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Travel annoyance #47: Paying for hotel Internet access has GOT to stop
But anyone with a run of the mill hotel that still charges guests for access deserves to be ridiculed and mocked.
Paying for access was annoying back in 1999, but it was understandable - the investments were pretty steep, and the cost of the actual access was quite considerable. But now most hotels have earned that investment back, and wholesale Internet access costs have plummeted, there is no excuse to use Internet access as a money maker.
Take for example the Four Seasons "The Biltmore" in Santa Barbara. This hotel is one of the nicest in the country, and is a regular location for celebrities who want to get away from the busy LA area.
A standard room at the Four Seasons costs around $580/night. This gets you a room about the size of a normal Hilton or Sheraton room, with a couple of decent amenities. But those amenities do not include free Internet access. Instead, the Four Seasons has outsourced its Internet access to Wayport (an AT&T company), and expects you to pay $10 for 24 hours of access.
Now, we can debate the issue of people who can already afford the Four Seasons, but it is a matter of principle. Paying for Internet access is just wrong, and asking customers to pay for Internet access at a $580/night hotel borders on criminal. Internet access should be a standard amenity at any decent hotel. Charging for Internet access is like making the hotel elevator coin operated.
The odd situation in the hotel world is that the cheaper the chain, the more likely you will be to find free Internet access. It makes no sense that a $60 Holiday Inn can afford to provide free access, but the Four Seasons can not. So, if you own a hotel and you still charge for access, stop it right now. Please.
Filed under: Hotels and Accommodations
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
john Oct 29th 2009 11:18AM
I have noticed the same thing. The cheaper the hotel the more likely it is to have free Internet. I HATE the hotels that charge for wireless because they are gouging me (like charging $3 for a coke in the room fridge that I will never, ever drink).
Jmoney Oct 29th 2009 11:35AM
i once stayed at the Ritz in Barcelona. First, it didnt even have an office room. The room cost $400/night and i then had to buy a 10 euro card to get a temp pw to use the computer they had in the hallway. Why not just charge everyone in the hotel and extra dollar a night and make it free? it comes off as petty asking it money after.
dmarie Oct 29th 2009 11:16PM
Just stayed at the Bellagio in Las Vegas - they charged $14.99 per 24 hours! Maybe it's a way to encourage the out-of-room activities but still....at those room rates it should be complementary. If mid-range hotels offer it for free, so should the higher-end.
Annie Scott Oct 29th 2009 3:23PM
I agree SO HARD. Free the intarwebs!
Smith Oct 31st 2009 12:57PM
If you have more than one laptop with you, the Millennium Hotel in Doha, Qatar, will charge you everytime you switch computers. Forget about paying once for the day, (100 Qatari Riyals). No, you will pay each time you switch computers.
Add in the constant moldy smell, and the average meal price of 80 Riyals (before the mandatory 17% "service charge" for a buffet), and you have yourself a recipe for a bad two week stay.
A bit of an explanation is in order: 1) I have two laptops because I try to separate work from home activites. 2) I was forced to stay there for work reasons. At 800 Riyals a night, trust me, I would have preferrred something cheaper.
Do not stay at this hotel. I have spoken with the front desk people three times and the manaager once. Nothing has been fixed on my bill yet.
Oh, did I mention the almost 300 Riyals that they charged me to get to a toll free number. I know that when you travel, sometimes toll free isn't free. That is why I was calling the front desk to ask the policies regarding this. The front desk person asked, "What is the number" and proceeded to dial it for me. I foolishly assumed that she was taking care of this for free. I did not ask her to dial the number.
Anyway, on my next trip, I will spend my 15,000 Riayls elsewhere!
george Oct 31st 2009 12:08PM
"Charging for Internet access is like making the hotel elevator coin operated."
Ha! That puts it very well. And absolutely true. This is a very sore point with me.
I hate hotels that charge me extra for Internet, and frankly, I avoid them when I have a choice. When will those big, rich chains catch on and realize this? They are driving away customers by their greedy policies.
And, exactly as you say, I too have noticed that a cheap motel (or even a hostel) is far more likely to include free Internet than a room at the Hilton or Marriott. Also, the pricier the notel, the pricer the Internet, generally! This is the same with other things such as free phone calls or free business center. The fancy, expensive hotels will nickle and dime you for EVERY little thing, as if they're not gouging enough out of you already --- while the inexpensive motel will include it all for free. Where do you think I prefer to stay?
JD Oct 31st 2009 1:13PM
I prefer to stay at the Holiday Inn Express. I travel quite often each yeah and they are very consistent. The ability to get online for free is a plus as is the breakfast buffet. I asked the manager in a more expensive hotel why they charge for internet. He said that the room rate already covered things like concierge service and other amenities. If so then we should stop tipping the bellman. I could also go for a generic bottle of shampoo for the use of the internet.
Rex Oct 31st 2009 9:17PM
For the places that charge for Wi-Fi Internet, is the landline Internet (using either a dial-up or a Cat-5 cable) free? I remember reading at least one article explaining this tactic, and - to me - sounds like a plausible experiment.
Gigi Nov 2nd 2009 12:24AM
That is my number # 3 on requirements!
1) comfortable bed
2) CLEAN ROOM
3) FREE internet!!!
A day w/o internet is like a day without......OMG.....I can't even say it!!!
Hans Nov 3rd 2009 7:53PM
there's even hotels providing free internet that do rely on a satelite dish...
Ko Yao Island Resort - nice guys!
Cory Fisher Nov 3rd 2009 6:53PM
I agree with this. The cheaper the hotels, the more you get for free. I am personally a huge fan of Marriott Courtyard and Hilton Garden Inn for domestic US travel.
Rajul Nov 6th 2009 8:11AM
I agree wholeheartedly and the situation in London is also scandalous. Some well-known hotels charge a flat £20 for 24 hours of internet access which I feel is way over the top for something that is now a basic commodity.
For what it's worth, I've just published a post on my blog listing "the good guys" (hotels in London with unlimited free WiFi) ranked by TripAdvisor scores:
http://londonhotelsinsight.com/2009/11/06/the-good-guys-top-rated-london-hotels-with-free-wifi/
I hope that hotels that continue to charge will eventually be embarassed into revising such a shortsighted policy.
Greg Gross Nov 10th 2009 10:15AM
Campaigning for free hotel wi-fi? Deal me in.
For the room rates some of these high-end hotels are charging, not only should they offer free Internet access, but they should provide a stenographer to do the typing for you.
Equally annoying are the hotels that advertise "free wi-fi," neglecting to mention that it's limited to their lobby or some other public space. If you want to access the Web in your room, you have to pay for it. A digital version of that old nefarious classic, "bait-and-switch."
Greg Gross, editor
"I'm Black and I Travel!"
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil Nov 29th 2009 4:37PM
I have never been charged for internet access in a hotel room. Neither here in Brazil, the USA, or Europe. Last September, I traveled all over Europe for a month and never paid for access either from my room or at free terminals in hotel lobbies.
In my own experience, free access has been the norm since at least 2000 when I traveled extensively through out the Southeastern USA. Methinks he doth protest too much.
Tisiphone Nov 30th 2009 1:07AM
I agree, but they also charge for coffee and breakfast at the more expensive hotels, and offer it for free at the cheaper ones.
Kelly Nov 30th 2009 9:38AM
I wasn't even aware that hotels were still charging for internet access, beyond the fee for using the hotel's business amenities, for those who don't travel with a laptop.
On a recent trip to Disney, I was shocked to discover that not only did they want $10.00 a night to connect to the internet, but the access wasn't wireless, and only one person in the room could hook up a laptop at a time!
The most magical place on earth appears to be the most out of touch with reality when it comes to providing antiquate internet access.
johnny Dec 3rd 2009 9:07PM
What part of capitalism don't you understand?
lee Dec 4th 2009 10:47AM
free internet
Most hotels use one of two methods to control access.
disclaimer: this is a disclaimer so that you take me more seriously, and to cover my ass in the event that you try some of these methods and things go terribly wrong and you get caught, i claim no responsibility in how you use this information.
1. proxy method
sends you to a page which is actually a proxy server program (easy as hell to write in perl) that forwards all internet request from you provided you are paying for the service.
circumvention
1. sometimes they dont block images because they want their advertisements to load fast from distributed content servers like akamai, therefore something as easy as adding a simple ?blah.gif will work. the ? in general tells the server its getting some arguments but the proxy isnt expecting them and hopefully lets the request through because it simply looks at the extension and goes ooh this is an image let it pass.
2. a little more advanced, but you can always check other ports and then forward your internet traffic through the open ones. generally proxies are only listening on port 80 or 8080 and server admins often leave some of them opened for remote maintenance, one such is 22 which you could use to tunnel via ssh, and get added security as a bonus!
2. mac filtering
looks at the specific machine address tied to your wireless device and blocks anyone that isnt paying
circumvention
1. mac addresses are tied to your device, however its the operating systems job to tell other computers about it. and as anyone duped by the promised capabilities of windows vista knows, operating systems can lie. yup, so all you have to do here is sniff (need a card that supports promiscuous mode) other peoples traffic. It doesnt matter if its encrypted or not, you just need there mac address. copy that address down and change your mac address to it. if that person is a paying customer and mac filtering is the hotels only authentication, then you just scored some free interwebs. changing mac addresses is pretty easy in linux (macchanger or network conf) and windows (system setting->device browser->wifi card->mac address)
thats all for now.
Human Bagel Dec 7th 2009 3:41PM
To bypass this, look up something called "tor proxy" its located at torproject.org.
When using a tor proxy, you can bypass the paying router, and get sweet, free internet.
www.humanbagel.com
Fantush Jan 13th 2010 4:47AM
Getting a paying guest house is more easier through online where ever you in the world. Also the you can able to get the detail information for the hotel of accommodation.