e., free breakfast, internet). I am quite sure that the higher end hotels have the same access to the equipment used by the mid-to-lower end hotels (as they happen to belong to the same companies!) and could easily offer this service free to their guests. I will not pay for internet access in any hotel, period. It is an insult to guests to expect them to do so.

Posted By Joanna Thompson on September 22, 2008, 2:47 PM

I beg to differ on the Hilton Hotels. I just stayed at the BWI Hilton and was charged $6.95 for just 15 minutes on the internet (in their business section of the hotel). I was appalled!! I've stayed at the Best Western and Days Inn and was never charged to use their computers!! That Hilton sucked in many ways! Dirty carpeting, and poor service. I'd never stay there again!

Posted By Cindy Brown on September 22, 2008, 2:49 PM

Charge every customer a few dollars more for a room but provided free internet service/free wi-fi. Not everyone will use it but make it available. The internet is as much a fixture of our daily lives as the tv, and that is free, even the select cable channels.

Posted By James Highland on September 22, 2008, 2:58 PM

Should be free...it costs the hotel almost nothing to offer internet service (they have it for their business) these days so any charge is all profit. I recently stayed in a locally owned motel where the owner's teenage son had gone to Wal-mart, bought a wi-fi router and installed it that day. Worked great and cost nothing to the owner or the customers!

Posted By Weyland Billingsley on September 22, 2008, 4:13 PM

When I travel:) I always look for hotels/motels with FREE WIFI...it's a BIG plus!

Posted By L. Higgins on September 22, 2008, 4:41 PM

Vote with your dollars. I don't think hotels should be required to provide it for free, but I definitely take whether there's an additional charge into consideration when I book a hotel. I will only book a hotel that charges for it if there's a good reason to stay in the hotel otherwise. And I might use my computer's wireless card (even though it's slower than what the hotel provides) to avoid the charge.

Posted By E Mohr on September 22, 2008, 8:19 PM

I agree on the Hilton hotels. We stayed at the Tech Center Hilton in Denver recently and were charged for internet, parking and a breakfast that was no better than that included in the rate at cheaper hotels. Tech Center hotels should invariably include internet.

Posted By Anne Goodwin on September 22, 2008, 10:59 PM

I prefer the Hilton Garden Inn to almost anything. Free wireless, always a frig in the room, and good service. I avoid the high-end spots that include things I'll never use (don't need a business center, spa, 5-star restaurant, etc.), and charge for the things i need, such as a refrigerator. Who out there thinks it makes sense to charge for the frig.............?

Posted By Teddy Gingerich on September 23, 2008, 8:48 PM

I agree with Teddy: Hilton Garden Inn rocks.

Posted By Marilyn Terrell on September 25, 2008, 12:06 PM

I think it's absolutely ludicrous when a hotel charges for internet. I was staying at a Westin in Dublin which charged 15.95 Euro per day....well at the time that meant about $25 with the exchange rate. And here was a cafe a couple blocks away that was free while I had a cup a coffee.

Now being a WESTIN, why would you want to "inconvenience your guests" this way??? Especially....when the guest is already paying almost USD 500/night for your room!!! That is just a totally OUTRAGEOUS practice.....

Posted By SK on September 25, 2008, 1:52 PM

I had complained on another travel web site about this very issue a couple years ago, and I got trashed for my opinion that it should be free. The highly truncated story is that the Four Seasons - cheapest room $300/night -- charged additional $10.95 for internet access, while my colleague stayed just down the street at the Hampton Inn -- $99 room, free internet. Once installed, the incremental overhead is virtually zero for multiple users, notwithstanding the issue of sufficient bandwidth. They charge because they can. Vote with your feet, but you also MUST tell them why. There's lots of issues that make me choose for business purposes, but this one is key.

Posted By Art Kosatka on September 26, 2008, 10:44 AM

FOUL

Posted By david taylor on September 26, 2008, 12:41 PM

Not all employers pay for internet access. My choice is to use dial-up through lousy hotel phone lines or pay for high speed out of my pocket. Even the dial-up is not free and with the noisy phone lines you keep getting kicked off. If is often difficult to find a hotel that provides free access within a short distance of the meeting hotel so that often is not a real choice either.

Posted By Joyce Morris on September 26, 2008, 4:16 PM

The internet should be free to all hotel and cruise guests. Prices are high enough and the cost to the establishment spread out over the many rooms does not warrant guests being charged. On a Costa Cruise last week, it was almost $1 a minute, which is outrageous, especially since it took about five minutes for the computer to boot up and I was able to use my iPhone and blackberry instead.It is going to be one of my selection criteria from now on.

Posted By Janet Jones Parker Doublier on October 5, 2008, 9:01 PM

I PREFER TO STAY IN THE BETTER HOTELS, W,RENAISSANCE,HILTONS ETC. THESE ARE USUALLY
IN THE $270 TO $400 A NIGHT ROOMS...THEY ALL
CHARGE FOR INTERNET AND ARE FULL OF ADS AS WELL.
I THINK IT IS UNFAIR AND FIGHT BACK BY BRINGING
MY LAPTOP CONNECT CARD...I PAY $60 A MONTH
BUT IT IS WORTH IT NOT TO BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF
BY THE HOTELS EACH MONTH.

Posted By JOANNE on October 6, 2008, 1:56 AM

I've stayed at 4 Starwood properties in the past year, and NONE offered free high speed or wireless access. At most, they had a small business center with free access, but there was always a wait.

Posted By Becca on October 20, 2008, 12:46 PM

No one has mentioned that all the Comfort Inns that i have stayed in, and I have stayed in MANY, provide free wireless along with their free breakfast and free parking.

Posted By MEW on October 20, 2008, 2:26 PM

I agree - CHOICE HOTELS group, which includes Comfort Inn, Quality Inn and a few others offer FREE Wi-Fi and FREE Cont'l Breakfast. Hard to beat! They are nice hotels too!

Posted By John Carroll on October 20, 2008, 4:17 PM

I actually teach an on-line course, so when I travel, I look for free internet connections. I've come to really like Country Inn and Suites. There is plenty of room to work, free internet, free breakfast, free parking and cookies and coffee/tea available all the time. And, the price is very reasonable!

Posted By Donna Brown on October 20, 2008, 10:22 PM

Went to Anaheim this past June for a conference. Stayed in the Hilton Anaheim--and it was 9.95 per day...PER DAY for internet there. Absolutely disgusting. I have other negative comments about the hotel itself but the internet thing really made me not want to use a Hilton property again.

Posted By Charley Voelker on October 21, 2008, 9:16 AM

I stayed at the Westin-Calgary one week ago. Internet access was $14.95/DAY. I was at a conference of 400 people for nearly 5 days. Conference attendees were told, sorry, that nothing could be done about the cost. I had to go down the street to a free hotspot at the Eau Claire Market. It is poor customer service at best to not provide internet access when the room cost nearly $250/night. I will not be staying at a Westin again.

Posted By Wilma Foreman on November 10, 2008, 6:58 PM

In the last two years we've been in China and Korea, where all hotels not only provided a computer in each room, but provided it and the internet for free. Yes, there is wireless availability at more and more hotels here in the US, but many only have it in their lobbies.

Posted By Martha on December 20, 2008, 10:51 AM

I was paying 88 Euro a week in France and the wireless was 10mbs. It was slow. It was also not very reliable as it went down several time in my 7 months I spent. I get reimbursed by my company.

I have stayed at other places that had worse service and it was free. Mariott has good free internet but then again I ran in to a Marriott with a poisoned DNS.

My bottom line:
If you are going to charge it better be quality service.

Posted By April on January 13, 2009, 7:20 PM